Is there such a thing as extreme teething?

[lellian]

Mamas,

DD is 8 months old as of yesterday. Three days ago her first tooth popped through on the bottom. Since my fingers are always in her mouth feeling those gums I was shocked to feel her upper gum yesterday. ..completely swollen, irritated like nothing I've ever seen, like she's going to get every tooth up there at the same time! I can feel all the bumps of new teeth across the entire top gum. Can babies get their teeth at the same time?!

She is miserable, just miserable. I've tried cold wet wash clothes for her to suck on, plastic teething rings from the fridge, a maple teething ring, Hyland's Teething Gel, ice cubes in a mesh feeder, and baby advil 2x a day as of yesterday. She was up every 60-90 minutes last night crying out or moaning. She didn't want to nurse yesterday morning at all. And she has a very mild diaper rash for the first time.

What am I missing to give her some relief?

[Knitting Mama]

I don't know that you're missing anything, mama. I have a friend whose baby cut 6 teeth at once when she finally got teeth around 10 months old, so I know that it's possible. I'm sorry that your baby is so miserable!

[ErinYay]

I feel for you, momma!

V cut 4 at once last weekend AND caught her first cold- it was a NIGHTMARE for about 24 hours- she slept, and this is no lie, 5 hours out of 24, and screamed herself hoarse, no matter how much Motrin, Orajel, or Hyland's she got. She wouldn't nurse or eat anything, she couldn't sleep, it was just awful.

Her bottom-side ones came through, but her lower gums are still purple and awful looking, and the top center two are juuuuust barely hovering below the gums.

Our mantra for the weekend was "this too, shall pass," with a little bit of "dear God, please, please, PLEASE make it stop."

[Norasmomma]

My DD was a wretched teether, she did get 6 teeth at one time, over the course of a week. The only thing that kinda worked was ibuprofen. When she was 15 months she got all 4 eye teeth, but they literally took 2 months of pushing and receding to come in.

My son is nothing like her with his teeth, thank goodness.

[lellian]

Hey Mamas,

Have you tried Hyland's teething tablets? I haven't tried those yet, should I?

Also, a friend just suggest pure vanilla extract. . .something her grandmother used and she uses now. Anyone try that?

[Knitting Mama]

The tablets have the same ingredients as the gel, mama, so if you're using the gel already then you've got it covered.

[cdmommie]

DD2 cut 8 teeth at the same time and it was ROUGH! We used teething tablets during the day and ibuprofen or tylenol at night. Plus she nursed pretty much all day and night for 10 days.

[Bobbys]

DS just got his first tooth yesterday after a week of congestion, followed by a week of the most wicked cold ever (fever, earache, nasal congestion) and then he sweetly got me sick. It turns out that he is cutting more teeth as we speak. Two weeks we've been feeling ill. This is one big boat we are all in.

[wishin'&hopin']

Just an FYI, vanilla extract is alcohol, "Pure vanilla extract is made by "percolating" chopped vanilla beans with ethyl alcohol and water."

Good luck! (also, our almost 5 month old just cut two teeth last week and has a third coming in--we do motrin, alternated with tylenol, teethers and rub his gums a lot!)

[lizsky]

Originally Posted by lellian

I've tried cold wet wash clothes for her to suck on, plastic teething rings from the fridge, a maple teething ring, Hyland's Teething Gel, ice cubes in a mesh feeder, and baby advil 2x a day as of yesterday.
What am I missing to give her some relief?

I think you are doing great. In fact, you have given me a few ideas to try with my own DD, who has swollen gums and is very cranky, and waking up every 45-60 minutes all night the past 2 weeks...

I'm sorry you guys are dealing with this and I hope a bunch of teeth cut through really soon so that you both can get some relief!

[ellairiesmom]

dd1 was an easy teether but this time around we are paying for it!!! the bottom 2 came in within a day or so of eachother at 5 mos after wreaking havoc on her (& us) for a month.

the top 2 came in together this week after bulging at her gums for weeks. i was getting concerned-it looked so nasty & swollen. plus she got her 1st cold this week too.

in general, she has been drooling & gnawing on everything since 2 mos. with dd1, we hardly had any drool etc.

so i would say there is teething, and then there's TEEEEEEEETHING!!!

[Lula's Mom]

My almost 1-year-old was late to start getting teeth; I think he was about 10months for the first one? I'm too tired, I forget. But they are coming in sloooow and painfully.

As a rule I don't give drugs for anything, so I tried all of what you have done. I finally broke down and gave him Tylenol one night and he finally slept for HOURS instead of waking up crying every few minutes. Honestly I felt so mean for not giving it to him earlier; clearly he'd been in agony from these teeth. I have given it a few more times when he's been particularly inconsolable. It sounds like you dont want to give drugs and believe me, I am the same way. But sometimes it really is warranted.

[Norasmomma]

Originally Posted by lellian

Hey Mamas,

Have you tried Hyland's teething tablets? I haven't tried those yet, should I?

Also, a friend just suggest pure vanilla extract. . .something her grandmother used and she uses now. Anyone try that?

It's probably because pure vanilla extract has alcohol, so it numbs the gums. I can see it as an old school way to help.

I was told once that if we adults teethed like babies we'd need morphine, it kinda puts it in perspective how much it hurts.

Aside from Hylands teething tablets, a woman in my DDC told me to use straight chamomilla and pulsatilla. I've used those with DS, teething tablets don't really help much for him.

ETA: Have you tried clove oil, that's supposed to help too. My BIL swore by using nighttime Orajel instead of regular baby Orajel. Good luck teething nearly made me never want another kid. I'm starting to realize DD was high needs in some aspects.

[MommyMad]

My LO is 10 months old. He's been teething for months, but just got his first 2 bottom teeth at the same time about a month ago. Now I see that 6 are coming in at the same time. While I don't like medicating either, I found that Ibuprofen has been his/my friend for those desperate times when nothing else works. It's also helped allowing him the ability to drink his milk. He was so miserable that he couldn't drink his breastmilk or water from a bottle.

[cristeen]

Ibuprofen every 8 hours is the only thing that gets us through. 2x/day still leaves 8 hrs of pain. Acetaminophen doesnt touch teething pain for us.