Teething and Fever

I just went through the same thing with my 7 month old. I had several mommys tell me to switch between Motrin and Tylenol. I had only been giving her Tylenol this entire time afraid anything else would be too much. Let me tell you...Motrin works! I only had to give her one dose and it knocked it right out. Hope this helps!

Try Motrin. My doctor says that Tylenol is good for fever but motrin is good for fever and any inflamation due to teething. I wouldn't go to the Doctor. With the symptoms you described they can't do anymore than you are doing.

Doctors often say that fever or other digestive problems aren't synonomous with teething. However, I have found that to be to the contrary. My son cut his first tooth at 4 months old and had 8 teeth by 6 months old. It was difficult at the time but looking back it was so much easier to get it all over-with at once. He had a fever of about 100 the whole time but the doctors couldn't find a problem with him. He's 11 now and his babyteeth are coming out as quickly as they came in.
I would definitely take my kid in to the doctor if the fever doesn't break in 3 days. They may not be able to do much for you but at least you will have some peace of mind.

Hi! Okay I went through this with my son. This is normal you are not doing anything wrong. Keep giving him Tylenol every 4 hours then give him Childrens Mortin for the next 4 hours.

Also, take a wash cloth wet it with cold water, ring it out then put it in the freezer for about 20 mintues enough to get really cold and let your son chew on it. This will help with the discomfort. They also make teething tablets that are sold at all the stores (walmart, walgreen, freds,etc.) these work really good. It will tell you how many on the back of the bottle.

After you have done all these things and he still has a fever, then you will need to take him to the doctor. But give this a try for about 2 days unless his temp. is up after this, then take him to the doctor.

I hope this has helped.

I would take him to the doctor. He has had a fever for over 48 hours. Won't it make you feel better knowing that he is OK> A.

Fever, pain and cranky is part of it. It is rough for a while but all you can do is hold and sooth them in any way that they will let you. Just bear with him... you will live through it. Keep the tylenol in him ever 4 hrs and just hold him. Popcycles were always good for me and a wet frozen wash rag did wonders.. better than any teether that I bought.

I think that infants can have low grade fevers while they are teething. 102 seems worrisome but I think can be ok. If you still feel uneasy give the peds office a call and talk to a nurse, they can help guide you or give you advice about what to do. Good luck.
P.

does your ped. have a nurse avalible to take questions. ours does and that way you will know if they think that you need to bring him in or not

Hi! My 12 month old went through the exact same thing. She had a fever of 101 for a week, and I took her to the doctor twice (she was acting pretty ok, just tired) and nothing was wrong--no ear infection, URI, ,etc., probably just teething. They said to give Tylenol and monitor temp. As long as he's not dehydrated or temp gets above 103, then he's probably ok. I was so worried, but after a week it passed. Good luck!

HI! I was always under the impression that IF there was a fever w/ teething, it was LOW-grade, like 99. A lot of doctors will tell you that fever isn't part of teething at all (I disagree with that one, though) Maybe he has a virus. sometimes, I massage their gums w/ a little bit of tylenol on my finger, that way, they don't get the full dose, but it helps. Usually, while teething, the saliva is very acidic (natural defense to protect open holes where teeth are coming in from infection) and they swallow a lot of that saliva which leads to gas and loss of appetite. Do you pop him in a luke-warm bath with his fevers? I put my 2 boys in a bath (not cold, but not hot) and it usually buys us about 4 hours of being fever-free and they get their appetite back during that time. If I were you, I'd try the bath, if it is a virus, the fever will come back quickly, if that happens, then I'd take him into the doctor. good luck, teething is no fun :(

Hello M.,
I have a four month old son. The ER told me with a newborn child, you want to take him to the doctor if they have a fever of 101. You can never be to careful. Just to be on the safe side. I hope I helped.

