Teething

[Xmaxsmumx]

How long does teething last?? How long from the start of the cranky, pulling ears, chomping their own fists etc to the tooth being through does that last? Can I expect these symptoms to be pretty much permanent until all his teeth are through?? Xxx

Plus - what do swollen gums look like ??? I don't know what I'm looking for, how can I be certain he's teething?

It can be month or it can be really quick. I find it is a bit stop start and with the last tooth there was lots of grumbling and then when the grumbling stopped there was tooth but two days later to tooth just appeared.

I think usually few days to a week maximum for each tooth. Poor little DS recently popped out three at once! Calpol is your friend.

I think there are different stages of teething. At 8 weeks DS was dribbling everywhere, chewing on his hands, dodgy nappies etc and we kept saying 'he's teething'.... fast forward to 15 weeks and we found out was teething was really like... 2 weeks of hell and he had his first two teeth.
When the teeth are about to cut (few days before) it'll look like an ulcer on the top of his gum where the tooth will come through. DS had that about 2 days before so I knew it was imminent.

I find mild symptoms are pretty much constant. On bad days he'll be a lot more upset and grumbly and on really bad days he won't go down for naps/sleep without some sort of pain relief.

Yes, my baby is only 11weeks and doesn't look anywhere near a tooth coming through but he has classic teething signs. He's had severe reflux and cma, we had a week of ok
Sleep with just 2 feeds in the night, then his injections which he reacted to badly. And now he seems to be teething. We seem to have just had a sick baby since day 1 and the poor little thing doesn't know what's his him ☹️ xx

What are the current symptoms?

Fist chewing and dribbling are not 'signs of teething'. It's how a baby imprints the motor and sensory maps of their hands onto their brains. The excess drooling is to ensure impurities as a result of this are neutralised and washed out of the mouth. This starts from the time they can physically get their hands to their mouths independently. Similarly, disturbed sleep is just a developmental thing - sleep comes and goes for the first two years. It's not necessarily teething.

Far too much is attributed to teething, IMO, and I worry that babies are way over-medicated for normal developmental behaviour.

That said, the two year molars were the right bastards for my two. Screaming day and night for the two or three days they took to erupt, then total personality change to far nicer children. So teething comes and goes for about 2.5 years.

He's got his hands up by the side of his head what looks like pulling his ears, bit cranky, waking up in the night bit cranky, dribbling, fists in his mouth, biting his dummy sometimes rather than sucking, he's just not particularly happy an was wondering how long from the first signs-if these are the first signs, does it take for the tooth to come through. And how long in between teeth coming through generally until the next? X

Any temperature at all? It so different for each baby. My ds got his first tooth at 4 months and had all 20 by 20mo. The first 6 or 8 were pretty easy tbh - he just went through about 8 bibs a day in drool.

All of those things could just be part of normal development. They might be teething, they might not - more likely not at 11wo. You won't actually know what's teething and what isn't until a tooth appears - only then will you be able to say for sure with the benefit of hindsight. All babies/toddlers get teeth at different times - the first one appears on average around six months and he last one, on average, around two years, but really...does it matter? It's not like you can avoid it. Only give ibuprofen (can be better for teething than Calpol as it's an anti-inflammatory) if all other settling methods have failed and baby is clearly in distress - try to avoid giving it 'just in case' or with the appearance of questionable 'signs'. Teething ambers are utter woo, so save your money, and teething powders are neat sugar. If they're effective it's because of the sugar rush baby gets, along with mild pain-relieving properties associated with sugar and infants. Up to you if you want to try them but I wasn't keen to encourage sugar from such a tiny age. If you're breastfeeding, keep them close with unrestricted access to the breast and that will be the best pain relief and comfort you can give.

I've got loads of friends that have used amber bands and swear by them - that's a matter of opinion whether they work or not since we'll never know if they work or their child was just good. Or if people say they'r no good because their babies have had particularly bad problems teething where amber beads don't touch the sides. The likes of ambersol arnt just sugar they have numbing properties which is why they'r so effective. I've not used calpol or ibuprofen yet but if I needed to I would, as you say I'm not keen on him being on on either regularly just incase it does get worse then he really needs it, and he's already had it each night for a week.
The reason why it matters, is so that I can try and judge whether it is or not. If teething symptoms only last a week (for example) and he's had symptoms for 2 weeks, then I know it can't be teething. A lot of things with babies are unavoidable but atleast if you understand it then your left in better stead than not bothering to understand just because they'r going to go through it anyway. But thanks all for your advise it's been helpful 😊 I better go and buy some more bibs 🤤

Read from an Ashton and Parson's box:

Ingredients - 130mg lactose, 0.002mL Tincture of Matricaria

i.e. sugar and a minute amount of a homeopathic distillation of something that already does nothing but convinces the gullible that it does by virtue of a big word.

Teething powders are sugar, pure and simple, which is believed to have a slight pain relieving effect in babies. They also provide a pleasant temporary distraction because of the flavour and texture. No mysterious numbing properties about them. Use them if you must but understand how they work and accept that you're exposing brand new teeth directly to sugar.

And amber beads being woo is not a matter of opinion. Proponents state they work by melting gently into the baby's skin with body heat. Since amber has a melting point of 300+ celsius, they must have some hot babies. Or (more likely) they're heavily influenced by parental placebo effect, or their babies are not badly affected by teething.

Ashton's and parsons , is not ambersol 🙄

Mine started at 10 weeks... 22 weeks and still not a sign of a tooth!