This is a sponsored guest post.
Your baby has been a perfect little angel since the minute it was born. It has slept through the night, hasn’t cried except when it was hungry or wet and even with a newborn in the house you were able to get some rest, do the housework and take care of your other obligations. However, your bundle of joy has suddenly turned into a fussing baby and is cranky even when fed, clean and completely healthy. If your baby is keeping you up at night and won’t stop biting everything she/he manages to grab, it is very likely that teething has begun. It starts when the little one is about four months old and ends when the last set of molars appears. Usually by then, the baby is almost three years old. If you are interested in learning about the most common teething symptoms, read the following and see whether your baby’s teeth have started to grow.
The baby is always rubbing gums and drooling
Most babies love putting everything in their mouths, from their toys to their feet. However, when the teething process has begun rubbing their gums with different things may become excessive. If you have noticed that your baby is now constantly rubbing the gums, make sure you keep your child away from items that pose a choking hazard. If your baby’s teeth are coming out you should check out reviews of teething toys at Funtastic Toy and find a chewy delight for your little one. When the babies start teething, they also turn into little drool machines and even tend to soak their clothes with saliva. To ensure that your little one doesn’t develop a rash on the cheeks and chin, make sure you wipe the drool off and change wet clothes throughout the day.
The baby is cranky
Unfortunately, for most babies, the teething process is painful and irritating. Therefore, if your little one is crying without any obvious reasons and is constantly cranky, you might see some teeth pushing their way through the gums soon.
The baby won’t sleep
When you have a bad tooth, how many times do you wake up during the night because of the pain? If your child who slept through the night before is now constantly waking up and doesn’t want to take naps at all, the odds are that the teething process has begun. This may be a difficult time for you, but don’t worry, once the tooth has come out your baby will start sleeping normally again and so will you.
The baby doesn’t want to eat
If your little one whose favorite time of the day was lunchtime is now on a hunger strike, it is quite possible that your baby is teething. Since sucking on a bottle or nursing can irritate gums that are already completely sore, babies sometimes refuse to eat when they are teething. Just try to keep your child fed anyway you can, and if you are worried that your baby is not eating enough, contact your pediatrician.
The baby is rubbing cheeks and pulling ears
You know that when your tooth hurts it often feels like your whole head hurts. Well, the pain caused by a growing tooth can spread to cheeks and ears, so infants tend to rub their cheeks and pull their ears in order to stop it. However, since these symptoms can also be a sign of ear infection, contact the pediatrician especially if your little one also has a high fever.
The baby has elevated body temperature
A lot of babies struggle with teething fever when their teeth are coming out. However, this fever shouldn’t be confused with the real one which can be a sign of infection or illness. Teething fever is just a slightly elevated body temperature, while a real one is when your little one has a temperature over 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit.
Even if your baby hasn’t started teething according to schedule, do not worry. Every child is different so just relax and get some sleep while you still can.