Jessica

M.,

Generally the fever associated with tetthing should never go above 100.4. A temperature higher than that warrants a visit to the pediatrician. Your son may have a urinary tract infection or another problem that really isn't presenting any other symptoms. any fever over 101 in any child generally means a visit to the pediatrician....

hope this helps..
J. (nurse practitioner)

They say that teething doesnt cause fevers...but I think they are wrong. My son always spiked a fever before he cut teeth (like when they broke free from the jaw). I would make sure that he doesnt have an ear infection...sometimes they can have the same symptoms.

Teething may cause low grade temp- usually less than 100 degrees. Any fever over 100 is usually associated with an infection (viral vs bacteria). It would be worth taking him to see his doctor. I am a mom of 2 and also a doctor.

I am a mom of 4 (11,8,4,2) with this being his 3rd day with a mid-range fever, i would take him to the dr.
It is possible that he may have ear trouble. Some dr say that children shouldnt run that high of a fever with their teeth usually just low grade.

LOL, I know how stressful this is. My daughter is 11 months, and cutting her fifth and sixth teeth as we speak. First, don't give him Tylenol, give him Motrin. You might as well start buying the off-brand, b/c you will be using it a lot. The reason for Motrin instead of Tylenol is that Tylenol makes a fever go up before it brings it down, and Motrin does not. Do not make him eat- he will eat when he is hungry. Think of it this way- do you want to eat when you have a toothache? As far as your sanity- just keep your head up. I have a three and a half year old, and trust me- it gets better. I hope this helps!

Alternate giving him tylenol, then motrin, then tylenol. If that can't break the fever, he needs to see his pediatrician. With kids that little, a persistent fever is a sign of infection/virus/illness. And don't worry about it being too high unless it gets to like 104 or above. Apparently, little kids can get a higher temperature than adults. How do I know this? Because my son has had a fever that high before.
But alternating is the best way to break any fever. If it don't break it, its not just from teething.

call the Dr first then take him in to his Dr. that high of a fever he might need to go to the ER. and the Dr. office will let you know what to do.

Glad to hear he's doing better

Hi M.,

I would just call the pediatrician's office and opt to speak to the nurse for advice over the phone. They are really used to it and will tell you what to do and whether it's necessary for you to bring him in. People do it all the time and they have staff just for that. Good luck with the fever and take care!

M., it sounds like your son might have the flu. My son and daughter both had the flu in Feb. My daughter woke up from her nap (she is 2) and was running 102 fever. Her fever fluxuated for a few days from 99 to 104. On day 3 of her fever episodes I took her to the doctor and she tested positive for the flu. The same day that I took my daughter to the doctor my son started running a fever. There really wasn't any symptoms for both just a really high fever, didn't want to eat and wanted to sleep alot. If your son has the flu they maybe able to give him Tamiflu. It helps to shorten the symptoms of the flu. Just try giving him plenty of fluids and very cold things. Good luck and I hope he gets better.

I am glad to hear he is doing better. Becareful though if he has rectal temps higher than 102 he could go into febrile seizures. don't be worried to at least take him to an ER if you are concerned. Always better to be safe than sorry.This would not mean that the child would develop epilepsy or have any permanent damages. It is actually kind of a defense for the body kind of like a high fever sometimes telling you there is something else wrong.

probable has an ear infection, better check it out. good look R.

if it continues i'd take him in. he could be getting an ear infection. me, my sister and my daughter all had ear infections while teething. not all kids give you signals like ear pulling either. so he could have some pain or virus coming on, weather it's ear infection or some other bug. some doctors disagree, but sometimes just the pain of teething causes a mild fever. like i said, if it keeps up, i'd take him to be seen. have you alternated childrens ibuprofren and tylenol. it's better to alternate them to bring down fever. hope it gets better! =)

Hi!
I am a mom of 2 and I think that fever might be a bit high for just teething. He may have an ear infection or something else he may need antibiotics for. I would call my doctor and give them the symptoms. I do this when I am in doubt and they tell me to wait it out or go ahead and bring him in.

Good Luck!
T.

