Teething Troubleshooting

First of all I wanted to make you feel a little better about your growing boy...my son is almost 6 months, and he is in 12-18 month clothes and is 22 pounds (he is 21 inches too) So he is a big boy..arent they so cute, yet sooo hard to carry!! As far as teething goes, I am concerned for you that it is more than teething. My son is cutting his teeth, but has never been inconsolable and unable to eat or sleep well. Although I would be concerned about him being hungry normally, it sounds like he is eating growing just fine. Could it be an ear infection? Try touching his ear, maybe tug it gently, and see if he reacts. Also try to put a warm wash cloth over his ear, and maybe even rub the outside of it some...the spot just below his temple kind of like you are plugging his ear, but not quite. Anyway, that should tell you if it is his ears, but I honeslty think there has to be something else going on. I have had 3 children, and lots of day care kids, and have honeslty never had one irritable for days, and nights, on end just for teething. I did hear once that you could put tylenol right on their gums, and that if it is teething it could help, but I think you have tried just about everything there is. I hope your day goes well on Thanksgiving, and that you can make it through the holiday weekend on so little sleep. Best of luck ~A.~

I know you said that you have tried orajel, but did you try the nighttime orajel?? it always seem to work alot better than the regular. good luck:)

Have you tried baby motrin? We found it worked better with our ds. Hylands are great but sometimes the pain was just too too much for my ds when he first started teething. Even now (he's working on his 2nd yr molars) we occasionally have to give him motrin. Another good thing is a wet wash cloth that you put in the freezer. Give your ds the frozen wash cloth to chew on.

I swear it gets better!!

Our son will not take the washcloth or teething ring when he is teething. What we have found that he will take is a little toothbrush looking thing that has no bristles on the end. It just has little nuby bumps that makes the end soft and chewy. He would chew on that thing day and night when he was first teething. Now, at 20 months, he copes much better! There is hope!

I know for a fact that you are NOT suppose to give your baby motrin/advil/ibuprofen at least until they reach 6 months of age like the other mother noted it does get better and stay calm/patient. You might want to call the nurse hotline cause it could be something else like ears,throat, colic.

Good Luck and I promise you it does get better.
M.

It sounds like you both need some restful sleep. I like the idea of home remedies for the symptoms. I found that a cold (in the frig for 30 mins) wet washcloth for the kids to munch on provided some relief. (The washcloth should be "rough" verses a smooth cloth.) Also the night time version of the oragel was a god send. You may also need to prop up your son on a pillow type structure so that if his ears are plugged-up he can sleep a little better. What about a swinging seat? What about Daddy's tummy while he watches the football games? Good luck - hang in there!

I don't think you are supposed to give motrin/advil/ibuprofen to babies under 6 months. It works better than tylenol, so you might ask the Dr about it. They should have an after-hours line so you can call and speak to a nurse about it. However, if this is on-going, in a baby his age I would suspect something like reflux or an ear infection. He really shouldn't be unconsolable. Another issue could be feeding issues. I have one friend whose milk would start drying up when her babies were about 4 months old. She wasn't aware of it with her first one, but knew what to expect with the second, and knew to start supplementing when she saw the signs.
Hang in there over the weekend! Hopefully your doctor will be able to give you some guidance. As far as your family, just try not to mention the sleep problems or complain about it much so they don't have as many opportunities to interject their advice. And be prepared to make a quick exit if things get really intense with the baby. If he's not feeling well, you have every right to put his needs first.
You might also work out a "line" for when they do offer advice: "Maybe so, but I guess we'll see what his doctor says on Monday." Just keep repeating it. Really. Make yourself a broken record, and try not to burst out laughing while you're doing it. Happy Thanksgiving!

Personally, I dont think that your baby is teething, yet. It is very rare for babies to actually be teething at this age. For your baby's sake, try to think of other things that it could be, and dont just assume that it is teething. Something else could be really wrong, and you might be overlooking it by assuming it is teething. Find the real problem, and I hope your son feels better soon!!