When Do the 2Nd Set of 4 Molars Come in (The 2 Yr. Old Ones)?

Updated on April 01, 2010
H.B. asks from Happy Valley, OR
10 answers

My 22 month old son has been drooling and chewing on his fingers a lot lately. That is not the bad part. He is irritable, easily frustrated, throws tantrums, wakes up screaming during naps and night time, not eating much, and is just hard to console. The waking up multiple times at night is KILLING me. Could his molars be coming in? If so, is this behavior normal? And, how long will this last? Anything other than motrin and teething tablets I can give him? I hate giving him motrin when I don't even know if this is the problem. He has no other signs of illness, so I don't think he could be sick. Thanks for your help.

From,
the tired full time working mommy

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So What Happened?

After about 5 long days and nights....the behavior (for the most part) subsided. I am thinking because the molars move up and down and up and down...so I am sure we are in for more of this. Thanks for your words of support, encouragement, and advice. It is so hard to deal with your child who can't express the way he is feeling into words!

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E.J.

answers from Seattle on

That all sounds like teething to me and this is just the right time for it. I say go for the Motrin!

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R.A.

answers from Wausau on

My son is also 22 months and his 2yr molars are peaking through! It has been a lot of sleepless nights the last couple of weeks! He was just acting really irrational and not his normal "crabby theething self" and I took him to the walk in where they found out he also had a really bad double ear infection! He never tugged on his ears and they werent red, no fluid that I could see! Anyhow I don't like "medicating" my son but my doc said to give Motrin every six hours and tylenol every 4 hrs. I've been giving him the dose of tylenol at night and my nights have been getting back to normal. I also fill a cup of ice and a little water in it, so if he were to wake up Then he has icy cold water too! Hope this helps good luck, I feel your pain :)

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M.D.

answers from Seattle on

I'm sure teething is the issue you are dealing with. Most kids, at least my two, start this process before they are two and don't be surprised if it last nearly 6 months. Some days are better than others, so I would say just do the motrin or tylenol when the orajel just really isn't doing the trick. My daughter loved eating chilled apple slices - I keep our apples in the fridge. She shared a sliced apple with her older brother at lunch nearly everyday and that seemed to help. I never thought about if that helped her take naps or not, but it probably did.

However, that is the age that my kids usually just had a harder time going to bed and we'd have to start a bedtime routine (we can usually just put our kids in bed and they fall asleep, but around this age they needed more to help them calm down and prepare for bed.) So, depending on when dinner is they play a little, take a bath, massage their body while putting on lotion in the dim bedroom, dressed in pj's, laid in bed, and read a book. This usually helped them relax enough that they'd fall asleep pretty quickly. We only had to do this for a few months. Now (my kids are 4 & 2, going to be 5 & 3 this summer) we just put jammies on and read a book with baths only every other night.

Another thing to consider, is your little guy may be growing or preparing to hit a growth spurt and may be having leg pains while sleeping. If he is tossing and turning a lot - like he can't get comfortable, it may be leg aches. Which the tylenol or motrin would help with.

Good Luck, it is hard to know exactly what is bothering them sometimes, especially when they can't quite communicate it to you! I know that drives me nuts as a mother too! I hope you get some rest soon!

M.

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R.M.

answers from Nashville on

If you go by my child- they NEVER come in! ugh. Mine is 28 mos. He has been working on them since 22 mos. I feel your pain, this is no fun. He first started doing exactly what your son is doing last August. Fortunately, he settled down a bit after a couple mos and they weren't bothering him quite as much. They didn't come in, but he felt better. He just got the first one about 2 weeks ago. For mine, once they start to actually break through he is better. Motrin in the only thing that works for mine, so I give it sparingly, only at night, and only when it's bad. Keep checking his gums and you will probably start to see redness or the little white hot points.

Another part of the problem with your son could easily be just a normal terrible two's type behavior, with the tantrums and such. The screaming while he is sleeping is kind of concerning to me though. Could he possibly have an ear infection? Kids get those all the time and show no symptoms of fever or anything.

