How much does teething effect things?? (18 month old)

[catonss]

Hello there!
Just trying to figure out what's up with my almost 18 month old.  She's been struggling at naps - waking after 45 mins, and usually falling back asleep after some fussing, but still not a long enough nap it seems.  She was getting about 2 to 2.5 hrs at nap and 11.5 hrs. at night.  Nights have been interrupted some too.  I know she's overtired too, so we're trying to get her to bed earlier to see if it helps. 
I know she's been teething - those molars take a long time to come in, don't they!?!  I've never wanted to blame things on teething.  For some reason i've always felt like it's not a very good excuse.  But maybe i haven't given it enough credit.  She's been struggling w/ sleep and other issues (low appetite, different poop, fussy during day), for about a month now.  And the teeth have a while to come in yet.  In your experience, does teething really effect things?  And how do you know that's what it is, and not something else?  I've felt guilty giving her tylenol, cause i don't want to give it to her unless i know she really needs it....
Any thoughts about teething and how it relates to all this stuff??
thanks!

[daybyday]

Unfortunately teething effects every child differently, and depending on which teeth, even more so. My two teethed completely opposite. My only way of comparison is that when my wisdom teeth came through (many moons ago)....IT HURT. The pressure and the headaches I got from them shifting against other teeth was harsh...And I was an adult that could reason the pain, pop tylenol as needed...be alone, take my mind off of it in other ways....

For little ones that can't communicate, or are in real pain, it must be so hard to reason through that, and communicate effectively....makes my heart sad.

So yes, IMHO teething effects things GREATLY. AND it can take a loooooooonnnnnngggg time to see "teeth".
(My doc told me when my DS was about 6 months old..."they" say teething doesn't cause fever, diahrrehea etc. but I'm a mom, and mom vs doctor is two different things.")

Hope she feels better soon! hugs to you all

[Clarepie]

Hi,
Sounds to me like it is definately teething.My DD got her first set of molars around 14 months,and they all came through at once and took a long time to come through.She was extremely grumpy,her appetite wasn't very good at all,and her poo was extremely messy and runny.The molars,because they are so big,obviously cause more pain as they come through especially if they come through all at once.I would try with some pain relief 1/2 before her nap,I gave mine a dose of calpol the english equivalent of Tylenol I assume,and this definately helped with her sleep,I also gave her some before she went down at night.She's still got her last set of molars to come through yet,think they might be on their way,she's nearly 2,so probably will be any time now..
 Hope this helps..good luck!

Clare

[skatty]

Teething for my DD is horrendous! Everytime she teeths hard she also gets sick, right now her 2nd year molars have started bumping up and she has a terrible green snot cold and on off fever  We are getting EWs at the mo and some NWs, she wakes every 40 mins of her nap and is geting OT. Thank god these are the last 4, her first set of molars were actually the easiest to break through but they moved into position a long time ago before she had any teeth so we had the hell then when she was 3-7 months old  I agree it is easy to blame stuff on teething but since 12 months she has been a great sleeper and whenever her sleep goes wonky so far teeth have followed.

Oh yeah and the lack of appetite, stinky nappies and fussing are some little extras us lucky ones get 

[Samuel's mum]

As Marie says it's soooo variable. With Sam I didn't even know when he was teething as it affected him so little. I would honestly notice a tooth and think 'oooh look' and that was the first I've heard of it. Perhaps Josie will be terrible - who knows. Sam has a friend who had such a tough time with teething - red cheeks, very runny nappies, mood change, loss of appetite.
I remember with my wisdom teeth there was a real sense of itchiness and pressure that couldn't really be described as pain but was really irritating.

[catonss]

And do some of you find that pain meds really don't help all that much, with the early wakings that is?  She's still waking at the 45 min mark at every nap (has been for 3 weeks?)  I'm sure a lot of it is overtired.  Thankfully she'll most of the time go back to sleep.  But i've been giving her tylenol, and today tried motrin, about a half hr b/f i lay her down for nap, and she still wakes up.  Nights seem to be better if i go to her right away and give her the pain med, which to me says she really did need it.  If i don't go in and give it to her, seems like she's up for an hour or so.  Guess we'll just have to keep riding this out!