Does teething really exist?

[IcouldstillbeJoseph]

Don't get me wrong, I am the first one to blame 'teeth' for a lot of general grumpiness in my DC but just wondering does it really exist?
Thinking about it logically I don't understand why it would cause reddening of the cheeks? toothache in adults doesn't cause this.
Why would it cause a bad bum? if the excess saliva swallowed is to blame i don't get it....saliva is pHneutral isn't it? and the stomach is already really acidic so why would swallowing a load of saliva make a baby's bum sore?
And isn't dribbling just a developmental stage and not related to teeth?

Maybe I have just been lucky and not had too much hassle with my DC's teeth.

Please don't flame me - lighthearted wondering!

MIL told me (non medical personal opinion that I think makes sense) that its because they are so little so are affected by pain more easily and it affects their whole body. DS always got nappy rash when teething, just like DH and DSILs. MIL thinks the general unwellness gives them tummy ache so their poo is more acidic and maybe their skin is more sensitive due to general unwellness.

Oh. God. Bloody. Hell. Yes.

It does cause this in adults, I remember my wisdom teeth coming through.
Ds had his first febrile convulsion cutting a tooth, they couldn't find anything else wrong with him. His face was covered with eczema when he was teething
Dd was the opposite and would cut 4 teeth at a time without us noticing

I remember my wisdom teeth coming through, they hurt like hell. I can imagine that a sharp object slowly pushing its way up and piercing through the gum is going to hurt. My DDs have both had bleeding gums. I expect that hurts and I treated them accordingly (ice, cold flannels to chew, teething gel and paracetamol when they had troubled sleep). Mine never seemed to dribble more than usual or have sore bums, so I can't say anything there. I do remember a friend of a friend giving a pompous lecture about teething pain being a myth which I reacted to at the time. I'm not of the school of thought that little babies fake being in discomfort as a manipulative tool. I do believe in easing that discomfort/pain if I can. Not to knock them out so that I can get a glorious 8 hours, but for their own comfort, rest and well-being. I agree, I was never able to engage in a conversation with either of my DDs about how it felt, but I came to those conclusions using my best judgement and shared experiences from other mothers. Which is basicslly how I took all the decisions about my babies.

Did you get a sore bum with your wisdom teeth bruffin?

oh yes it really exists, my kids have never been too bad with teeth, but have got rashes around their mouths, flushed cheeks etc my friends ds got what are called eruption ulcers? look like mouth ulcers on his gums and they can happen with teething, they were really sore! one of my boys had one of them, but my friends ds had loads.

re sore bums and runny poo, i noticed this with some of mine but it was probably partly that teething meant they ate less and had more milk so their poo became looser again? it just seemed to be more mucousy etc as well and so gave them a sore bum.

DD's reflux was worse when she was teething. When she was 11 months she cut 4 teeth at the same time. It was awful. I was up 5 to 10 times each night with her. The excess acid coming up her throat caused ulcers which bled so she started coughing up blood.

I don't know why, but teething did seem to cause more stomach acid to be produced. I guess that can also cause a sore bum.

More saliva = more swallowing = feedback telling stomach to produce more acid to digest stuff

But there is no stuff to digest so the acid gets passed on, isn't adequately neutralised by bile salts and exits the other end causing skin irritation.

Apparently.

I have no experience of teething, as all three of mine sprouted teeth with no noticeable ill-effects whatsoever. Lucky me. I know some babies who grizzled for months. But was it "teething", or just a grumpy phase they happened to be going through??

Didn't affect DS

Didn't seem to bother ds.

Dd gets fevers, pain and an upset tummy. Her first tooth she had a temp of 38.5 and watery diorrheoa for 12hrs before it broke through.

We have teething for months here before anything actually shows. Last time he was miserable for 2 months and really suffered and 3 teeth came out on same day. I think that's make most people sad ...

Tonight he's got a temp of 39.5 and won't eat. Teething def exists in this house

Oh god in heaven yes it exists in this house.

DD is 21mo, she tends to cut them in pairs but the worst was the first four molars all at once. Bloody nightmare, she was in hell.

mini - my dd is the same, starting cutting her fangs end of feb and you can only just see them now, all 4 coming at once

Oh and not content with all 16 teeth at 20months she is now getting the last four, once she has them all then I am decorating her room and buying a bed for her because surely there won't be any other reason to wake every two or three hours?

Blackoutthesun, yes fangs here too. They started at Xmas (!!!) and although obv he hasn't been full on teething the whole time, it's been fairly constant. I've been able to see all 4 for ages now, grrrr

I read somewhere that it's the enzymes in saliva which help break down the gum to let the tooth through that cause the irritation in stomach and around bottom. Can't remember where I read it though but makes sense.

I've been caring for babies for 18 years pretty much non-stop.

Yes, teething is painful and makes babies miserable. They often put their hands in their mouth more which probably explains the rashes on their faces.

I've never know a baby have a fever while teething which wasn't attributed to an infection or virus shortly afterwards. Raised temps are a sign of infection and your body's way to help fight it so I can't see why teething pain should cause one.

Sore bottoms seem to occur pretty randomly and don't seem to be more prevalent around the time a new tooth appears.

It's not scientific but I think if there had been a pattern I probably would have seen it by now.

If a baby is teething you can often feel a hot swollen area on their gum if they'll let you put your finger in their mouth.

infants have different neurology to adults don't they?

but my experience of teething as an adult was pretty consistant with LO, if anything I was more of a wuss than him and I only had 4 wisdom teeth. I got multiple small infections as they were half up half down which gave me temperatures. I don't remember getting the squits with it, but wonder if that may be correlated with overuse of pain relief and powders etc on teething children (FYI a fridge cold bottle was the best relief for LO, jelly and icecream was my pain relief / pity party of choice)