When my baby Clarisse was 5 months old, I noticed a tiny patch of whitish substance on the top of her gums. It had me wondering whether or not she’s starting to teeth. Teething at 5 months is considered pretty early for babies. On average, babies start to teeth around 7 months.

I made a note to mention this to baby Clarisse’s paeditrician on her next appointment. Turned out, it was just gum cyst according to him.

Now that I think about it, baby Clarisse didn’t show much teething symptoms at that time. I was wrong to assume she’s teething.

Below are some common symptoms associated with babies who are starting to teeth. Bear in mind though, symptoms of teething varies from infant to infant. And opinions too vary among paeditricians on what symptoms to look for or how painful it is for your teething infant. For some babies, it will be a long and painful experience while others feel only slight discomfort.

Before a tooth becomes visible, you may notice a lump or a ridge in the gum for as long as several weeks. Sometimes, it will remain there for a few months before the tooth finally erupts, showing a hint of it’s pearly white head.

Expect your baby’s first tooth to arrive when she’s 7 months old, on average. It is normal for babies to teeth between 3 to 12 months old. And in some rare cases, earlier or later.

Pain, irritation and discomfort in the gums

Put yourself in your baby’s shoes and imagine yourself having to deal with tooth-ache. Not exactly pleasant I suppose.

Your baby’s sensation of pain is a result of inflammation of the gums. Some babies feel it more painfully than others. Usually the worst discomfort is felt by your baby when she’s expecting her first tooth. Although painful, most babies will eventually get used to teething discomforts but not without some struggle.

Gum inflammation could trigger low-grade fever in some babies. If fever persists for more than 3 days, consult a doctor.

As you might expect, a baby with a chronic tooth-ache is not a happy baby to say the least.

Behavioral wise, your baby might show tendencies to pull at her ear, rub her cheeks and bite a lot more than usual. She will be cranky, irritable and simply out-of-sorts. This could go on for more than a few weeks, unfortunately. And it is perfectly normal.

A teething baby will literally take a bite out of everything she could reach, even your nipples if you’re breastfeeding. Chewing and biting relieves the pressure in the gums, lessens the pain and soften the gums to help ease the tooth cutting through it.

You should also expect your baby to refuse the bottle, breast milk or solids. Her feeding habit has not changed but the discomfort felt during sucking or eating might frustrate her and cause her to loose interest.

Even if your baby routine sees her sleeping through the night without much problems, painful attacks from the gums might cause bouts of sleeplessness.

Occasionally, you may notice teething bulge in your baby’s gum to appear bluish. This is gum haematoma where slight bleeding occurs under the gum due to teething.

Drooooooooling

Babies naturally start to drool a lot starting as early as 2 to 3 months. It gets worse when you baby starts to teeth.

I started to notice skin rashes and chapping developing around my baby’s chin and mouth a couple of weeks ago. Apparently, this is caused by her constant drooling. She would drool a lot more when chewing on a teether. So prepare to regularly wipe your baby’s drool off her face with a clean wet towel. A lot.

As much as your teething baby drools, she is also swallowing more saliva and this might cause loose stools. Mild diarrhea should not be of concern.

Excess saliva often drips down a teething baby’s throat which could cause gagging and a little coughing. If coughing is not accompanied by cold, flu or allergy symptoms, it is harmless and there is nothing to worry about.