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J.P.

answers from Boise on

Are you sure you didn't get my son? His (23 months) have been coming in for 5 months now. I will feel the shape of them, and then they are gone the next day, so they are moving up and down constantly. Some days he is fine, others, it is awful. If we notice that he is crabby, cuddly, frustrated, doesn't eat and tantrumy, we give him motrin before bed. He may still wake up at night, but most nights it takes the edge off. (the doc said this was fine). When he wakes up in the morning and still seems to be in pain, we switch to Tylenol. I'm not sure if it makes a difference, but I feel better switching between them.

My son also gets ear infections when teething, but I hate constantly taking him in, so do watch for fevers, if your son is prone to them too.

I had another mom suggest ice from Sonic. I guess they are small rounded pieces, and although they don't suggest having kids chew ice, she said that it really helps her daughter. We haven't tried this yet, but though I would pass it along.

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A.L.

answers from Washington DC on

I think it is different for every child; however, all of my daughter's 2 year molars came in at the same time. Did you check in his mouth and see if they are popping through?

I would give my daughter motrin for teething pain if necessary, but honestly, I don't know if it did any good. I would give it to her at night and sometimes I felt it would help. Other times, I would forget to give it to her, and she would sleep right through without problems while teething.

You could try the motrin and see if it helps. Otherwise, just know that the teeth will come in, and he'll soon be a happy, sleepy guy again.

Good luck.

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R.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

My son just got his bottom 2 yr molars, but he's still working on the top. He is 26 months. Good luck! It's sooooooo great when they finally pop through, my son was waking up too, I feel for ya!

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D.A.

answers from Portland on

My son started working on 2 year old molars at about 18 months. They would come up and go down, I could feel the swollen bumps in the back and then they would be gone for a little while. He is now 31 months and just got his bottom 2 molars.

We have had the tantrums, fussy, and klingy behavior off and on. Some of it is being two and working out that independence and some is from the teething. I usually didn't really know the reason behind his behaviors, but now that two of his teeth are in and possibly because he has hit the 2.5 mark, he is settling down some. We still have the occasional tantrum when he doesn't get his way, but the klingy behavior is improving. I could be holding him and he would be whining, I want mommy!!!! It drove me nuts and lasted for about 3 months (still happening a bit, but tolerable now). My in my head response was, "Dude, I can't put you back in..."

Things are getting better and they often change at the half year marks. So, try to keep your cool and just give him lots of reasurance. Often when they are venturing farther away with independence, their need for you at times is so much greater.

Good luck to you and hope your patience holds out a while longer...
D.

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S.S.

answers from Portland on

Well it sounds like it might be a combination of typical "almost 2" behavior and teething. My kids "teethed" for what seemed like forever as well. Especially my son who didn't get his first teeth until 12 months but seemed to experience the symptoms of teething for at least 6 months!

As to what you can do to help without medicating there are a few options. You've already mentioned the homeopathic teething tablets so you seem familiar with them (we really liked them). You can also get him a teething necklace that helps to naturally dull the pain of teething. Either hazelwood or baltic amber will help (you can even get ones that are a combination of both). If you've never heard of them, contrary to what many people think, they're not meant to be chewed on. Both have natural properties that help calm the child's pain. Hazelwood absorbs acidity (the wood has that natural property) which is a major cause of teething pain (and eczema & reflux). Baltic amber releases oils into the skin that are a natural pain reliever. Both work quite well. We used them for our 2nd & 3rd children and were really impressed! Between the necklace & the teething tablets, I don't think we had to give any Motrin to our 3rd (we didn't find out about them until our second was about 20 months...but it sure helped with his molars!). You can get them at www.hazelaid.com.

Some other ideas are to give him a cold wash cloth to chew on or a cold carrot (while he is seated). Here is a helpful compilation of other ideas: http://www.hippiedippiebebe.com/health/remedies/natural-t...

Good luck! Hope you can get some rest soon!

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S.C.

answers from Minneapolis on

There's a lot of variability in this. My nephew got his right around his 2nd birthday and was waking up complaining of ouchy teeth. My son got his sometime around his 3rd birthday and I didn't know it other than I checked every few months to see if they were there (he was late getting his teeth and it has always made me nervous--I'm just a worried mom). However, if this behavior is really unusual for your son, then there likely is something else going on. Could he be ill? Was he overly tired when this started? Any big changes in his life?

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