Signs of teething start to occur when babies are between 3 months to 12 months old. Their experience of teething also varies widely. Some babies can be very hard to please because of the discomfort they feel while others teeth with no pain or discomfort at all. It is important for parents to be able to tell when the symptoms are leaning towards a baby is teething or if the symptoms are a sign that something else might be going wrong.
What are the symptoms of teething?
1. Teething, when it is painful, can keep babies awake at night. If your baby finds it hard to sleep at night, the cause may be teething.
2. Babies drool a lot when teething. The antibodies in the drool protects their tender gums from the various things they chew on.
3. Chewing fingers and objects are signs of teething. Chewing helps relieve the pain and the pressure they feel. They nibble on objects they can easily get their hands on.
4. Babies react differently to eating when they start teething. If eating was consistent before, it might reduce when teething because the activity of sucking puts unnecessary pressure on the gum. Also, if eating was inconsistent before, they want to eat more when teething because the counter pressure on it feels good.
5. When their gums are swollen, it is a sure sign of teething.
6. Sometimes, babies pull their ears which can be a sign of infection and also a sign of teething. They pull their ears because the pain in their jaw is transferred to the ear canal.
7. When you look into your baby’s mouth, you may see little tooth buds. At first they look like small bumps on your baby’s gum. If you run your finger over them, you should the able to feel the hard tooth if it is not appearing yet.
Note: Call the doctor to rule out anything serious if you are not sure it is teething. Sometimes, diarrhea, fever or a runny nose especially when it is more than 24 hours may not be symptoms of teething. Do you know of any other obvious symptoms of teething? Share with us in the comments section below.
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This article was first published on 17th July 2015
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