Teething for 2 months without any teeth to show for it, this is B A N A N A S

[65james]

My baby is 8mo old now and has been "teething" on and off for two months. That's two months of yoinking at his ears, drooling puddles, whacking himself in the head while he breastfeeds, digging at his gums, and aggressively chewing on everything he can get his lil' mitts on. Two months of giving Tylenol and Motrin off and on at night when he's screaming and clutching his mouth in pain.

Is this normal? And when are those ding dang teeth going to finally erupt? We're trying to limit the painkillers to times when he can't eat/sleep (which means we give at night for a few nights in a row, take a few nights off, rinse repeat) but like...I'd really like to stop giving him so much medication. Help?

 

[cherrypi]

@65james Our son had teething symptoms for 3 months! At some point it was very obvious (my fingers weren't safe from his biting...) and his first tooth finally came through. But he still had pain. 3 days later his second tooth came through. A week after that his third and the week after that his fourth. Once I noticed his gum was red and swollen, it took only a few days before the tooth erupted. But he had symptoms way before that.

Teething toys helped (sophie the giraffe is his favourite), distracting him helped. But if he really couldn't sleep we would give him a painkiller.

His 7th tooth just came through and it seems like it was less painful for him. But like another commenter said, if you are unsure you can always ask your dentist.

 

[bobrobert]

@65james Once teething starts for any one tooth, it should erupt in about a week. After this much time and all the symptoms, I'd recommend a visit to a pediatric dentist soon just to rule out anything unusual.

 

[justin83]

@bobrobert Disagree. Our little had his first top tooth about 3 - 4 weeks ago, and the other has been pressed against the skin since then but hasn't come through. All the signs are there, it's just taking a while.

I wouldn't encourage people to get worried after one week, it can take much longer than that

 

[bobrobert]

@justin83 "I wouldn't encourage people to get worried after one week, it can take much longer than that"

Given that it's been 8+ weeks, it's not a bad idea to get things checked out. You're correct that a bit longer than 1 week is not cause for concern. I did not indicate that it was.

 

[kathleenloveschrist]

@65james I know right!!! I feel like I weaned this poor child on Calpol, people keep asking if she's teething and I'm like, "well duh?!" Let's just assume she's teething, all the time!

On the plus side, this morning I felt a tooth, there is definitely progress and I thought there was an end to this madness, but I just saw another post that said it'll still be weeks of drooling and pain. So yay for us...

Solidarity friend. I heard that frozen bagels help so I might try that.

 

[justin83]

@kathleenloveschrist Do you find Calpol makes a difference. We tried one night, but didn't notice any difference in his teething symptoms

 

[kathleenloveschrist]

@justin83 No difference at all! Bonjela seems to help, maybe, it's hard to tell!

 

[havila51]

@65james Do you know that he’s definitely teething? You’ll see the silvery little line on their gums when they’re teething and about to erupt. If not, it sounds like you’re baby is just doing typical crazy baby behaviour!

 

[65james]

@havila51 Can you explain this line?

 

[havila51]

@65james Erm.. it’s the stage before you see any white. It’s hard cos kids don’t often let you look for long haha. Hard to describe other than what I’ve written tbh. It’s like before any white bit, the skin isn’t really broken yet but getting ready snd you just kinda see where it’s gonna pop up from!

 

[slugworthh]

@65james Our little dude started to get his first molar like a month and a half ago. Little crown broke through the it stopped for several weeks. Now he has a molar on the other side that is further along but the first one is finally all the way out. It seems like it’s about the same as everything else. It will happen when it happens.

 

[hopeisalive]

@65james We have been swearing that he’s teething for 4 months now, I swear. Drooling, gnawing on his hands, rubbing his gums, chewing on anything and everything, and we have yet to see a tooth, or even any red/swollen gums!!! He is 8 months old now, I have no idea when the teeth are coming!!!

 

[65james]

@hopeisalive We have the same baby apparently.

 

[anglic9823]

@65james If he’s pulling on his ears it would be a good idea to get them checked for an ear infection just in case.
Drool and chewing on things is just a baby thing not necessarily teething.