M., I have a little boy who was born May 6. He hasn't had a fever with teething, but my first son did. Since you have been giving him Tylenol and his fever is still present after 3 days, I would at least call your pediatrician's office. They should be able to have a nurse call you back and advise you if you need to come in or not. 102 is a pretty high fever in a ten month old child, even with teething. It could be due to teething or he could have a concurrent infection. Good Luck!

M.,

i give this advice as a mother whose child has had unresolved fever with tylenol and as a medical student who has a little experience with childhood ailments. since your child is 10 months old, he can now take infant's motrin which does a better job of bringing down fever. it should be given every 8 hours with tylenol at the 4 hour mark in between if needed. while i am sure that you know your child very well, with him running a fever that high for this period of time, i would suggest that you call the pediatrician and let him or her decide as to whether you should bring your child in because it could be something else like an ear infection. hope this helps. Sincerely, K. G

Little about me- full time medical student married to a wonderful husband of 3 .5 years with a very active, yet sweet little 9 month old son.

Hi. My name is Fran I went threw the same thing with my little girl I gave her a cool bath. And I put her teething rings in the freezer.

You could alternate between tylenol and motren, every 4 hours. Having both in his system will help. All the doctor will do is tell you to give him tylenol. If he is just teething then that is all you can do. As for his pain, the teething tablets work wonders.

Your peditrician should have a triage nurse available who can tell you if he needs to come in or not. I would be a little concern though after 2 days of a fever that high. Fevers like that can cause dehydration. Call your pediatrician and ask for the nurse.

Hi, I just wanted to respond to your concerns. Honestly teething does not normally cause a fever as high as what your child has. Personally I would take my child in to the dr., but if you don't really want to do that call the pediatricians office and see if you can just leave a message on a nurse line so that they can call you back and give you advice on whether to bring your child in. Good luck.

M...
I am a mother of four and have been in this same situation many times. Usually if a fever lasts more than three days, you should definitely take him in, it could be an ear infection, that seemed to happen with my middle son alot when he was teething. I know how you feel about going to the dr's, Im always thinking do I really need to go but it's better to be safe than sorry. Good Luck

I would advise taking him to the doctor. A mild fever is common with teething, but a fever of 102.9 is too high just to be teething.

Good luck!
D.

any fever over 100.1 can not be associated with teething. it sounds like your little man is sick. i would take him to the doctor.

My son is 10 months and just went through this same thing. He is teeting but a teething temp is usually not 102. I would take him to the Dr. he my have ear issues like my son.......he doesn't pull at his ears just rubs them sometimes but had an ear infection. It's always best to take them if you have any concerns.......or at least give them a call and see what they advise. Good luck...

M., PLEASE Do Not Wait to take him to the Dr. A Fever can sometimes be a warning that something is wrong. He probably is just teething,but check it out!
I babysit and once a mom didn't tell me the baby had ran a 101 temp the night before.Hours after mom had left,the baby was sleeping;that day the baby had a fever siezure. I had No Warning and it frightened me. Tylenol/nuprene had worn off.
The baby went to the ER/by ambulance! The Mom said the next day the baby had another fever siezure at their home.
The Mom also said her Dr. told her (after she had been to the ER just the day before) the baby was just teething...well the ER Dr. said the baby had an extremely bad inner ear infection. M.,if your Dr. doesn't take you and your concerns seriously...Honey change Dr's. You must not allow anything or anyone to make you doubt yourself.
You know your baby better than anyone;if something doesn't seem right, PLEASE check it out!!! LB

your little one may have an ear infection. with no relief in fever and on the third day i would take him to doctor.

Teething can bring on ear infections! A slight fever when teething is normal, but anything much over 100.4 sounds like another issue. My son has been sick quite a bit, but the highest fevers he had were wehn he had his ear infections. When his got up around 102 to 103 was when it was so bad the ear drum was about to rupture. I'd take him for a check with his doctor!

Any fever over 101 is not teething. Are you able to call your doctor and just speak with them on the phone about the situation? Maybe they know of a bug going around....?

