Info on Teething and Scratching

HI S., I have a one year old with 4 teeth, and with every new tooth she has a diaper rash. My daughter is also very fussy due to teething, and the fussiest with me as well. I have read that children are fussiest with the people they feel the most comfortable around, so I try to think of it as her showing how much she loves me( in a wierd sort of way!)

Lots of drool is a sign of teething or sticking fingers in the mouth or objects. Fussiness is common. Try the cool teethers and/or numbing medicine. Some Tylenol may help. As far as scratching I've giving my first and my new baby a cotton Gymboree baby blanket to tug on. My DD will scratch her head and ears while nursing if I don't give her the blanket or a burp cloth to mess with.

i have 4 kids 4,7,21 & 24. he is teething for sure. his scratching you has nothing to do with teething. he likes the way it feels. i breast feed one of my kids until he was 2years. he would lock down on my nipple when he was teething i had to tell him no and withdraw he did finally understand. he would rub my side with his nails, i kept his nails trimmed.
drewling is the first sign and the second is the sore but. just keep him dry and get him a teething toy, put it in the refrig. and have him suck on it. cooling his gums with help.
he is not sick and i have had a child with one tooth at 2mo. old.

Drooling, fussing, diaper rash and all that can come with teething. More than likely he is starting to teeth. I know most things don't say that diaper rash is caused from teething and it isn't always a direct result... some kids have more runny diapers with teething and that is what ends up causing the diaper rash. Just keep cream on and that will help with the rash. Give you little one something to chew on (something cold) watch and see if he is trying to chew on his fingers or anything. If it seems like he is that can also be an indicator that he is teething. Keep some orajel or tylenol and stuff on hand and if he seems to be uncomfortable either put some gel on his gums or give him a little tylenol or something to help him out. My kids loved biter biscuits. I would put them in the high chair or in their activity center deal and give them on of them and they would chew on that for a long time. Its hard to get them to break off into pieces, but they can't anyway if they don't have teeth yet. Even when mine got some teeth in they still couldn't bite threw that at all. They are nice and thick.

Yes, the apple juice could contribute to the diaper rash due to the increase in acids. It would also depend on how much you are giving him too. Are you diluting it some also? Its fine to give him some juice though... I would just make sure your diluting it and not giving him too much in a day.

As far as the scratching and stuff, just trim and file down the nails as much as you can so he can't scratch himself. Many kids do that for comfort and because at that age they like the touch and they like to try and grab and use their fingers. I made sure I always kept my kids nails cut down and filed down so they couldn't scratch their faces or anything. It worked because there really isn't any way to really stop them from doing that.

Hope some of this helps you. Good luck.

I THINK IT REALLY DEPENDS ON THE CHILD WHAT SYMPTOMS THEY HAVE. I HAVE 5 KIDS AND ALL OF THEM HAD DIFFERENT SYMPTOMS WHEN THEY WERE TEETHING. MY YOUNGEST WHO IS 15 MONTHS IS STILL TEETHING, SHE IS GETTING HER MOLARS IN. SHE WAS NOT A DROOLER, NOT FOR ANY OF HER TEETH. SHE DOES HAVE RUNNY DIAPERS, AND IS SUPER CRANKY AT TIMES.I WOULD SUGGEST TRYING AMBISOL FIRST. IF HE IS CRANKY AND FUSSY. THEN TRY TYLENOL IF YOU WOULD LIKE.AS FAR AS THE DIAPER RASH THAT COULD BE FROM TEETHING OR THE JUICE. TRY STOPPING THE JUICE FOR NOW OR MAKE SURE IT IS SUPER DELUTED. HAVE YOU TRIED WHITE GRAPE JUICE.I THINK THAT APPLE JUICE IS MORE ACIDIC. AND CAUSES MORE OF A DIAPER RASH.

AS FAR AS HIM SCRATCHING YOUR SIDES, TRIMMING HIS NAILS AND FILING THEM DOWN HELPS, HOWEVER WHEN I WAS BREAST FEEDING MY SON HE TO USE TO SCRATCH ME, SO I WOULD PUT A SOCK OVER HIS HAND IT DIDNT SEEM TO BOTHER HIM AND IT LET MY SCRATCHES HEAL. NOT TO MENTION THAT THEY DONT MAKE THOSE LITTLE HAND BOOTIES FOR NEWBORNS IN BIGGER SIZES, SO I USED THE NEXT BEST THING, A SOCK. USUALLY THEY ARE PREOCCUPIED WITH FEEDING THAT THEY DONT REALLY CARE WHATS ON THERE HANDS.HOPE WHAT EVER YOU DO WORKS BEST FOR YOU.

My boys always got cranky and drooled when they were cutting there teeth.My oldest(now 6) didnt cut any teeth till he was a year old i was worried initially but they said children move at their own pace. They got diaper rashes as well when cutting teeth,its not in the books but hey it happens..Apple juice can be a cause of it as well,an irritant to many younger children and babies.
As for pinching and scratching the neck i think its a comfort thing as well.Clip his fingernails then if he does scratch your neck it wont hurt as much.
Good luck in the teething.If he starts getting to bad with cutting in his teeth walmart sells teething tablets they worked wonders for my children.

