Teething

The first "milky pearls", as it is popularly known, make an appearance at not less than 6 months of age. Although this tooth eruption is one of the occasions that excite many parents but it also comes surrounded by doubts and fears associated with it.

In most babies, teething goes unnoticed. Thus, problems such as ear infections, diarrhea, fever and loss of appetite are not directly related with this process, but get triggered indirectly. With regard to other related symptoms, we clarify why arise:

It is true that you will notice that your baby is drooling more than usual. Increased drooling occurs because the salivary glands mature about six months of life, and prepared for the introduction of complementary feeding, producing more saliva. Also around this time, gums are swollen and painful and this further increases the saliva secretion.

Teething does not cause fever and the thermometer never scores more than 38 ° C for this reason. If your baby is over 38 ° C, look for other causes. However, inflammation of gums may cause low grade fever.

Dental eruption is a painful process and therefore, causes discomfort.  Hence you will notice that he/she is more restless and irritable.

Severe Diarrhea or diarrhea with fever is not justified by the teething. However, you may notice that your baby‘s stools are softer. This is due to baby's excessive saliva that enters the gut or intestines which loosen the stools.

If you want to ease your baby’s discomfort:

Gently massage the gums with your clean fingers for a few minutes.

Apply cold washcloth or cloth, as the cold is analgesic and anti-inflammatory. Try passing ice cube along baby’s gums or offer ice cold water in sips to ease the pain.

Offer your baby a tethers that has previously been cooled in the refrigerator.

Administrate a painkiller, acetaminophen or ibuprofen, the proper dosage for weight (consult your pediatrician).