Hey M.: My advice to you is that it is not his teething that is causing the fever. My daughter was about 3 months old when she started running fevers of a 101 to 103 I took her to the er (being a new mom I wasn't for sure on what to do)they told me that she had a viral infection, gave her antibiotics and sent us home. The fever took about 4 days to break and I would rotate motrin and tylenol. She acted fine and didn't act like anything hurt her. This went on for about 2 months and I then took her to the doctor and everytime I did they would say it was a viral infection. Then almost everyone told me that she was just cutting teeth and that I worried to much that kids ran fevers all the time cutting teeth. This went on until she was about one year old. She would run a fever about every month and it would last about 4 days. I knew that kids didn't run fevers that high cutting teeth. When she was 1 year old and trying to potty train I noticed that she was wanting to go to the bathroom to much and acting like something was bothering her. I then took her to another doctor ask for a urine test and it came back that she had a urinary track infection. They ran more test and guess what? She had bladder reflux which she was born with and that is why she had ran so many fevers for no reason. They told me that if I hadn't taken her to the doctor when I did her kidneys would have suffered greatly. All this time the fevers were caused by a urinary track infection that no one seemed to catch until I ask for a test myself. Have them check his urine just to ease your mind.

I would take him the the ped anytime a child has a temp of 102 it is more the likely not thier teeth

Kids often run a fever when teething. All of mine have, and it's not a big deal.

Hylands teething tablets worked well for one of ours, so did icy rags (ice cube in a clean cloth, rubberband to keep it from slipping out, let baby suck/chew on the ice.)

sounds to me like your son might be batlling a virus along with his teething issues. have you tried alternating tylenol and ibuprofin. i have found the if you alternate the 2 every 3 hours it helps keep the fever from spiking. i might call his ped and see what they have to say. 102 is pretty high and they might want to see him. is he pulling at his ears...he might have an ear infection and need antibiotics. it's hard to really tell unless his doc checks him out so i'd call jsut to be on the safe side.

ear infection is what my oldest son got every time he was cuting teeth. I feel 24 hours is the longest time you should wait to see a doctor. You know your child if he is not himself call that i swhat they are paid for.

Dear M.,

If I were you, I might be worried about a pediatrician who seems to demonstrate a lack of concern for your child. Do you always go to the same doctor? Perhaps even a "Walk-In" clinic might be a good option [second opinion]. There is also a wonderful Nurse Practitioner in Woodbury, Debbie Bryant, who might be able to offer you a more holistic look at your child's fever and discomfort.
Good luck & please let me know how things work out or maybe this old mama/grandma could try to be a support to you...

G.

Hi M.!
We were just at the pediatrician on Friday and they said that teething does not cause fever... They gave us info. on fever and it says that, "The usual fevers (100 to 104F), which all children get, are not harmful. Most are caused by viral illnesses such as colds or the flu...most [fevers] last for 2-3 days." It also says to use meds only if the fever is over 102. It suggests extra fluids, less clothing. This info also says to call within 24 hours if the child has had "a fever for more than 24 hours without an obvious cause or location of infection AND your child is less than 2 years old," if your child "has had a fever for more than 3 days," and if the fever "went away for over 24 hours and then returned."
Hope that helps - there's more in this booklet so let me know if you want me to share more :)
Good luck!!

Dear M.:
Congratulations, you are doing a great job. Is very normal to the baby to get fever, i gave to my baby when she was in that stage Humphreys they came on different numbers.. check with the pharmacy agent. They will tell you. I hope this help and I hope Jacob get better and so you MOM. See you around.

Regards.
R.

He may be teething, and have a little "bug" of some kind. Hard to know which is which when they run a temp. It sounds as if you are doing everything right. Keeping him cool and comfortable, and hydrated is what is important. I don't think the temp is so high, and I would just wait and see. If anything furthur develops, you can call or take him in.

