Fact or Fiction? When your baby is teething, he will run a HIGH fever.?

Question

My mother in law insists that babies run a high fever when they are teething. I have read somewhere that their temperature should never get above 99.6 while teething. I think that if your baby has a high fever while teething, there is another problem. What do you think?

Brandi S- My son doesn't have a fever right now. He is teething but no fever! I am asking this question because every time either one of my kids has a fever my mother in law just says it is due to teething!

Answer 1

Generally, fiction. Some kids do run fevers, but they're not usually over 101.5 F - any higher than that, there's something else in there. Other teething symptoms include, but are not limited to, profuse drooling, sticking their hands in their mouth, crying when feeding, or refusal of feedings, and VILE diarrhea. Teething children can show any combination of these symptoms, or none at all. It's all individual.

Answer 2

Doctors will say there's no such thing as a 'teething fever', but I have had friends whose children have had them. I got lucky with my son, and he had no stress symptoms from teething--just crankiness for a few hours while the tooth cut through the gumline. But my mom said that I had teething fevers for about 12 hours with each tooth, and one of my other sisters was the same way.

If the baby has a high fever and there are no other discernable reasons for it, then I would suspect teething to be the cause.

Answer 3

Four kids - all of them ran high temps when teething. The two go hand in hand.

Childrens tylenol usually didn't help. Childrens Motrin always seemed to do the trick. That combined with a nice cold teething ring and baby orajel and you should be good to go.

I would always go to the doctor if the fever ran too high or didn't come down right away.

Teething and ear infections also happen together a lot.

Answer 4

Not all babies run low grade or high grade fevers when teething. Most doctors will tell you that they will not run a fever when teething but that isn't true. My oldest son had a fever when he was teething and my youngest never did. Just keep track of your babies temp and make sure it isn't to high. If you are conserned call and talk to your docs nurse .

Answer 5

Call your dr and ask. Your mil isn't a medical professional and, quite honestly, when was the last time she had a baby who was teething? My son gets a LOW GRADE fever when he's about to pop a new tooth out but it is so low that no one but me even notices it.

Is he having any other issues? Slightly runny nose, vomitting, looser poops? Bear in mind that at the age of teething, drs sometimes put all issues down as teething.

How high is the fever?

Now that you have read this, get off the computer and call your ped. In case of a high fever, put the baby in a WARM (not cold!) bath and the fever will lower as the water cools.

Answer 6

Fact some baby do run a temp because that's how there body fights the pain and it also lets you know that something is going on with your kid.
Also fiction because not all baby's are the same some run fever and some don't and you can't believe everything you read if your baby's temp gets to 101.0 then you can worry but baby's do run fever thats there only way of letting you know something is wrong and of course they cry .good luck

Answer 7

Your mother in law is wrong. Some babies do but with my two, we didn't even realise they were teething. All of a sudden they just had 2 little teeth at the bottom, they never fussed or cried, had a temperature or anything. Sometimes when babies are teething they can get bad nappy rash though because there's s much saliva in their mouths, that's what my health visitor said.

Answer 8

This is one of those situations where mothers (and grandmothers and aunts and cousins and sisters) will forever disagree with pediatricians. Most experienced moms will admit to you that their child has run a fever while teething, with absolutely no other physical ailments. However, most pediatricians deny this possibility, and insist that a fever accompanies illness.

It's a two-way street, and no one can be correct 100 % of the time. As with any possibly fatal symptom, it is important to diagnose your child's fever accurately, or else suffer the consequences.

In any case, a fever of under 100 degrees, in a child older than 3 months, is usually no cause for rushing to the emergency room. However, you should keep an eye on that fever, rising higher than 100 degrees could not only signal a worse illness, but could begin to be harmful to your child's brain development, not to mention unpleasant.

This is the warning of pediatricians everywhere. However, it is important for you to know that, in a child older than 3 months, a fever under 105 degrees will not cause any harm to the child's brain. Going over 105 can cause brain damage, however.

The easiest way to find the cause of a fever is to search for other symptoms, because a fever in and of itself is no real reason for concern (unless over 105). Is your child acting normal? Playing and interacting as usual? Does he/she still have a normal appetite? Does he/she respond to you? If the answer to all of these is yes....you probably shouldn't worry. Use Tylenol (or Ibuprofen for children older than 6 months, under 6 months Ibuprofen has been shown to cause blindness, avoid it until then), and try to keep him comfy.

If your child shows other symptoms, a tummy ache, pulling at or rubbing his/her ears/throat/head, crying more than usual, a loss of appetite, a disinterest in playing, or excessive sleep...something else is probably wrong and you should consult a doctor as soon as possible.

With any fever, regardless of other symptoms, do remember to continue checking the fever. If it continues to rise 1 hour after giving a dose of Tylenol or Ibuprofen, contact your child's doctor.

Good Luck!

Answer 9

The only time my son has had a fever is when he is teething! The first few times it happened i took him to the doctors and they couldn't find anything wrong with him!!!! So i believe it is true!!!!! He is now almost three and has all of his teeth and he got a temp each time!!!!

Answer 10

FICTION! If the baby has a fever (100..4 or higher) then you should call the doctor. Teething is NO reason to have a fever.