thrush or teething?

My 12 week old DD has been miserable for the last couple of days. A couple
of days ago we were in the car and she woke up and just started crying.
Didn't want to feed, burped a couple of times but was still crying. I
stripped her off and walked her around and after about 30 minutes she calmed
down and went back to sleep. During that time she was all bubbling at the
mouth and drooling a lot and sticking her tongue out. Since that time she's
been either all smiles and happy ,or crying and miserable (she's normally
quite contented and happy, and only grizzles a bit when she's hungry or
tired). When she feeds she pulls on and off, and it hurts me as well as she
doesn't always let go as she pulls away. She's been sticking her fingers in
her mouth, and drooling a lot more than normal, but she'll often chomp on
her hand when she's hungry. I can't see any white spots in her mouth, but I
also can't feel any teeth coming through. My nipples are sore currently,
which is what made me wonder about thrush, but they might just be sore
because she's being so rough at the moment. She's pretty young to be
teething, so I'm really not sure. I've got her a teething ring, but she
doesn't hold onto things yet, so she won't chew it by herself, and if I hold
it to her mouth sometimes she'll chew on it, sometimes she doesn't want it.
Thoughts? Anything else it could be?

"Linda" wrote in message
...
My 12 week old DD
drooling a lot and sticking her tongue out. Since that time she's
been either all smiles and happy ,or crying and miserable (she's normally
quite contented and happy, and only grizzles a bit when she's hungry or
tired). When she feeds she pulls on and off, and it hurts me as well as
she
doesn't always let go as she pulls away.


Sounds like early teething to me. You might not see any teeth for months
tho. My son had all the same behaviors at 3-4 months and didn't actually
have the teeth pop thru until 7 months old. I treated him like he was
teething right from the start and was able to stop the 'pull off" behavior.

I gave hylands teething tablets before naps, be careful with these tho. the
first few times, they can keep some babies wide awake. These didn't really
help as much with nursing when the baby was wide awake.
http://www.hylands.com/products/teething.php

Before nursing, I'd hold the cold teething ring for the baby to chew on for
about two minutes before trying to nurse. Sometimes a warm wash cloth to
gum worked better. In the end, if he still kept pulling off, I'd use Baby
Oragel or Little Teethers so he could eat in peace. That did the trick 100%
of the time. "Unfortunately" you can only use it 4 times a day. More
often can cause issues with swallowing.

You need to use care when using these anesthetics on such a young baby and
use only tiny amounts. Usually a small amount on the bottom gum line, just
in front where the first two teeth usually come thru can work wonders. The
biggest concern is, if you use too much, it can numb the baby's throat so
they can't swallow properly, and it's a choking/drowning risk. Too much on
tender tissue also happens to burn A LOT. I know that one first hand
Most numbing gels actually say, for 4 months old and up, so I'd let your
pediatrician know you're trying it.

And yes this was a problem about 50% of the time till his teeth popped out
finally at 7 months, then I had a two week break. Now his top gums are sore
and he gnaws on everything. It's much better now that he can hold the
teether He was able to 'help' hold it around 5 months old.

Tylenol was also a bedtime lifesaver, but check with your pediatrician for
that too.

Good luck!
-Heather

"Heather D. Lewis" wrote in message
news
"Linda" wrote in message
...
My 12 week old DD
drooling a lot and sticking her tongue out. Since that time she's
been either all smiles and happy ,or crying and miserable (she's normally
quite contented and happy, and only grizzles a bit when she's hungry or
tired). When she feeds she pulls on and off, and it hurts me as well as
she
doesn't always let go as she pulls away.


Sounds like early teething to me. You might not see any teeth for months
tho. My son had all the same behaviors at 3-4 months and didn't actually
have the teeth pop thru until 7 months old. I treated him like he was
teething right from the start and was able to stop the 'pull off"
behavior.

I gave hylands teething tablets before naps, be careful with these tho.
the
first few times, they can keep some babies wide awake. These didn't
really
help as much with nursing when the baby was wide awake.
http://www.hylands.com/products/teething.php

Before nursing, I'd hold the cold teething ring for the baby to chew on
for
about two minutes before trying to nurse. Sometimes a warm wash cloth to
gum worked better. In the end, if he still kept pulling off, I'd use Baby
Oragel or Little Teethers so he could eat in peace. That did the trick
100%
of the time. "Unfortunately" you can only use it 4 times a day. More
often can cause issues with swallowing.

You need to use care when using these anesthetics on such a young baby and
use only tiny amounts. Usually a small amount on the bottom gum line,
just
in front where the first two teeth usually come thru can work wonders.
The
biggest concern is, if you use too much, it can numb the baby's throat so
they can't swallow properly, and it's a choking/drowning risk. Too much on
tender tissue also happens to burn A LOT. I know that one first hand
Most numbing gels actually say, for 4 months old and up, so I'd let your
pediatrician know you're trying it.

And yes this was a problem about 50% of the time till his teeth popped out
finally at 7 months, then I had a two week break. Now his top gums are
sore
and he gnaws on everything. It's much better now that he can hold the
teether He was able to 'help' hold it around 5 months old.

Tylenol was also a bedtime lifesaver, but check with your pediatrician for
that too.

Good luck!
-Heather


Thanks Heather, it really does seem like teething, but the fact that I can't
feel anything coming through, and because she's so young made me wonder. I
tried the cold teething ring and that def helped with the feeding. Will
also keep in mind not to use too much numbing meds - I haven't yet, but I
hadn't realised (which makes sense now) about throat issues etc.
I'm really hoping it doesn't go on for months though like it did for you, I
hate seeing her so miserable.

Wow, I don't know but my 18 week old is doing the EXACT same things. I
actually never thought of thrush, I thought either teething or low
supply because of the roughness during nursing The sticking out of the
tongue is really new for her, and she seems to be playing with it "see
what I can do!", and actually I hadn't attributed that to teething but
it makes sense. I don't see any redness to the gums that might
indicate a tooth is on it's way, but my guess from her behavior is that
we're working on it.
Just thought I'd let you know that whatever the cause, my DD is
behaving exactly like yours! I think I'll relax about the possiblity
of low supply now.

Amy