Please help a bemused 3rd time mother with the ins and outs of teething.......

[TheQueenOfQuotes]

and may/may not occur.

When DS1 and DS2 were babies they hardly had any trouble teething, a little bit grizzly and their teeth just seemed to "appear" - well at least I could never see anything in their mouth just before the tooth popped out (perhaps I was looking for the wrong thing???). They were also both about 10/11 months old.

Jump to now.

DS3, 5 1/2 months old. Been very grumpy and irritable since early Monday morning. Not drinking much, not sleeping well (we he is sleeping well in that he's sleeping lots - but he's not really sleeping on his own.......which is a HUGE change for him) and often screaming when we offer the bottle. Has been dribbling LOADS (we're talking 7/8 bibs a day minimum) and shoving anything he can get his hands on into his mouth and chewing it.

Both yesterday and today he seemed to perk up quite a bit in the afternoon, and then "regressed" to the grumpy, miserable, milk refusing, high pitched screaming.

So a few questions (please treat me like a 1st time mum on this one as I'm completely clueless given that DS1 and 2 teethed liked a dream.

Can you ALWAYS see something on the gums when a tooth is about to pop out, and if so - what exactly, and where exactly?

Is it common for them to seem to want milk, but then scream hysterically after about 2 sucks and then refuse the bottle

Is it normal for them to sleep a LOT (and not settle themselves as they usually do) - DH was up until 4am with him this morning sat in the chair holding him, I've been up since 4am (we swapped over so he could get some sleep) as I also sat in the chair holding him.

Perhaps an odd one this, do they ever seem more "windy" when teething (ie do they fart a lot).

He's not got a temp, and my only real concern is about the small amount of milk that he's drinking (won't drink water either) - so far 15oz since 11.30pm last night - as opposed to a "normal" 24hrs of approx 40-45oz...

I'm going to take him to the Dr.s tommorow regardless, but just wanted to know if this sounds like early (well for my family) teething......

GIve him some clapol, and see if it works.

we have been giving him calpol - seems to work a little

Ashton Parsons Teething Powders.... certainly sounds like teeth to me.

Really hope he settles down for you soon, but a trip to docs may be in order to check its nothing else (ears etc)

Bonjela before a feed may help him take the bottle better, found it worked for us with DD2 who just went on hunger strike.

Is he weaning? if so yoghurts can help too.

Ashton Parsons Teething Powders.... certainly sounds like teeth to me.

Really hope he settles down for you soon, but a trip to docs may be in order to check its nothing else (ears etc)

Bonjela before a feed may help him take the bottle better, found it worked for us with DD2 who just went on hunger strike.

Is he weaning? if so yoghurts can help too.

grrr - sorry for double post

Sounds like teeth to me too. I second bonjela before a feed and calpol at bedtime if it's bad. DS is actually worse about 4-8 weeks before a tooth appears - once I can see the bulge on the gum and it breaks he's fine, it seems to be them moving up in to the gums that causes him the grief, so don't necessarily expect to see anything obviously correlated - it's taken me till DS' molars to work out his teething "pattern".

lol np JARM. I'll see if I can get some Bonjela tomorrow (we've probably got a tube languishing in the back of the medicine cabinet.......but it's probably also about 3yrs out of date ) on the way to the Dr.s

I suppose it is a bit like him being on a feeding strike, only feeding when he feels he has to (as opposed to when he wants to).

Just out interest (of course I may not want to know the truthful answer to this - but you may as well tell me straight).....presuming it is teeth (after having other problems ruled out by the Dr.s tomorrow)......how long can I expect this to last?????

you see Weegle - I never saw any bulges on either DS1 or DS2's gum's when they were teething - their teeth just "appeared" (as if by magic......and if this is teething it was magic for them LOL).

Do you mean that you had 4-8 weeks of this, or that it happened for a short(er) period 4-8 weeks before the tooth appeared??? [worried]

Well Ds is the worst of his peers for teething by far, so we're probably not a good case study... but for his incisors starting about 4 weeks before a tooth cut we had symptoms (dribbling/temp/nappy rash/grumps/chewing) for approx 3 weeks per tooth. For molars we had about 3 months of hell before a set of 4 over a course of a month, and canines are currently sending me to an early grave (he ended up in hospital with a febrile convulsion last week with teething symptoms exacerbating a viral infection). Yet all we can see is one bulge, been there 10 days now. NONE of his peers have been this bad with teeth though so I'm reckoning he's at the bad end of the scale.

I would go with the Bonjela and calpol at bed route and see how you go. Also keep some frozen teething keys in the freezer, if nothing else it makes you feel like you're doing something!

3 weeks - OMG we can't go 3 weeks on the current rate of things - thankfully he had 6oz just before bed which takes the last 24hrs milk intake up to 21oz (which is still only about 1/2 of what he normally has) but the having to hold him to sleep.......I'm going to need matchsticks for my eyes if it continues that long, as DH simply won't be able to keep sitting up with him until 4am - even if he's managing to doze - he's in the car most of the day for his job and he'd just be too tired to drive safely.

Can you try settling him IN the cot - so once he is asleep he can stay there till the next waking? Drop the side and sit on the floor with a hand on his tummy, shushing might help, or lightly tapping rhythmically - you have to find what works for you. Also as soon as he wakes/or just before bed, do Bonjela, it might give you a big enough window to get him to sleep.

TBH, not drinking milk isn't one of dd's teething signs and she's had a horrid time with teeth so far (still only 2 out, and she's nearly 1 ). Ditto dd1 - she would go off solids, but not her bottle.

I think you're absolutely right to take trip to doc, and hope he/she sheds light - sore throats cause tons of dribble too, and put kids of swallowing. He could be starting a cold.

Meantime, I would probaby act on the assumption its at least teeth, and quite possibly something else, and use some gel - it can't hurt, might help. I've also found baby Nurofen much more effective for both tooth and throat pain than Calpol.

Teething is like pms, IMO - impossible to be 100% clear about till the evidence arrives. And makes for grumpiness, moodiness, and - bad luck, babies - the need for chocolate

put OFF swallowing.

Another thought - screaming hysterically after two sucks could be tummy pain, especially if he has wind. My dd2 has done that when her reflux has been playing up.

Thanks for all your help. It wasn't his teeth though full story here (it's long - sorry)