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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Am I the only one who doesn't believe in 'wind' and 'teething'?

111 replies

SydneyB · 06/03/2009 14:40

I am sorry but I just don't believe in either thing. Am I the only one who thinks they are just useful terms to apply to unsettled baby behaviour and unexplained screaming? Believe me both mine were screamy babies but as far as I could tell they just needed comfort, feeding or sleep. I just find it hard to believe that the burping and farting that us adults manage perfectly happily most of the time should cause so much trouble for babies. I also don't remember having any pain at all as a child with my grown up teeth coming through so how come the first should hurt so much? Is it just grandparent 'lore' and an excuse to market a vast array of over the counter cures?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Habbibu · 06/03/2009 15:04

Wind and teething used as a catch-all? Probably. Problems for babies from wind and teething being non-existent? No. Sweeping and daft.

kif · 06/03/2009 15:04

Some cultures have no concept of 'wind' in babies

TsarChasm · 06/03/2009 15:04

It used to infuriate me when mil always said dd had wind when she gave her first gorgeous smiles.

Talk about a bucket of cold water over the event

Habbibu · 06/03/2009 15:05

Which cultures, kif?

kif · 06/03/2009 15:05

My point is that if your baby is really, properly being made distressed by not being able to shift his wind, it is worth looking at the wider picture. What is he eating and when? It's not 'normal' IMO. 'Normal' is the odd satisfying belch, with contentment in between. Like adults.

psychomum5 · 06/03/2009 15:07

is wind not part of the side effct tho of digestive problems???

and surely teething can also cause them to be unsettled and under the weather.

kif, sorry, you are not really agreeing with the op, you are saying it still exists but sometimes gets mistaken for other things too.

oh, and surely you having a headache that gets on your nerves should be ignored as I don;t have headaches like that!!!

MinnieMummy · 06/03/2009 15:07

I didn't get my final adult teeth through until I was 17. They hurt. Kind of like a period pain ache, but still - and I agree that the first lot would hurt more.

Not sure which over the counter remedies you are talking about tbh - if they could actually properly invent something that would genuinely soothe teething, I think a lot of people would buy it!

JazzHands · 06/03/2009 15:07

Do these cultures have a concept of problematical farts?

DD used to wail and wail, nothing would help, then after an hour or 2 she'd do a huge fart, be happy for 10 mins then start wailing again until the next one got out.

I definitely link the crying and farting!

Otherwise according to the op the only answer is that I was neglecting to provide for her basic needs, ie feeding, comfort, sleep, and I tell you I was, dammit!

kif · 06/03/2009 15:09

I thought it was somewhere like Korea or maybe it was peru. i'd have to look it up.

psychomum5 · 06/03/2009 15:09

you know, people like the OP are those which also say preiod pains don;t exist as they never have problems with their periods, or that labour isn;t that painful as they breezed thru their.

pah, stupid person!

TheApprentice · 06/03/2009 15:09

My normally very content ds, 7 months, is right now in my arms unsettled and whingey. He had a great nights sleep and has eaten well. However hischeeks are bright red, he's drooling, wants something in his mouth at all times and a quick feel of his gums reveals teeth just below the surface.

So I'd say he is teething.

solo · 06/03/2009 15:10

Only read the OP.

Wind can be excruciating in adults, so why not babies?! I know of several adults that have been paralysed by extreme wind.
Babies are all new and sensitive and wind would very likely cause them pain. As for teething...they are cutting literally through the gum ~ of course it hurts!

psychomum5 · 06/03/2009 15:10

well, if it korea or peru, their culture have babies in slings an awful lot, which help with digestion and wind lots anyway. slings were a life saver with my babies for shifting wind!

JazzHands · 06/03/2009 15:12

DD was eating breast milk when she had her terrible fart problems.

Can't imagine that was wrong.

