How Do You Know When Your Baby Is Teething?

By sophie on December 7, 2009

My daughter will be 6 1/2 months old tomorrow. She has been drooling like crazy since she was 2 months old. Normally, she’s a very happy baby and rarely fusses. Until today, that is. How do you know when your little one is teething?

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  1. Amber
    December 7, 2009 at 5:46 AM | |

    You look inside their mouth and look for swollen gums, there will just be a bump. Like in this picture I found when I googled it. To get them to open their mouth I would hold them on my lap and get them to laugh and have someone else look at their gumline or turn them upside down for a second to see if you can see anything. They think it’s a game. My baby always starting bitting down on things especially my fingers. Since your baby hasn’t gotten in any teeth yet it should be the bottom front teeth that are swollen since they are the first to appear in the babies mouth. They could also have a slight fever accompanied with teething so I would take her temp and administer meds. as needed. I use baby Tylenol without the cold medicine added and baby orajel. Also, my baby also got diarrhea when she was teething. She now has 5 teeth and is working on getting the 6th one in.
    I’ve heard the the tooth will come down and make the gum swell and cause pain and then go back up and then finally come down and pop out. It could take awhile to come out but once you see the white dot, like the one in the picture it takes roughly (3 days-for my daughter at least) to come in and that’s just barely, it takes awhile to grow in more defined. I would look at the teething link on the Parents mag thing I found for more info on this cause it’s just something I heard, not researched. There’s a teething guide as the first link that sounds promising to me.
    Good Luck! Also, teethers help! My baby liked them chilled in the fridge. She also liked cold water.

  2. in ♥ with my baby!
    December 7, 2009 at 6:25 AM | |

    What teething symptoms will my baby experience?
    Experts disagree about whether teething actually causes symptoms — like fussiness, diarrhea, and fever — or whether these common symptoms are not related to teething at all and just coincidentally appear at the same time as emerging teeth. Regardless, many parents maintain that their teething babies do experience discomfort (though some babies get through the process with no problems at all). The symptoms most likely to trouble a teether include:
    • Drooling (which can lead to a facial rash)
    • Gum swelling and sensitivity
    • Irritability or fussiness
    • Biting behavior
    • Refusing food
    • Sleep problems
    Though many parents report that their babies have loose stools, runny noses, or a fever just before a new tooth arrives, most experts don’t think teething is to blame for these symptoms. One who does is William Sears, pediatrician and author of The Baby Book. Sears believes that teething can cause diarrhea and a mild diaper rash because your baby’s excessive saliva ends up in his gut and loosens his stools. Inflammation in the gums, he thinks, may cause a low fever (under 101 degrees Fahrenheit).
    On the other hand, child development experts such as Penelope Leach assert that teething cannot cause fever, diarrhea, vomiting, or loss of appetite and that these are signs of illness that should be checked out. Noted pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton says such symptoms are probably due to an infection unrelated to teething, but that the stress associated with teething could make your child more vulnerable to infection right before a new tooth appears.
    The one thing experts agree on is that you should call your child’s doctor if your baby has symptoms that worry you or a rectal temperature of 101 degrees F or higher (100.4 degrees F or higher for babies younger than 3 months). The doctor can help determine whether your baby is showing signs of a problem that needs medical attention, like an ear infection. If your baby has loose stools — but not diarrhea — don’t worry. The condition will clear up on its own.

  3. liesa90
    December 7, 2009 at 10:19 AM | |

    Drooling like crazy, clamping down on everything and anything, red cheeks, swollen gums, whites on gums, fever, diarhea..just to name a few.
    My baby has been teething like a mad man. He now has 6 teeth and all 4 of the top one’s came in at the same time and apparantly that is rare. It’s terrible, he cries and fusses and is just overall unwell. He runs a slight fever and pulls on his ears..I took him to the doc and the doc checked him out and said that he has teething syndrome. Experts used to say that teething does not cause symptoms as runny nose, fever, etc., but it certainly does. We give tylenol and teething numb medicine, I’ve tried teething tablets. It took my son 4-5 months before they finally popped through. Very painful for him, but once they broke the skin they came the rest of the way fairly quick.
    Good luck, I call it teething hell. Try and sleep when you can.

  4. Twitted by teether9000
    December 7, 2009 at 3:04 AM | |

    [...] This post was Twitted by teether9000 [...]

  5. Mama Janet
    December 7, 2009 at 11:23 AM | |

    When my son was teething he chewed on his hands, bit anything that I put in his mouth and was very fussy. He also had a low grade fever and spit up more than usual. Once I realized he was teething I gave him the tablets and he felt much better. You may notice little white areas on her gums where the teeth will eventually poke through. If you run your fingers on them you may feel a hard tooth underneath. My guess is that she’s teething right now. The first tooth takes forever to come in and then they just keep coming.

  6. KuttyB
    December 7, 2009 at 5:45 PM | |

    My son is getting his third tooth. He had diarrhea, drool, refused to eat, he wakes in the night, and he hasnt dont that since he was a month old, he scratched his gums on EVERYTHING!!! and he’s crabby.

  7. E
    December 7, 2009 at 11:17 PM | |

    well you already mentioned some hun :)
    drool, fuss, drool, fuss, bites, drool, red cheeks, drool, facial rash because or the drool, drool and before i forget… drool.

  8. MaLlOrY r
    December 8, 2009 at 12:21 AM | |

    I knew when my son started drooling alot and also i could tell because his gums would get swollen.

  9. x0x_kelx
    December 8, 2009 at 5:39 AM | |

    swollen gums, and lots and lots of drool

  10. ĀŢĿĄŜ↔ĴŮ
    December 8, 2009 at 10:38 AM | |

    Oh yeah, she’s teething!

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