Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Teething Babies

since en. abam is teething now, i'd like to share some of the info based from my reading from the book 'What to Expect - The First Year'. a teething baby may experience any or all of the following:
  1. drooling - for a lot of babies, it may start anywhere from about 10 weeks to 3 or 4 months of age.
  2. chin or face rash - irritation from constant contact with saliva could cause dry skin rash or chapping to develop on the chin. so we have to gently pat away the drool periodically during the daytime.
  3. a little cough - the excess saliva can cause baby to gag or cough occasionally. kekadang babies will continue to cough as an attention getter too (patut la penah dengar kekadang bunyi macam batuk buat2. heheh..).
  4. biting - teething babies will gum down everything! this is normal as counterpressure will help to relieve the pressure from under the gums. it's better to give the baby a teether for him to chew on.
  5. pain - inflammation is the protective response of the tender gum tissue to the impending tooth, which it considers an intruder to fend off. it causes pain in some babies, but almost none in others.
  6. irritability - the ache caused by inflammation may become more constant. thus, babies may be cranky.
  7. refusal to feed - a teething baby may appear fickle when it comes to nursing as the suction created increases his discomfort. so he may reject the breast or bottle. a baby who's started solids may lose interest in them for the time being.
  8. diarrhoea - some doctors believe that there appears to be a connection: perhaps because the excess saliva swallowed loosens the stools.
  9. low-grade fever - fever under 38.3c can occasionally accompany teething as a result of gum inflammation.
  10. wakefulness - the discomfort that has his fussing during the day can keep him awake at night. it's more common with first teeth.
  11. ear pulling, cheek rubbing - pain in the gums may travel to the ears and cheeks along nerve pathways they share, particularly when the molars begin pushing their way in.

till next time! stay tuned for more info... ;D

p/s: all excerpts are taken from 'What to Expect - The First Year'.

3 comments:

Just said...

Hi. Salam kenal. Good info you have here.

My lil' rayyan is at this stage now. Yes for drooling, very lil' cough, biting, irritability, refusal to feed, wakefulness and cheek rubbing. No for chin or face rash and ear pulling.

He was having a low-graded fever couple of weeks before the teething. Not during the teething. As for the diarrhoea, i think no except the poop is a slightly abnormal. Hehehe..

Unknown said...

no.11 tu mmg betuika xdak nose rubbing? hehe.. nuha dok tenyeh2 idung macam org resdung! nmpk gaya mmg xdak kaitan dgn teething la tu :p

una said...

hi just. salam kenal..thanks for reading! baby kita sama nama yer. hehe..

kekta, dlm buku tak mention lak nose rubbing. dia gatai idung sbb sesema kot..