Teething

[QoQ]

How do you know that your baby is teething? I've read up on symptoms but they are quite vague - her grumpiness for eg could be attributed to her reflux.

DD is 4 months old and chewing her fists and toys constantly, everything that goes near her goes in her mouth. However she has been doing this for weeks, ever since discovering her hands and I can't feel anything in her mouth, her gums feel smooth and don't look red, but one of her cheeks has been red on-and-off for a few days. Is it just normal baby behaviour to put everything in their mouths or could she be getting a tooth already?

I don't know, but marking place for answers, QoQ, you're describing my current dilemma.

My son was sticking everything smaller than the cat into his mouth from about 4 months and has just got his two bottom teeth coming through now at 6.5 months.

The only difference really was for about 4 days before the tooth appeared the amount of dribble became ridiculous (soaking through bibs in an hour) and he became a bit clingy and grumpy with my husband and he is NEVER grumpy with Daddy!

My ds was just like that at 4 months. We had a few days where he was very grumpy; then his two front bottom teeth popped through at 5 months.

He's not currently teething (now 6 months old) but still sticks everything onto his mouth; so it's hard to tell if they're chewing cos of teething or if it's just normal baby behaviour. He now uses those razor sharp teeth to bite mummy when bf-ouch!!

Baby neurofen (used sparingly) was the best cure when grumpy.

DS is now 6 months, and ever since he was about 3 months, our family have been putting every grumpy fit / mild temperature / extra drooly day down to teething... But not a sign of teeth yet! I've been starting to wonder if it's a bit of a catch-all, like colic.

Sounds quite teethy. Dd was like this from 12 weeks but didn't produce a tooth until 8 months!