You seem to have good responses to the teething especially. When my daughter used her hands to push at me while breastfeeding, we began giving her a stuffed animal to hold. Not only did that help solve the problem, it was a way to introduce a "transitional object." That is, selecting one that she would bond with, so that she could find comfort with that animal, later on, when mom is not there. It turned out that she really became attached to 2 of these animals and these were the ones she would go to sleep with as she got older.

Good luck.
R.

Skip the juice. It can make his poop really acidic and hurt his behind. ITs just empty calories anyway, and all that sugar is bad for his teeth, even before he has any. Breastmilk is all he needs, and sips of water between nursings. No juice needed.

As for the scratching, have you tried givng him a blankie or a stuffed animal to hold onto while nursing? Both my boys started the pinching, twiddling, and scratching around 7 months and giving them a blanket really helped. I make the tied edge fleece ones and they would then twiddle the little fleece ties instead of me. :) I also used a nursing necklace for them to play with, but around 10 months it became more of a distraction than anything, so we had to put it away. But its worth trying out!

Hi,
I would say it sounds like teething. The fussiness for sure. You're right, nothing in the books will admit that diaper rash is a symptom, but you can ask most moms and they will agree that is does seem to occur around the time of teething. For my two it did, anyway. Apple juice could contribute (any highly acidic food/drink) so you could try cutting back on that as well.

As for the pinching/scratching thing, have you tried giving him something to hold while you feed him? My son had always pulled on my hair (he's three now and STILL does it when he's tired). With my daughter (15 months) I started having her hold a soft blanket toy while I fed or rocked her and always had it in her bed with her. She was so used to it being around that she has transferred onto that now when she needs comfort. She still wants me to hold her, but will also hold her frog instead of my hair or patting at my face.

Hope that helps!

H.

Hi! I can totally relate....I am on my third boy (who is 8mo.) and he does the same where he scratches at my side when I nurse or grabs and pulls my neck and breast. (The other two didn't do that)..Just wanted to say that he does the same and I am new to this myself and am not sure how to brake that one, but With the teething question....my little one has none either but when my other two got theirs they drooled, bit everything, were craby more with me also, and right before they got a tooth in, they had the worst diaper rash ever. The only time they ever got diaper rash was when a tooth was coming, and that was always my sign. Not all kids are like that, but it can be a symptom (atleast it was for me). Also juice can cause diarea and can resualt in a rash too. My second does real bad with juice now that he is a toddler and gets rashes from it, it causes his stool to get like water (sorry for being gross). Well I hope this helped some. Good luck.

My experience of caring for infants for the past 18 years shows me there is a direct link between teething and diaper rash. It seems to me that when a little one is teething they produce, what I call, acid stools. They swallow more drool at this time and I notice their poopies are caustic. This is the case for an older infant, however, I haven't noticed this in infants younger than 6 months. I don't notice high fevers or diarrhea. Those sound more like a virus rather than teething issues. Why do I think it's a virus? Because the other children in my care come down with it too!

I would try diluting the apple juice or skipping it all together. Who needs all that sugar anyway? Get him used to drinking water.

As for scratching and pinching - a common reflex action of babies, be sure to keep his nails well trimmed. This usually goes away as they get older. Usually.

Hi S.,

Noah didn't have diaper rash when his first two teeth appeared, but I had read that it's a possibility. It seems like teething brings out all sorts of different troubles! I don't know about the apple juice - I haven't started juice yet for my little guy.

And about the pinching - my lands do I know what you mean!! Noah likes to grab and pinch and poke and scratch (I look like I got into a cat fight with all the scratches on my chest if I haven't been able to trim his nails recently). I've actually been looking into buying a nursing necklace for those exact reasons.

If you do a search online for 'nursing necklace', you'll find several different websites. Some have them more geared towards the nurse-er (I think that's what the baby would be called anyway! ;) ), and others are geared towards the nurse-ee (again - don't know if that works but that's the mom! :) ) that look a bit more stylish than, say, alphabet beads. Obviously, it would have to have a very sturdy clasp & whatever material holds the beads together, as beads are a definite choking hazard, but...maybe that's something you can look into!

In any case, good luck!

WOW! I'm having the exact problems! My 8 month old daughter just popped out her first two teeth on Valentine's Day. She had diarreah, a rash, a high fever (103.3!), a super congested nose, and the worst case of mommyitis! She finally started feeling better yesterday. I even took her to urgent care on Friday cause I thought she might have an ear infection. She couldn't nurse cause her nose was so clogged and she was breathing so fast! But it turned out to be teething. And as to your son pinching you, my baby is doing that too only when she's nursing. Man, those little hands can hurt! I say "NO" loudly and she'll stop and look at me then start crying! She keeps on doing it, too! VERY FRUSTRATING!