Teething HELL

[Randomname85]

For the past 4 nights my 10 month old has been in teething hell. Writhing in pain, inconsolable, nappy rash, hot to touch. He will not settle to sleep unless u am constantly rocking and standing up - every time I stop even for a moment he screams. He didn’t go to sleep until 4.30am this morning from last night. I am in my knees. We are alternating calpol and ibuprofen. I know it’s like asking how long is a piece of string but how long in experience does this go on for before a tooth appears? He doesn’t even have one tooth yet so the thought of going through this every time he does… 😣 I was so exhausted last night I just wanted to drive away. Pls help.

Just coming out the backend of a fortnight of fevers, sleep deprivation and constant rocking to sleep myself with our 10mo. She cut two teeth in this time, so all I can say is that when the pain is that bad then you know the teeth are imminent. Can you see any just below the gums?

It’s absolute pants and I send you all the solidarity. Have you tried Anbesol liquid (not gel)? It afforded us some relief, even if just for long enough to get a bottle down her to send her off to nod.

Thinking of you OP!

Firstly- are you certain it's teething. Like, really certain? Because too many parents medicate their babies needlessly thinking "teething" when actually it's just an issue with sleep development.

If it is teething, bear in mind that the first 8 teeth are actually the easiest to cut - molars and in particular second molars are much more painful.

For teeth cutting I would suggest 4 hourly paracetamol through the daytime. Even if it's not needed, max the dose (I think it's 4 doses in 24h) during the day to give a build up of pain relief come bedtime. Then at bedtime double dose paracetamol and ibuprofen at bedtime. This leaves you with ibuprofen doses avaliable through the night if needed.

Bear in mind you can only do 3 days of the max dosage. So pick carefully and only use when teeth are cutting, not all the time.