Ah, teething! It’s often blamed for everything from fevers to runny noses, but the reality is a bit more nuanced. While teething can certainly cause discomfort, drooling, fussiness, and mild temperature elevations (under 100.4°F/38°C), it typically doesn’t cause high fevers, diarrhea, or severe illness. Those symptoms are usually signs of something else entirely and warrant a call to the doctor. Safe ways to provide relief include cold teething toys, gum massage, and sometimes age-appropriate pain relievers if recommended by your pediatrician. There’s so much old wives’ wisdom around teething – what’s something you thought was true about teething but later learned was a myth, or what surprised you the most?
I definitely thought teething caused high fevers because my mom always said so! When my first baby actually got sick with a fever, I learned that while they might feel a little warm, a true fever is usually from an infection. It was a good reminder to always check with the pediatrician.
The amount of drool surprised me! And the sheer unpredictability – sometimes a tooth would pop through with no fuss, other times it felt like days of extreme grumpiness. We found frozen washcloths were a lifesaver, much better than any fancy teether for our little one.