How do you know when it's teething pain? ...when to give pain meds?

[GuavaGirl]

My son has 2 1/2 teeth right now and I'm pretty sure he's experiencing teething pain on and off.  I have some infant ibuprofen for him but I'm just not sure when to give it.  The teeth mostly seem to bother him at night and naps.  (is that typical?)  Even then, I feel like I'm assuming that it's his teeth...because he obviously can't tell me. (10 months old)  

Last night his woke up, didn't really want milk, and I couldn't get him to go back to sleep and he just cried if I put him down.  (not normal for him, he usually goes back to sleep very easily)  So finally I gave him some ibuprofen, held him for while until it kicked in and he fell right to sleep after that.  So, that tells me it was his teeth.

I'm wondering if others give "preventative" doses before bed or wait until their baby wakes up in obvious pain.  I don't want to over medicate....but we all like sleep...and I'm sure my guy would prefer to not be woken up in pain.  I'm just not sure if I should keep him on a regular dose of ibuprofen (since it seems the discomfort is becoming more and more regular and he's been waking more at night lately) or just wait every time until I think he's in pain and wait for it kick in.

What do you think?

[P.J.]

So far DS only has 2 teeth, so I have very little experience with this, but feel the same way you do and am also unsure when to give it or not,

When his first tooth came in it was a few nights of screaming and pain, so after the second night (I think, maybe the first) I gave the preventive dose before bed, and was glad I did.

I want to write more but must go, DS calls....later...

[waterinthefish]

We have our top two teeth coming in (swollen gums, super fussy). The last few nights I have given a preventative dose at night (none during the day- but we use baby orejel and cool teethers for daytime).  I don't feel like I am over medicating-  I want to reduce pain and help little dude get sleep.

[northerngirl]

I've been wondering the same thing. DD has 2 bottom teeth and her top gums are bulging and I can see a white spec in one area.

I have target ibuprofen but have never given it to her. I can usually get her back to sleep with nursing and sometimes it's just a little suck and she's done.

I am willing to give it to her, but only at the appropriate time for pain. Not exactly sure when that is.

She's only had these 2 bottom teeth for quite a while, and I joked to my husband what if all 4 top teeth came at once....I shriek, he says that would be fine get it over with.

[Knitting Mama]

I give ibuprofen when Cecilia is clearly not her usual self. She is an even-tempered baby by nature, so when teething knocks her for a loop, it's pretty obvious that she's being a crankbutt because she's in pain. And yes, to answer your other question, I think it's totally normal for it to become harder to bear at nap/night time. If it's been a long hard night of sleeplessness from teething, and I have had to give ibu at night, I will give it at naptime the next day as a preemptive measure. Then when night comes again I see how she's doing and judge from there if she needs it again.

[Ma Cactus]

I give half a dose of painkillers preventatively at night if he has been having difficulty sleeping at the same time as showing other teething signs - he started putting his hand in his mouth constantly recently after not doing that for a long time, and suddenly waking up crying when he  usually just rolls over and looks for me, and sure enough, on inspection the gums are swollen, etc.  After a few nights, I held off giving it but he woke up screaming again, and is still chewing on his hand, so I give him that half dose befroe bed and don't kick myself about it too much.   If you want to be really on the safe side you could just wait for that first wake up and let that be your guide.   

[x0stephanie]

I sometimes give it before bed as a sort of preventative measure if its been a fussy/chomping on things/teething kind of night.  I thought I was doing something bad but I'm glad to see others do it too.