I've been their. I have a 21 month old son and he has almost all of his teeth and he ran a fever with alot of them. It wasn't that high but he had a pretty good fever. He drooled all over himself for before he started cutting another tooth and while it was trying to come in and he didn't want alot to drink either. I think this lasted about 2 or 3 days and once the tooth came so far up he woudl just stop, he would start eating again and fever would go away. If his fever doesn't go down then I would have a Dr. look at him. Oh, one thing the Dr.s told me when my son had a 104.1 temp w/ a ear infection rotate infants tylenol and infants motrin. give him tylenol and 4-6 hrs when that wears off if he still has a fever give him infants motrin. It will last 6-8 hrs. Works great at night b/c it lasts longer.

Try alternating Tylenol and Motrin. You can do that every 4 hours. The flu has been horrible this year. I would maybe call the office and ask them. I know my doctor always wants to see my kids when a fever goes on that long.My youngest is teething right now and we are having the same problem with her appetite.

Is he eating any finger foods yet or does he use a pacifier?

If he is, freeze a clean WHITE washcloth, then put him in his highchair in an area where you are going to be and let him have the washcloth to chew on. If he is good with biscuits, give him a flat bottom ice cream cone. They do not crumble, they just melt and make a wonderful mess (his point of view).

With a fever of 102.9 he has a virus or something. Low-grade fevers (like 99 or 100) go with teething.
My kids get high fevers with their "colds" and the MD had told me to alternate Motrin and Tylenol every 4 hours---if the temp is above 101.0. Otherwise, let it be.

It might be more than teeth, like an ear infection or something else. I also have been told nothing is wrong (several times) or its viral but lately we have had ear infections. Better to put your worries at rest. Hope he feels better soon

Does your pediatrician have a nurse's line for advice? I use mine's all the time.

I would always suggest calling your dr first. Then get advise from mamasource, especially when you're talking a fever for more than a day. Good luck and hope you're little one if feeling better soon!

M., both of my children ran very low grad fevers...never above 101.5 or 101.6. My Dr has always said if it is 102 or higher it is generally a virus they are fighting off. My 3 year old just last week ran a fever for 4 days of nothing higher than 102.6. He had no other symptoms except a fever. I rode it out and he was fine. My baby girl is 7 months and just cut her 2 bottom teeth within one week and she was very very cranky and did run a fever but it was like 101...nothing higher. If it were me I would ride it out unless you see other symptoms or the fever gets higher. There is SOOOO much stuff going around right not that if you take him in he might end up with something else.
Take care and hope he gets better soon
K.

It tylenol doesn't break the fever call the MD. Also, as a general rule of thumb my ped.'s office considers temps over 101 even when teething enough to be concerned-but then again all children are different and you'll figure out what his normal is soon. Always, call the nurse-you should have access to a nurse at your ped.'s office ours are always friendly and very helpful.

For future reference, Hyland's makes a homeopathic remedy for teething, ear infection, cold's, etc. Great product I use for my kidos. I am glad that all is better now with Jacob!
W. from Indiana

This happened to both my boys when they were teething. Fevers tend to get higher when they are "cutting" more than one tooth at a time.

When I took my oldest son to the Doctor when he was teething, he explained that sometimes, some children experience a fever that cannot be attributed to anything else but teething. He further explained that some research says that a fever should not accompany teething, but it can and in most cases when the child is growing multiple teeth, the pain they feel can cause and elevation in their temp. He advised that I watch him and do my best to keep him cool by giving him a cool bath, or by rubbing him with alcohol until the fever decreased.

But you can never be too safe, so I'd call the Doctor's office and ask for the nurse and let her be the judge.

Kim

Fevers are common with teething, but if you're concerned, call your pediatrician! They can suggest what is best for him. Not that I'm against Mamasource, but if you are concerned, and he is not eating well or has had this fever for long, don't contact us, call your dr!
Trust your intuition!!! Call and talk to the nurses, that's what they are their for and if you do go and they say it's nothing, then good. It's better to be safe than sorry!! Your a first time mom and it's ok to be concerned and worried. It could just be a bug too! But you never know.