Teething hell for months now - feeling helpless

[hopingforapeainapod]

Is anyone else in teething hell at the moment? I’m at my wits end. My son got his first tooth at 7 months and since then it’s been relentless. He just turned 11 months and has 12 teeth! It feels like we’ve had no break and every one has been awful.

For the last couple of weeks he has been getting his molars, which was horrendous. Now they are all through but there’s no break - I can already see two incisors starting to emerge 😞 I want to cry as much as him.

He is just so so unhappy and fussy all the time. He has gone completely off his food, isn’t napping very well, and by the evenings he is inconsolable unless he is in the bath or we take him out and give him alllll the distractions.

I’ve gone back to work this week and am really struggling. Coming back from long tiring work days to a crying teething baby is really hard.

He’s my first baby and I can’t tell if all babies take teething this hard, or if we’ve got unlucky, and I just have no idea how people have multiple children because this is really not fun…

I think you are unlucky to be getting them all quite so soon, mine only just had four teeth at that age. But we have had perma-teething between 12-15 months and that sucked. Lots of night wakes, more Calpol doses than I would ideally give but what else do you do when they are pouring with dribble, clawing their mouth and screaming in the evenings?!

It has been better since all the first molars came in, if that is any comfort.

@OtterMummy2024 yes I’ve also felt a bit guilty about the fact I’ve just been main-lining him Calpol. I’ve also given him Neurofen which I think helps.

We had a few better days over the weekend, but he’s been at the childminder all day and seriously unhappy - childminder just said he’s been dribbling constantly, putting his hands in his mouth, fussing non stop. We had to go pick him up early. It’s so hard!

Yep my son was the same. I had to go back to work at 7 months and he cut 6 teeth in my first 6 weeks at work! First molar at 11 months. Fuck my life.

Not only was it hell but it actually damaged my career as I was running on 2 hours of sleep, daily. People's patience with me ran dry very, very quickly.

And people say you get off early but in my anecdotal experience, the kids that got teeth later didn't suffer and cry as much, and by having a gap between each tooth, parents could cope better.

We were literally getting less sleep between months 7-12 than when he was a newborn.

It ruined my return to work so badly, I had to quit and go find another job where my reputation wasn't so damaged.

A shame really, as pre-mat leave I was the highest performing member of the team and was promised promotion on my return.

OP sending solidarity, we are in the teething trenches with our 10 month old at the moment. She is miserable, waking hourly screaming and so difficult to settle. I feel like we're getting through so much Calpol but what else can we do when she's in so much discomfort?! Also my first week back in work and our eldest daughter's first week of Reception - everyone's exhausted!

Have you tried anbesol (liquid or gel, liquid is easier to apply, but also easier to spill)? It works really quickly, could take both of mine from a crying mess to happily playing in a few minutes.

@Mary678Babe I’m really sorry it affected your work so much; it’s so hard to function properly when you’re sleep deprived, and workplaces often just aren’t accommodating enough either. I agree - having spoken to friends with kids I think children tend to cope better with teething when they’re older, and only getting one tooth at a time or having breaks in between gives everyone a bit of relief, otherwise it is just relentless.

@DancingtoDisney sending solidarity! I found Neurofen worked slightly better than Calpol. It’s so hard when it coincides with returning to work - I am very fortunate that my husband is self employed so he can help out a bit but honestly coming back after a long day at work to a fussy testing baby is really not much fun.

@skkyelark yes I bought some of the gel and I do think it’s helped - thank you for the recommendation!

I'm so glad it's helped. Is your childminder willing to give him some? Our nursery was, and it made a world of difference for my second, who really struggled with her teeth.

We also found it good if they're waking in the night with the pain. Even if you also give calpol or nurofen, the anbesol just works so much faster.