Can a 7 week old baby be teething. What are the early signs of teething in babies. How to soothe a teething baby at night. Is it safe to use teething gels for young infants. When should you give painkillers to a teething baby.

Early Teething: Can a 7 Week Old Baby Really Be Teething?

While uncommon, it is possible for a 7 week old baby to start teething. Most babies begin teething between 4-7 months, but some may start earlier. Early teething can be concerning for parents, but it’s generally not a cause for alarm. However, it’s essential to recognize the signs and know how to provide comfort to your little one.

Common Signs of Teething in Young Infants

• Red and swollen gums
• Flushed cheeks or face
• Excessive drooling
• Gum-rubbing, biting, or sucking
• Ear rubbing on the same side as an erupting tooth
• Disrupted sleep patterns
• Changes in feeding habits
• Increased irritability

It’s important to note that not all babies will experience every symptom, and some may show no signs at all. If you’re unsure whether your 7 week old is teething, consult your pediatrician for a proper evaluation.

Understanding Teething Pain: Why Does It Hurt So Much?

Teething pain occurs as the tooth pushes through the gum, causing inflammation and sensitivity. The process can be uncomfortable for babies, especially at night when there are fewer distractions. The gum area around the emerging tooth becomes swollen and sore, leading to increased sensitivity in the mouth.

During teething, babies may reject their usual feeds or prefer more frequent, shorter feeding sessions. This change in feeding patterns can further disrupt sleep for both baby and parents. Understanding the cause of the pain can help you empathize with your baby’s discomfort and provide appropriate relief.

Nighttime Teething: Soothing Strategies for Better Sleep

Teething pain often seems worse at night due to the lack of distractions. To help your baby cope with nighttime teething discomfort, try these strategies:

1. Maintain a consistent bedtime routine
2. Offer a clean, cool teething ring or damp washcloth
3. Gently massage your baby’s gums with a clean finger
4. Provide a cold water bottle or sippy cup
5. Use a baby-safe teething gel (consult your doctor first)
6. Offer extra cuddles and comfort

Remember to always supervise your baby when using teething aids to prevent choking hazards. Avoid frozen teethers as they can be too harsh on sensitive gums.

Teething Gels and Alternative Remedies: Are They Safe and Effective?

Many parents turn to teething gels and alternative remedies to soothe their baby’s discomfort. But are these options safe and effective for young infants?

Teething Gels

Teething gels can provide temporary relief by numbing the gums. However, their effectiveness is limited as the gel is often quickly washed away by saliva. If you choose to use a teething gel, ensure it’s specifically formulated for babies and follow the instructions carefully. For babies under two months, always consult your healthcare provider before using any teething products.

Homeopathic and Herbal Remedies

Some parents opt for homeopathic or herbal teething powders or granules. While these remedies are popular, there’s limited scientific evidence supporting their effectiveness. If you decide to try them, choose sugar-free options and consult your pediatrician first.

Amber Teething Necklaces

Amber necklaces, anklets, or bracelets are sometimes used as a natural teething remedy. However, these pose a serious strangulation and choking risk. It’s best to avoid using these accessories for your baby’s safety.

Painkillers for Teething: When and How to Use Them Safely

In cases of severe teething discomfort, you may consider using painkillers. However, it’s crucial to use them safely and appropriately.

When to Consider Painkillers

• Your baby is extremely distressed
• Other soothing methods have been ineffective
• Your baby is having difficulty sleeping or feeding due to pain

Safety Precautions

Before administering any medication, ensure that your baby’s discomfort is indeed due to teething and not another issue like an ear infection. If your baby has a high temperature, consult a doctor. When using infant paracetamol or other pain relievers, always follow the correct dosage instructions based on your baby’s age and weight.

Long-term Teething Management: Coping with Extended Teething Periods

Teething is not a one-time event but a process that can last for several months or even years. Understanding how to manage this extended period can help both you and your baby cope better.

