Teething? 7 month old grumbling and cluster feeding all night

[crazycatlady5]

Hi folks

For the past two nights my 7 month old has been cluster feeding all night and cries when my nipple falls out of her mouth. This has happened a couple of times before so I know it'll pass (obviously I am shattered!) - just wondered if people think it is teething. She is very grumbly in the night in general and this morning woke up and immediately burst into tears. Her cheeks were red yesterday and she's got a very runny nose which my MIL tells me is a symptom of teething. I just can't feel ANY signs of teeth which is why I'm unsure.

Should i just give painkillers every few hours (calpol then nurofen 3 hrs later) for a couple of days?

TIA

My daughter is 10 months and has her 7th tooth coming through now. I am also a paediatrician so am very familiar with use of painkillers in children.

My recommendations are to give Calpol and Nurofen regularly in the following 2 instances:

1. When they have fever - you always want to have a fever under control, no matter what the cause. If you aren't certain its teething, give the medicines and go to GP but always aim to get the temperature down in a baby
2. When teeth are cutting through the gum - you will be able to see the white under the gum and see it is about to cut through. They will be in a lot of pain at this point.

If you feel she is struggling right now, feel free to give a single dose of either, but I wouldn't load her up on both or give either regularly as you aren't certain its teething yet and don't want to mask anything else. It does seem likely its the early part of teething but all babies will have different symptoms. My one has changes in her bowels, a runny nose and gets clingy for upto 2 weeks first, then she will get fever and ear ache as the tooth comes - this is the worst part with sleepless nights all night and extreme pain but hasn't lasted more than 4 days for us (yet!). You will get to know your daughter's symptoms and pattern as time goes on and they start to come out.

Look at topical remedies too like Bonjela and Anbesol and ice lollies are fantastic (try ones made of breast milk if you can express a little bit, will be really soothing for her).

The tiredness really sucks doesn't it? For the past 4 months a tooth has come through just as my one has started sleeping really well so we keep going back to the beginning!

Hope that helps

Thanks so much riddles. Yes I think I feel more comfortable just giving her the medicine if she seems in real discomfort but agree that dosing her up isn't the best idea - will stick to anbesol and teethers!

Trust your judgement and definitely give it to her if you feel she's in a lot of pain and needs it - I wouldn't want her to suffer if there is something available to relieve it. Just avoid giving regularly and using both together until the worst point or fever.

Anbesol numbs the area so it's a good one to use. Some friends also swear by bonjela so will be a case of trial and error for which remedy works best for her.

I hope they come out quickly and give her some relief.

I didn't start giving pain killers until I could physically feel the first point of the tooth cutting. You can usually tell it's about to happen. So when I start getting teething symptoms (sore bum, red cheeks - I don't tend to use dribbling or chewing as a teething syptom because I think all babies do these), I start checking in mouth regularly.

But once that first bit of tooth pokes through, I commence 4 hourly Calpol to the max daily dose of 4 doses per day. I find this gives better overnight coverage than a single dose at bedtime. First 8 teeth were ususlly fully cut within a couple of days, they are a more pointed shape so cut more easily.

I've not generally needed both Calpol and ibuprofen until molars. Molars cutting were horrendous here, I just couldn't keep my DD happy no matter what I did for those four days.

But you judge what's best for your baby. While im not a fan of medicating just in case, also no-one wants to leave baby in pain if you can solve it for them.

Keep feeling in her mouth. Teething symptoms never lasted longer than a week here, with cutting taking 3 days, give or take. So if you're getting red cheeks and other symptoms, you may well feel a tooth pricking through very soon. If not, then you'll know it wasn't teething after all so must be something else.

Brilliant, thanks so much FATE and riddles, excellent advice!

I feel so bad for her she seems so unsettled and has bursts of heartbreaking tears, but there's literally NO sign of any teeth at all. Could it be earache? I fear I'm being a paranoid FTM here but perhaps a trip to the docs tomorrow.

My DD became unsettled and cranky a few weeks before she actually cut her teeth. Her cheeks got red, she was drooling and constantly had her hand in her mouth, and she kept crying during the day. It was very hard to switch her attention to anything else. We used Nelson teething powders (they contain camomile which seems to calm babies down) and Anbesol which also made things a bit better.

Luckily, DD loves her cot and her sleep so she had slept surprisingly well until her teeth started cutting through the gums. She then began waking up during the night screaming (she is a very loud baby who refuses to tolerate any discomfort let alone teething pain). For a few nights, we had to give her both Calpol and Nurofen which helped. Top teeth seemed to be more painful than bottom teeth and took longer to emerge (up to 5 days per tooth). As soon as a tooth cuts through it gets better but then a new cycle starts.

DD is nearly 8 months and has currently got 5 teeth. Number 6 is probably on the way and I am not looking forward to it. I don't even want to think about molars!

There are loads of 'invisible' illnesses she could have. As in pains she has that because she can't tell you and you can't outwardly see symptoms that you wouldn't know.

Sore throat being the most common I would say. I know some children suffer a lot with their ears too, I have no experience of that directly though. Tummy ache is another, unless there is explosive poo you may never know that she has stomach ache.

I often have a few grumpy days from little one, not sure what it is, then I come down with a sore throat or whatever myself and have that "Ah, that's what it was" moment.

Give pain relief if she's uncomfortable. If she's hurting then she needs it.

It quite possibly is teething but as Fate says, could easily be anything else making her sore. Is her temperature normal? My daughter tugs at her ears when they hurt.

On the contrary to what Fate said, teething pain for my one was worse just before they cut through the gums so I needed the painkillers then. Once I felt the sharp, everything started to improve. They all suffer differently and you will get to know how it is for your one as they come through.

With regards to her current pain - if it were me, I would give her some Calpol and see if it has any effect. Wait for it to wear off before giving a further dose and if you need to give it for more than 3 days, see your GP to rule anything else out. Of course, if she has fever with temp of 40+ or signs of any other infection, go GP sooner.

So when a teething spell ends, they do just go back to being a good sleeper...right...?...??

living in fear right now as it's been over a week since we could see his white teeth under the gums-to coming through only half way! And he's waking up at 4am and 5am and not sleeping unless I breast feed all night! We had JUST weaned him OFF night feeds. So I hope he's not going to want to go sleep and breastfeed once teething's over? He's such a deep sleeper once he's asleep I'm hoping when there's no pain.. that's what he'll do.. just sleep wherever we put him.

we had just had a lovely 3 days of sleeping through as well!😪