Maybe in these cultures they just call it something else. Wind? No never ever heard of that. Fartypants leading to loads of crying? oh yes all the time

psychomum5 · 06/03/2009 15:13

atually jazzhands, you have a point. they speak a whole other language to us, so of course they wouldn;t call it wind

JazzHands · 06/03/2009 15:13

ooh do find out kif as I am pg now and if I can avoid having another baby screaming for 8 hours straight every night that would be wonderful

bamboobutton · 06/03/2009 15:16

i get agonising trapped wind, sometimes its as painful as a contraction, so i had every sympathy with my windy baby and did all i could to help, in fact it was mumsnet advice that helped most with his wind, good old mumsnet!

MrsMattie · 06/03/2009 15:21

Teething symptoms are quite obvious, though. A few days of red cheeks, runny nappies and high pitched wailing for my DS when each tooth came through. Maybe you were just lucky?

DD is a very 'windy' baby. Sometimes she cries a really distressed cry and then suddenly does a huge fart and all is well...

hatwoman · 06/03/2009 15:31

I believe in both - for the reasons other posters give. but I'm sometimes (not always) a little sceptical as to the certainty with which some parents attribute crying to a particular cause. at the end of the day our babies can;t talk and can't tell us what's making them miserable - which is truly horrible for us as parents. it makes us feel helpless. in some cases a parent has witnessed a pattern (eg crying at a particular time which stops after a big burp) in which case, yes, they're the ones that know their baby and they're almost certainly right. but I do think that sometimes it's our helplessness that makes us want to explain the crying. I didn;t explain it in either of these ways. maybe I was just rubbish at working out what was wrong with my babies. but the fact is I couldn't say with certainty what the problem was. and I do think that sometimes, if the truth be told, there are parents who, like me, don't really know what the problem is but chose to attribute it to teething or wind. not always, not everyone, just sometimes. or maybe they're all better parents than I was.

cory · 06/03/2009 16:06

Ds got a temperature for a day or so before every new tooth broke through. Of course as an educated mum I knew this couldn't be happening, so I kept quiet about it for a long time. But at last the link became too obvious and I mentioned something to the Health Visitor. Who muttered 'well, I'm not supposed to say this because it goes against current medical opinion but I have seen an awful lot of babies and in my experience it does happen.

screamingabdab · 06/03/2009 16:07

Just to say, my mum was a dental nurse, and she said that teeth don't just hurt when they are coming through the gum (I believe the correct term is "erupting"), but when they are moving down ready to erupt

Poledra · 06/03/2009 16:11

Oh god, anyone who has had major abdominal surgery (like say, a c-s, maybe, or an appendectomy) knows the pain of trapped wind. It was worse than the pain from the scar as the painkillers aren't as effective on visceral pain like that. I hate the thought that that is what my babies are suffering

iwontbite · 06/03/2009 16:15

kif I think you're getting confused with colic.
there are many cultures in which babies do not appear to suffer from colic (ie, unexplainable crying)
these are mainly cultures where baby is carried, breastfed on demand, co-sleeps etc etc

anyway, I disagree strongly with the OP. mychildren definitely suffer terribly with teething.
bright red cheeks, swollen gums, crying whenever they chew on things, not wanting to feed because it hurts.
the usual things that comfort them do not help, and yet pain relief calms them down. and then lo, a tooth (or 4) appears.

wind too, osteopathy helped with this.

ra29needsabettername · 06/03/2009 16:22

I have also heard that non western cultures do not believe in wind. They think we're all crazy for rubbing our babies backs and being delighted when they burp I winded ds all the same as I didn't want to not do it if he needed it but knowing this did make me more sceptical. It could be true that it's because these babies (in cultures who dont believe in wind) are carried upright in slings and that is why they don't have problems. It's interesting though...
I do think teething is sometimes used too much as a reason for an unsettled baby but that is not to say teething doesn't cause pain.

LackaDAISYcal · 06/03/2009 16:26

you are quite clearly deranged. just because you haven't (or rather your children) experienced something doesn't mean it doesn't exist . Try telling my DS2, who rattles with wind and cries and is miserable, has a big burp and is happy.

and i think adult teeth don't hurt as the gum has already been opened up by the baby tteeth and the big ones are just filling a gap.

lol just read the rest of the responses.....i think you might have got it by this time

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