5 Month old Teething?

Jen - posted on 08/22/2010

Sounds like teething, my baby is 6 1/2 months and he is teething, I use Ambersol, Ashton & Parsons and Calprofen (not all at the same time lol) I also give him rice cakes to knaw on durng the day, seems to be helping. Hope the teeth appear soon, I know its not fun :-( xxxxxxxxxxx

Renae - posted on 08/21/2010

It could be teething, or it could be any number of other things. Unfortunately it can be hard to know. Wouldn't it be wonderful if they could tell us what was wrong. Usually babies do not behave like it hurts when you touch their gums, actually they usually like it when they are teething. Babies like pressure on their gums when they are teething, they find it relieving, which is why they chew things. The most common signs of teething are lots of dribble (although my baby never did), chewing on anything they can get their hands on, runny poo or nappy rash, runny nose and fever. Your baby may get all or none of these, they are all different. You can also usually feel something under the gum if you push on it with your finger, or see a white patch on the gum where the tooth is just underneath. Sometimes the gums also look swollen. When the tooth is just about to cut through the gum and as it is coming through is the most painful time.

If I HAD to guess, I personally dont think it sounds like teething. It sounds more like an upset tummy to me. Especially your comments about not knowing whether he wants to feed. Latching on for a few mouthfuls and then pulling away, then coming back etc etc is usually a sign of reflux, but your baby is very old for reflux to start now so I very much doubt its that. So I'm going with some other sort of upset tummy. If I were you I would check with the doctor if this persists more than about 5 days. You can also try any of the over the counter remedies for gas or colic which may help.

Also make sure your baby isn't becoming over tired. Not knowing whether they want to feed is also a sign of overtiredness. At 5 months they often need a nap very early, usually only 45min after first waking up. So watch carefully for tired signs. Also at this age cat napping (40 min sleeps at a time) is very common and goes away once they start crawling. During the cat napping stage they need lots of naps and can usually only stay awake for up to 1.5 hours at a time.

Hope something I have said helps.

Adrienne - posted on 08/21/2010

sounds like teething.. My youngest is going to be 5 months in about 2 weeks. He got a corner part of a top molar out around 3 months and a half and his bottom side ones are almost out now and that is how my son acts. But it could be gas or something else. I would bet teething.

Jeannette - posted on 08/21/2010

It could either be teething or gas. I know my 9 month old always needs to "nurse" when his tummy hurts and he needs to pass gas. Have you tried Tylenol? I would try that. I also heard teething tablets are amazing, but I haven't tried them yet. My son got both his bottom teeth, at the same time, at 4 and 1/2 months. His two top ones came in about a week ago, but that pain lasted about a month.