Teeth are an essential part of the body, mainly because we all eat to live. Teeth help digest food by slicing, crushing, and grinding it into small pieces, which are further digested by our bodies. Additionally, teeth help us speak well and improve our appearance. Babies, like us, also need teeth at some point in their development to prepare for and adapt to weaning. So, when do babies start teething?
Teething Schedule
Before we discuss when babies start teething, we must first define the term "teething." Teething is the breakthrough or the emergence of an infant's teeth out of the gums. Medically, it is called odontiasis. Teething typically starts when babies are six months old and continue up to their third year of life, where it pauses when all milk teeth have emerged.
The milk teeth, also known as baby teeth, temporary teeth, or primary teeth, are the first teeth people develop during the infant and toddler stages of development. Later, people develop permanent teeth that replace the milk teeth during their school-going and preadolescent stages of development.
Milk teeth are a set of twenty teeth that comprise central and lateral incisors, canines, and first and secondary molars. Usually, they start appearing when babies reach six months old and continue to emerge up to their thirty-third month of life, as mentioned earlier. When children reach the age of six, permanent teeth start replacing our milk teeth. This shedding of milk teeth continues until they reach the age of twelve when permanent teeth replace all or most milk teeth.
Timeline for A Baby’s Teething
Our focus is baby teething. Therefore, our efforts are to understand when each milk teeth emerge, which we now know occurs approximately between the sixth month and third year of life.
Below is an elaborate explanation of the emergence of milk teeth from the first to the last teeth
4-7 months- Lower Central Incisors
Babies usually develop their first teeth between the fourth and seventh months of life. The teeth that grow during this time are a pair of central incisors on the front of their lower jaw.
8-11 months - Upper Central Incisors
The second wave of teeth that a baby develops is a pair of incisors on the front part of the upper jaw. They develop these teeth between their eighth and eleventh month of life.
9-16 months- Lateral Incisors
Babies develop two pairs of lateral incisors between the ninth and the sixteenth month of life. The first pair to grow are the two lateral incisors of the upper jaw. Later, they are followed by the two lateral incisors of the lower jaw.
13-19 months- First Molars
Babies develop their first molars between the ages of one and one and a half years. These first molars usually appear first on the upper jaw of the mouth.
18-23 months- Canines
Babies develop Canines when they reach the ages of one and a half years and two years. One can notice canines by their outstanding sharpness and pointedness.
23- 33 months- Secondary Molars
These are the last teeth to develop in a baby’s jaw. They fill the remaining gaps in the jaw and complete the set of 20 milk teeth that a baby should have. They usually emerge between the second and third years of life.
Teething Signs and Symptoms
Now that we have already learned the timeline for the development of a baby’s milk teeth, you must know how to detect when babies are teething so that you can help soothe the discomfort they experience due to teething. Teething is usually accompanied by specific physical and behavioural signs and symptoms explained below.
Physical Signs of Teething
Drooling
It is the excessive saliva production which unintentionally spills out of a baby’s mouth. It is usually caused by teething in babies, which impairs the control of muscles around the gums by the nerves, resulting in weak muscles, soft gums, and increased salivation.
Mouth Rash/Rosy Skin
Babies usually develop a mouth rash when teething. This rash is caused by the constant wetness of the mouth area due to drooling. The area where a rash is about to develop becomes redder or pinker than usual.
Bulging Gums
Molars usually make the gums bulge when they want to emerge out of the gums. Sometimes they cause fluids to build up around the gum area, which develops into a bluish cyst (swelling). When you notice this occurrence, consider it completely normal. Do not interfere with the bluish cyst.
Mild Fever
Teething makes babies have a slight fever due to the swelling of their gums. However, this fever should not go beyond 101 degrees F. When it passes this limit, you should consult a paediatrician because a high temperature is a symptom of an infection or illness.
Behavioural Signs of Teething
Excessive Biting and Sucking
There comes a time when you notice that your baby is eager and determined to bite everything they come across. Whenever you carry the baby, she struggles to get hold of your fingers, pull them towards her mouth, and bite them.
Moreover, when the baby sits alone, she pulls anything around her towards her mouth for a bite. This behaviour is a perfect sign of teething. It occurs because emerging teeth exert pressure on the gums, which irritates them. Babies react to this irritation by biting and sucking a lot to help relieve gum irritation.
Ear Pulling
Sore gums, which occur due to teething, make babies pull their ears to divert or relieve pain. However, you should note that ear pulling is not a primary symptom of teething. When it occurs, you should also investigate other signs of teething to verify if teething is the primary cause of your baby pulling her ear.
If other signs of teething do not accompany ear pulling, then the baby may be doing it out of curiosity, or it could be a sign of an ear infection. You should always visit a paediatrician to confirm the cause of a baby pulling her ears.
Irritability and A Lot of Crying
Teething is usually more active at night than daytime. Therefore, when babies cry a lot in the evening and night than during the day, it is a sign that they are teething.
Moreover, when they cry, and you find it hard to comfort and please them, it indicates they are teething. However, you must ensure that other teething signs support this sign because a lot of crying may also suggest that the baby has an accumulation of gas, colic, or an infection.
Changes in The Style of Feeding
Gums that have swollen due to teething are usually painful. Therefore, babies tend to avoid anything that touches and irritates these gums. As a result, they may reject being fed with a spoon or fork, which irritates the gums and accept bottle-feeding or nursing that does not hurt their gums.
However, in situations where gums are not painful but are irritated by the pressure from the teeth that want to come out, children prefer being fed with a fork, spoons, and other utensils to nursing. They prefer bottle-feeding to nursing because sucking the bottle puts pressure on their gums, which counters the force from emerging teeth. This process relieves irritation caused by the pressure of the emerging teeth.
A Change in Sleeping Pattern
Since teething occurs mainly at night, babies are usually woken up by the process. Babies that generally sleep peacefully at night may start waking up and crying a lot because teething disrupts their nap. It even makes them fussy. When sleep disruptions become common, you should know that the baby is teething.
Caring for Teething Babies
Now that you know how to detect when babies are teething, you need to know what to do to help them go through the process smoothly.
Massage Your Baby’s Gums
The pressure of emerging teeth usually creates discomfort in the gums. One way of relieving this discomfort is by countering the pressure through massage. Make sure you wash your hands with soap and rinse before massaging your baby's gums. Use one or two fingers to perform the massage by pressing and rubbing your baby’s gums gently in a circular motion.
Massage Your Baby’s Gums with A Cold Wash Cloth
Take a clean unscented washcloth. Please place it in cold water, then remove and wring it. Wipe any drool around the baby’s mouth, then open it gently and massage and wipe her gums by pressing the cold cloth on them gums. Besides improving the massage experience, the cold towel clears bacterial build around the baby's gums.
Buy A Teething Toy for Your Baby
Toys, such as rubber teething rings, are available in baby stores. You need to purchase them for your baby so that they bite them to relieve the discomfort caused by emerging teeth.
Additionally, you can create a teething toy by tying a clean, moist cloth around a utensil, such as a spoon. Place this improvised wet teething toy in a refrigerator to cool it, then give it to the baby to bite.
Give the Baby A Pain Reliever
Teething babies older than six months can take baby-formulated pain relievers, especially ibuprofen or acetaminophen. Make sure you follow the dosage instructions on the package of the medicines. Infants who have not attained the age of six months should never be given pain relievers unless recommended by a paediatrician.
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