What are the signs of teething?

[Newt]

Sorry if this has been covered before..I had a quick look and some indications seem to be red cheeks and dribbling and of course crying as if in pain which is what my dd has been doing on and off for two days. My GP said I would know by feeling her gums..well I felt them for the first time today (yikes I di'nt feel them before so I don't know the difference..and I can't tell..it feels hard up there, I really don't know. She is less than 12 weeks old, has been only breast-fed and is generally very happy baby. She found her thumb recently and past two days has been trying to get her fist in her mouth as if she has regressed from the thumb-found, or does this indeed indicate teething?

What does the future hold for me and my boobs? I so wanted to continue breastfeeding for a year or so, because we both love it. Does it mean biting..as she is so young is it harder to stop them from biting, ie tell them? Boo hoo!

Any other signs I should look out for and what is the best way of dealing with it?

Both of mine have teethed relatively early (about 4months) and I fed dd for a year, by which time she had about 12 teeth, I think, ds is only 6 months so far but his teeth haven't stopped me feeding him.

Teething signs for mine include red cheeks, dribbling, 'odd' nappies (runny and noxious), runny noses and general grumpiness.

The only thing I do is give Calpol/teething gel if I think they're in pain, Nurofen after 6 months.

As far as I remember, the gums can feel hard for ages before any teeth appear...

Totally agree with Clayhead. My ds showed the same symptoms, was a very sucky baby and out popped his first two at 4mo1wk! He now has 8 at 8 months! I'm still bf and when the bottom ones came in he did nip a few times but I just took him off, spoke firmly "no biting", waited a couple of mins and then continued with the feed. Even if he didn't understand the words he could hear the tone of voice and knew I wouldn't continue with the feed. Quickly outgrew this. The only nipping I now have is completely done by accident, ie. loss of suction on latch etc.
You can enjoy bf as long as you want, teeth do not have to get in the way! (advice I was given on MN 4months ago!)

HTH

Newt, my dd was the opposite to Clayhead and Karen99, she didn't get her first tooth until she was almost 10 months old! She never made a fuss or dribbled or had red cheeks but she definitely had weird nappies, runny, yellowy greenish and v. acidic smelling. Like photographic developer if you've ever found yourself in a darkroom! Later when she got some molars in she suffered a lot more and was v. grumpy and kept pointing at her mouth all the time. When they are finally coming through it looks and feels more obvious than you'd think - the entire gum gets raised in a little hump and the surface feels slightly rough and hard. I'm still b/f dd at night at 17 months. Teeth didn't cause her to bite at all. She'd had teeth for ages before I had my first nip which was bloody agony but shocked me and her so much she never did it again!

Thanks for the replies..karen99..please tell me which teeth came first for your baby..is it most commonly the bottom ones or top?
I have not tried dd on Calpol or infacol or any medicine until today I tried baby bonjela..difficult to administer as she just drools it out.
Please how long should I expect this to continue? Do they get used to teeth coming through and stop being so upset?
Can I see in her mouth anything to indicate just in case I am on the wrong tack and its the dreaded colic or something else..
I feel very ignorant and useless for the first time since I gave birth.

My % and a Half month Ds just got his first two bottom teeth. New nothing about it till he bit my nipple. No signs at all apart from dribble but thats what babies do best

5 and a half months meant to say

DD is now 17 weeks and has been doing the fist chewing, dribbly thing since 5 weeks, and we are yet to see any teeth come through! You can see two under the gum on the bottom, but they're not budging.

I BF both DSs after they cut teeth, and the only time I got bitten is when DH made me jump which in turn made DS2 jump and clamp down

Ds is a nosy so and so and pulls away at the slightest noise taking my nip with him. Thats how i felt it.

My DD used to get really hot gums and rosy cheeks. No dribble though.

Hi Newt, it's usually the bottom middle teeth that come through first so it's that part of the gum you should be feeling. If they have pushed quite a way up you can really feel the swollen gum (like Evita explains). If you're not sure there prob isn't anything yet - you know it when you feel it. Also the hot gums and rosey cheeks (like Charlie+3 says) was a sure sign something was about to happen.

DS got his first two at 4mo, but then the top ones didn't appear until 7mo. He got all four top ones in one go and then the next bottom ones two weeks later poor love. So now he has 8 ! Soooooo cute.

I give the Nelson's cammomile sachets (or Boots equiv) in the day and only use Bonjella at night just before bed(or in the day if bad). We've used Calpol only on occasion, usually in the night when the teeth actually break through the gum. It looks VERY sore when that happens.

Infacol is just for helping with colic/wind (which my ds had until 4mo).Sometimes being a sucky baby they do take in a bit more air. You need to use it regularly (ie. every feed) to get any results. Colic is usually coupled with uncomfortable crying. Why are you using Infacol - does your DD have colic? HTH