3 Baby Teething Myths

If your baby is teething, you may have noticed a wide range of symptoms starting from irritability to discomfort. However while children experience a lot of symptoms due to teething, there are quite a few that are mistaken as teething related illnesses. In order to help you care for your child better, here is what you should expect when your child is teething and the symptoms that need to be addressed differently.

Baby teething symptoms

The baby teething symptoms that you should expect are a slight rise in temperature, irritability, being more demanding than usual, chewing on anything they can find, biting and redness around the gums are some of the common teething related problems. While these problems are very common, they usually go away within 3-5 days, once the teeth appears.

3 Baby teething myths

Myth 1: Teething Fever

Teething fever is one of the most common teething myths that have almost become a fact with most parents. While a slight raise in temperature is often seen in teething fever, anything high enough to constitute a fever is usually not teething related. If your child's fever is high, you may want to check with your pediatrician as many viral infections are very common with children that young.

Myth 2: Diarrhea

While teething itself does not cause diarrhea, a teething child is prone to picking things from the ground and chewing on them. This results in infection leading to an upset stomach. While some of these infections are not serious and go away, sometimes the infections may cause serious stomach problems. In which case it is a good idea to check with your doctor for medication.

Myth 3: Diaper and Drool rash

Similar to an upset stomach, diaper and drool rashes appear when the child is teething. However these symptoms are not because of teething. They are a consequence of teething, what this means is that when a child is teething, excess saliva is secreted, which settles on the face and give the infant rashes. When ingested, the child develops diarrhea which results in diaper rashes.

However, both these rashes are easy to avoid. Diaper rashes are prevented if you air the child between diaper changes. Drool rashes are prevented if you do not allow the excess saliva to accumulate on the face or chest by wiping it away with a clean cloth. These simple measures are enough to help you prevent these painful rashes.

While a lot of baby teething related illnesses may all be myths, they are indeed symptoms that each parent has to face when the child is teething. Although medically, diarrhea, teething rashes and mild rise in temperature may not be teething related, they are a reality that most parents face when their child goes through their teething phase. So as long as the symptoms are mild, there is no need to panic, these things disappear as quickly as they appear.