L.S. asks from West Linn, OR on July 05, 2008
Is This Symptoms of Teething?
My 7 month old son is just getting his first two bottom teeth. At first I was giving him tylenol and that really did the trick for his fussiness/pain. Now he yells at a high pitch/or baby talking all day but when I pick him up or look at him he stops. He really doesn't seem like he's in pain.He doesn't like things like the cold teether and tylenol isn't working. Any suggestions?
I'm afraid to use teething tablets because of the belladonna in it?
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M.B. answers from Seattle on July 05, 2008
Lynelle,
His yelling/talking is not usually a symptom of teething, but of a baby exploring his voice. Some of it may be for attention, but mostly it's to see what kind of a reaction he can get from you guys. When my daughter (15 months) did/does this I just look at her say "inside voice please" in a calm tone, then go back to what I was doing. She only got loud for a few days, then realized there were other ways to get Mom's attention.
Hope this helps,
M.
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A.M. answers from Seattle on July 08, 2008
Most babies go through a stage (or 2) of screaming for the sake of screaming. They like to hear themselves and see the reaction. When you pick him up while he's doing it, it's a reaction so that is probably why he stops. There's nothing really wrong with it in my opinion, it's just a little annoying. All my kids did it and so did all the kids in my daycare. They all seem to eventually get bored and stop. Then move onto a new noise. They seem to do the screaming thing again around 18 - 20 months, again just for "fun". As long as they are not screaming in pain or anger, I let them go ahead and get it out of thier system. Stay calm, it will pass.
As far as the teething... My son's dentist saw him for his first teeth at the age of 4 months and told me that when kids are teething, there is an enzyme released in thier mouths that helps move the teething process along and that giving tylenol, while it definitly helps with pain (the fussiness is caused by pain so thats why they stop being fussy when you give it to them - the pain is gone) the problem is that tylenol reduces the enzyme released in their saliva and in reality, makes teething take longer. He told me I should try home remedies like ice, popcycles, frozen bananas and teething toys.
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M.B. answers from Seattle on July 05, 2008
Lynelle,
His yelling/talking is not usually a symptom of teething, but of a baby exploring his voice. Some of it may be for attention, but mostly it's to see what kind of a reaction he can get from you guys. When my daughter (15 months) did/does this I just look at her say "inside voice please" in a calm tone, then go back to what I was doing. She only got loud for a few days, then realized there were other ways to get Mom's attention.
Hope this helps,
M.
2 moms found this helpful
T.J. answers from Seattle on July 05, 2008
It doesn't sound like teething to me just normal baby figuring out their voice behavior, but every child acts differently. Typical signs of teething are drooling, chewing, swollen gums, tugging on their ear, some can have looser stools and runny noses too.
I personally feel worse giving such a young child tylenol or motrin. I've used the teething tablets with both my children, and it works! I have always given them a half or just one tablet which is less than recommended, but they didn't seem to need more than that. I know a kid who ate a whole bottle of them once and nothing ever happened, the concentration is really low his naturopath said. Years later he's fine still, never got sick, nothing!
My teething daughter loves the cold teethers but if he doesn't you can try a frozen washcloth, frozen pizza crust, other toys, or teething biscuits. Good luck!
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K.N. answers from Seattle on July 05, 2008
Sounds like he just found his voice....lol! Once they realize how loud they can be they like to keep things at that level!
As for teething.....my youngest is not at all affected by tylenol or motrin and was/is sometimes up for hours in the middle of the night....it stinks....the teething tablets did pretty much nothing to help any of my kids.....they hated teething rings.....and the wash cloth trick did nothing.... I just gave them whole cold pickles to gum through out the day. They smelled and were a bit messy but it worked great for us. (I'm sure some folks will have issues with this method but I sat them in thier seats at the table and sat with them the whole time. None of mine ever got a chunk off until they had a whole big set of chompers.)
Even on his worst days just keep reminding yourself that this teething stage passes pretty quickly in the whole scheme of things and soon enough it will be over!
Enjoy the cute baby hollars..............they get much louder as they get older....lol!
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S.S. answers from Portland on July 06, 2008
Just in case it is teething also...he might just not be liking the same treatments for it now. My daughters both liked chewing on a wet baby wash cloth to soothe their gums and it kept them busy and quieter too because they thought it was fun. :) Just a thought.
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D.R. answers from Portland on July 07, 2008
one thing that i used with both of my kids while teething was organic frozen peas and frozen blueberries. they make a nice cold "chew" option while providing some good nutrition. and don't be afraid of the homeopathic teething tablets. they are a lot better for your child than tylenol will ever be. i hope this helps.
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M.L. answers from Seattle on July 06, 2008
He may just developmentally be where he's having seperation anxiety. My little one had it for about a month between 6 and 7 months, and just needed to be held by me or she would cry. My husband is very involved, but she wouldn't really go to him unless everything else was just perfect and it wouldn't be for very long even then. Hold him, wear him, cosleep and it'll pass.
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J.R. answers from Seattle on July 06, 2008
Our son screeched at one point - we called him a terradactyl (I know that isn't spelled correctly...). Just a way to communicate I think. As for teething, we didn't really do anything - once in a while we gave him tylenol, but I don't think that it did much...we also used baby orajel...
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W.C. answers from Seattle on July 06, 2008
Sounds like he wants to be vertical and engaged with you.
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