Establishing a Teething Routine

Create a consistent routine for managing teething symptoms. This might include regular gum massages, offering teething toys at specific times, and maintaining a calm, soothing environment during peak teething periods.

Adapting to Sleep Changes

Teething can disrupt established sleep patterns. Be prepared to adapt your baby’s sleep routine during teething episodes. This might mean offering extra comfort during the night or adjusting nap times to compensate for nighttime wakings.

Monitoring Oral Health

As teeth emerge, it’s important to start thinking about oral hygiene. Begin gently cleaning your baby’s gums and first teeth with a soft, damp cloth or infant toothbrush. This not only keeps the mouth clean but can also provide some relief from teething discomfort.

Nutrition During Teething: Ensuring Proper Feeding Despite Discomfort

Teething can affect your baby’s eating habits, potentially impacting their nutrition. Here are some strategies to ensure your baby continues to receive adequate nourishment during teething periods:

Adapting Feeding Methods

• Offer smaller, more frequent feeds if your baby is struggling with longer feeding sessions
• Experiment with different bottle nipples or breastfeeding positions to find what’s most comfortable
• For babies starting solids, try offering cold, soft foods like yogurt or pureed fruits

Maintaining Hydration

Increased drooling during teething can lead to fluid loss. Ensure your baby stays hydrated by offering extra feeds or water (if age-appropriate). Cool water can also help soothe sore gums.

Introducing Teething-Friendly Foods

For older babies, certain foods can provide relief while also offering nutritional benefits. Consider offering:

• Chilled cucumber sticks (for babies over 6 months)
• Cold, soft fruits like banana or peach slices
• Frozen yogurt drops

Always supervise your baby during feeding and ensure any food items are an appropriate size to prevent choking hazards.

When to Seek Professional Help: Recognizing Unusual Teething Symptoms

While teething is a normal part of development, there are instances where professional medical advice should be sought. Being able to differentiate between normal teething symptoms and potential health issues is crucial for your baby’s well-being.

Red Flags to Watch For

• High fever (above 101°F or 38.3°C)
• Severe diarrhea
• Unusual rashes
• Prolonged, inconsolable crying
• Refusal to eat or drink for extended periods
• Signs of dehydration

If you observe any of these symptoms, or if you’re concerned about your baby’s teething progress, don’t hesitate to consult your pediatrician. They can provide a proper evaluation and rule out any other potential health issues that might be masquerading as teething symptoms.

Monitoring Tooth Eruption

While the timing of tooth eruption can vary widely among babies, significant delays or unusual patterns might warrant a check-up. Your pediatrician or a pediatric dentist can assess your baby’s oral development and address any concerns you may have about the teething process.

Remember, every baby is unique, and what’s normal for one may not be for another. Trust your instincts as a parent, and when in doubt, seek professional advice. Your healthcare provider is your best resource for ensuring your baby’s health and comfort throughout the teething journey.

My baby is teething at night. How can I soothe her?

In this article

• How can I help my baby cope with teething pain at night?
• Why does teething hurt?
• How can I soothe sore gums during the night?
• Should I use teething gels or alternative remedies?
• Can I give my baby infant paracetamol?
• How long does teething last?

How can I help my baby cope with teething pain at night?

During the day, your baby’s regular activities will help distract her from the discomfort of teething. At night, the lack of distractions may make the pain more noticeable and your baby may start to get upset.

Sometimes it can be difficult to tell whether your baby’s unsettled behaviour during the night is actually due to teething.

If your baby is teething, you may notice some of these signs, although not every baby will get every symptom:

• red and swollen gums
• red, flushed cheeks or face
• heavy dribbling
• gum-rubbing, biting or sucking
• rubbing her ear on the same side as an erupting tooth
• being sleepless at night and during daytime naps
• not feeding as well
• being irritable and unsettled (NICE 2014, NHS2016a)

If you think your baby is waking regularly due to teething, try to keep to her usual bedtime routine. If you change your approach, for example, staying longer with her while she settles, she may start to depend on your presence to be able to fall asleep.

If she cries out for you during the night you’ll need to go to her, to work out whether or not she’s in pain. Use your instincts to decide whether to pick her up to comfort her or whether reassuring words and strokes are enough to soothe her back to sleep.

If your baby’s sleep carries on being disrupted after her teething symptoms have gone, get back to her old routine as quickly as possible. A few nights of perseverance should soon get you back on track.

Why does teething hurt?

As your baby’s tooth emerges, the gum around it may be inflamed, swollen and sore. It’s thought this is what causes the pain.

Your baby’s mouth will generally be much more sensitive at this time. You may find that your baby rejects your breast or her bottle during her usual night feeds. Try not to worry if she does; she’s likely to catch up on her feeds when she’s feeling better.

Some babies may prefer more frequent feeds to help them cope with teething pain, often for shorter periods (LLLGB 2017). So you may find your sleep is more interrupted than normal during a bout of teething.

How can I soothe sore gums during the night?

Simply rubbing a clean finger over sore gums can temporarily numb the pain (NICE 2014). Giving your baby something clean and cool to bite on may relieve the pressure on her gums and provide a welcome distraction from any pain (NHS 2016b, NICE 2014).

Anything cold will be soothing and numb her gums, so keep teethers in the fridge or give your baby a well-chilled, damp flannel to bite on when she wakes with teething pain. Make sure you stay with her and don’t leave anything she could choke on in her cot.

Don’t give your baby anything from the freezer, as it could hurt her gums (NHS 2016b). Cold water in a bottle or, if she prefers, a feeding cup, may also help to calm her gums.

There will be times, however, when your baby will reject all of these offerings. This is when a soothing cuddle is the best therapy you can supply.

Should I use teething gels or alternative remedies?

Teething gels can soothe your baby’s gums by numbing them a little, although the effect is only temporary and the gel is often moved immediately by your baby’s tongue or saliva (NICE 2014).

There isn’t much evidence that gels are effective, although lots of parents say they help (NICE, 2014). If you want to use a teething gel make sure you buy one specially for babies and follow the instructions (NHS 2016b).

If your baby’s teething before two months, check with your GP or pharmacist before giving her teething gel or other remedies (NHS2016b).

How do I soothe my teething baby?

Our health visitor reveals the most common signs of teething and how you can help ease your baby’s distress.More baby videos

Some parents use homeopathic or herbal powders or granules, which you pour into your baby’s mouth. There’s no medical evidence that these work (NHS 2018, NICE 2014). If you do try one, check that the brand you are buying is sugar-free.

In some parts of Europe, it’s traditional for teething babies to wear amber necklaces, anklets or bracelets to ease pain. However, these can pose a serious strangling or choking risk if they get caught on something (Markman 2009)

Can I give my baby infant paracetamol?

Before giving your baby painkillers to ease teething pain, first make sure that her pain isn’t caused by something else. It’s easy to mistake an ear infection for teething (NICE 2014). If your baby has a high temperature you should take her to see a doctor.

If your baby is very distressed, you can give her the correct dose of infant paracetamol or infant ibuprofen. Always check the instructions on the packet, or ask your pharmacist or doctor if you are unsure. Never give your baby paracetamol and ibuprofen at the same time or keep switching between the two unless advised by a doctor (NHS2017b).

Your baby will probably be teething on-and-off for some time, so try to avoid giving her medicines too often.

How long does teething last?

There’s no set date when your baby’s first tooth will arrive. Every child is different. She may be troubled for just a few nights before a tooth emerges, or she may display all the symptoms of teething for weeks, with nothing to show for it.

Take comfort in the fact that it may become easier to distract your baby as she gets older. So the first few teeth are likely to be the worst. Once your baby learns that putting a teething ring in her mouth may help to reduce teething pain, she may even be able to soothe herself.

Now you know a bit more about teething, find out which of your baby’s teeth are likely to appear first.

References

BNF for Children.2018. Emollients. British National Formulary for Children

LLLGB. 2017. Breastfeeding and teething. www.laleche.org.uk [Accessed July 2018]

Markman L. 2009. Teething: facts and fiction. Pediatr. Rev. 2;30;e59-e64 [Accessed July 2018]

NHS. 2018. Homeopathy. NHS Choices, Health A-Z [Accessed July 2018]

NHS.2017a. Medicines for babies and toddlers. NHS Choices, Health A-Z [Accessed July 2018]

NHS. 2016a. Baby teething symptoms. NHS Choices, Health A-Z [Accessed July 2018]

NHS. 2016b. Tips for helping your teething baby. NHS Choices, Health A-Z [Accessed July 2018]

NHS.2017b. Can I give my child paracetamol and ibuprofen at the same time? NHS Choices, Common health questionsNCT. nd. Teething. National Childbirth Trust [Accessed July 2018]

NICE. 2014. Teething. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, Clinical Knowledge Summaries [Accessed July 2018]

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20 Week Old Baby | Clingy, Solids & Teething

At 20 weeks, your baby is now 5 months old. Where has that time gone?

Your 20 week old baby is coming on leaps and bounds, but is still in Leap 4 of the Wonder Weeks.

You can expect him to be a little clingy, cranky and crying during this time.

Related article: Wonder Weeks – How They Help You Understand Your Baby.

20 week old baby development

Your baby is changing fast but there are still plenty of growth milestones approaching.

You can also expect to see changes in sleeping at night and feeding patterns for the whole of this month.

What should a 20 week old baby be doing?

Play and development

Your 20 week old baby is enjoying the sound of his own voice almost as much as you are.

He will be practising his language skills and making a range of simple sounds now. He will delight in your response as you mimic him or introduce him to sounds of your own.

Your baby will love to hear you sing simple songs and play games such as peekaboo. Games like this will help him develop ‘object permanence’.

Object permanence means that babies begin to understand that objects (or people) still exist, even when they can’t see or hear them. This is a key step to reducing separation anxiety, which is common at this stage.

To learn more read our article Separation Anxiety in Babies | 4 Helpful Tips.

Social interactions

As long as you remain close, your 20 week old baby will love to meet and interact with other babies, kids and adults.

Joining a local stay and play group with other children will help your little one build and develop social skills; it will also give you the opportunity to meet other parents and enjoy some much needed adult conversation.

Having you there, and being around others, will help your baby feel more confident in exploring social situations and seeing new faces.

It is part of a baby’s general nature to be inquisitive. Babies love to see animated faces and expressions. Play fun games with your little one by making silly faces and watching his reaction.

Your baby is loving life as a social being, so look out for opportunities for him to meet other people and children and experience new things.

Find out more about boredom and your baby by reading our article Do Babies Get Bored?

Feeding your 20 week old baby

As a parent, you might be wondering when to start introducing solid foods to your baby. This process is known as weaning.

Over the next four weeks, you will see increasing signs that your baby is developmentally ready to begin eating solids.

Some of the signs babies are ready:

• They can sit up by themselves. Good head and trunk control is required to enable them to sit without support
• Increased interest in food. Reaching out for food (normally someone else’s), and being able to bring it to the mouth
• Absence of tongue-extrusion (or tongue thrust) reflex. This reflex means that when something solid or semi-solid is placed in a baby’s mouth, his tongue will push it away. This reflex needs to cease before your baby is ready for solid foods.The tongue-thrust reflex is present in newborns and remains until around 4-6 months of life. This prevents choking in the early months of a baby’s development, as his body is not yet ready to cope with solids.

Can I feed my 20 week old baby solid foods?

The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of your baby’s life, because of its proven health benefits for both mother and child.

After 6 months, for a baby’s health, he will need more than just breast milk, or infant first milk, to enable him to reach all development milestones. Your little one will need the added nutrients and vitamins from complementary foods to support his health, in addition to normal milk.

The recommendation of ‘around six months’ takes into consideration the normal variation between babies as they reach the milestones recognized as important for taking this next step.

Your 20 week old baby will probably reach these in the next eight weeks. But don’t worry, there is no need to rush or to be concerned if he is ready a little before or after 24-26 weeks of age.

Weaning tips

Introducing solids can feel like an event or milestone but it often happens spontaneously and without planning, when a baby reaches out and helps himself from his parent’s plate.

Unless the food is especially unsuitable for a baby you can allow him to explore his stolen treasure, mouthing it as he does other things he grasps in his hands. Whole nuts and honey are not recommended before 12 months; fast food, cakes and desserts are not ideal first foods either.

You might try handing your baby finger-sized pieces of meat, fruit, vegetables or other family foods at mealtimes, for him to suck and play with before he actually begins consuming them. This is part of the natural process of baby-led weaning and is typical, especially of babies who share mealtimes with the family.

Your breastfed or formula fed baby is probably still easily distracted at feed times and will need quiet space to feed effectively during the day. This should gradually improve over the coming weeks, as most babies develop the ability to screen out distractions by around six months.

Of course, some babies will always be hyper-aware of what is happening around them and will interrupt feeds to check out what’s going on. This developmental distraction eases in the second half-year.

Learn more in our article Baby Led Weaning – What Is It And Should I Be Doing It?

At what age do babies start rolling over?

Your 20 week old baby is now probably rolling from his belly to his back and from belly to side. Rolling from back to tummy typically happens a little later – between 5.5 and 7.5 months.

This means he is probably moving around while sleeping, practising his mobility during the night and getting into awkward positions he might need rescuing from.

Once your baby can move himself from back to belly, in the coming weeks, he will also do that in his sleep – making it much harder to follow the ‘back to sleep’ SIDS guidelines.

Some parents worry they need to wake regularly during the night to return their baby to the back position; however, it is generally accepted that once your healthy baby can move himself into such a position, he can also move himself out of it if needed, so there’s no need for you to lose any more sleep during the night.

Learn more about the importance of safe sleep by reading our article SIDS And Safe Sleep – How Safe Is Your Baby?

20 week old baby – sleep tips

Continue to follow the remaining guidelines, especially regarding bedding, bumpers and toys in his cot; they can become a danger when a mobile baby comes up against them in his sleep.

Choose a sleeping bag instead of sheets and blankets, and cease swaddling once your baby begins rolling. Once he’s able to get onto his tummy, he will soon be preparing his body for crawling – the next big step in his mobile development.

Related reading: 5 Sleep Options For Your Baby – Where Will Your Baby Sleep?

Can babies teeth at 5 months?

Your 20 week old baby might have already popped a first tooth, which typically appears between 4 and 7 months of age.

Baby teeth, also known as primary or milk teeth, often arrive in a typical order but not all babies follow this pattern and it isn’t a problem if they don’t.

The first teeth to appear will usually be the two central bottom teeth.

These are the smallest and simplest of all teeth and tend to arrive after a short period of signs and symptoms we refer to as ‘teething’, although sometimes they pop through with no sign they were coming.

Teething is an ongoing process, which takes place over a period of two years – and that’s just the temporary ‘baby teeth’.

Typical teething order sees the individual teeth becoming larger and more complex, until the arrival of the two year old molars, which slowly emerge in the third year of life.

Erupting teeth come up through the gum tissue and ‘cut’ through the gum line, which actually splits naturally, rather than being cut by the tooth. This movement usually creates some degree of discomfort or pain during the acute stage.

Teething symptoms

Debate rages between doctors, who say babies do not show symptoms such as fever while teething,and parents, who see signs such as red cheeks, increased dribbling, running noses and high temperatures as physical signs teeth are erupting.

Find out more in our article Teething Symptoms | 9 Signs Baby Is Teething.

It’s important not to assume automatically that teething is responsible for your 20 week old baby’s discomfort or distress.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that teething occurs over a long period of time and will therefore coincide with most of your baby’s development stages at 4-12 months and beyond.