The Business of Teething & Four New Chompers
My kids have always been early teethers. Both of them had their first bottom teeth popping through by 4 months old but unlike my daughter, whose teeth started to come in one at a time every month after the first two, Arlo has stalled a bit. His bunny teeth have been hanging out in a little pair by themselves for the last 4 months and I was beginning to wonder if and when we’d see more pop through. In true Arlo fashion, he decided to go big or go home with the presence of the top four front teeth all pushing through at his gum line. Four at once! Can you imagine?
So all of this teething business got me curious as to the natural order of when and how teeth come in. What’s the average age for a baby’s first teeth to come through? What teeth are supposed to come in second? third? When do molars appear? With a little internet digging, I found the answer.
First Tooth
Most babies get their first tooth somewhere between 4 and 7 months of age, although this can vary greatly. A small few children are actually BORN with teeth and some take upwards of a year to see their first one sprout. The bottom two teeth are almost always the first two to come in.
What Teeth Come Next?
After the first two, the next most common teeth to appear are the two front teeth, followed closely with the two incisors on either side of the top front teeth. From there, the rest of the upper and lower side and back teeth begin to come in, sometimes individually, sometimes in pairs until the average child has a total of 20 baby teeth by the age of 3. Most babies get their first molars somewhere between 12 -18 months and they are a game changer in their ability to grind and mash food. Second year molars tend to appear (as the name suggests) right around the 2-year mark.
What Are the Signs of Teething?
Drooling, gum swelling, refusing food, gnawing on hands and toys, unusual fussiness, mild fevers and disrupted sleep patterns can all be associated with teething (sounds like fun, eh?)
How Can You Soothe a Teething Baby?
Some folks prefer the natural approach (amber teething necklaces, hyland’s teething gel, frozen babywash cloths to gnaw on) while others are die-hard believers of a little infant pain reliever like Ibuprofen to ease baby’s transition into the world of chompers.
And One Random, Weird Fact I Discovered:
Most baby teeth fall out in the order they came in, so when your child gets to the age that they start to lose them (usually around age 6) expect that those two bottom teeth will be the first to go!
As I said to a twitter friend last night, I’m still just trying to get through the experience of teeth coming in, that I can’t even comprehend thinking about them falling out again! When did your baby’s teeth start to appear? What have you found as the most successful approach to dealing with pain and irritability associated with teething?
~Melissa
(image via)
Teething Bites! 11 tips for relieving teething pain
Yes! My son got his bottom two at 3 months and now, at 6 months, is getting all four on top at once. I thought they would never come in!
My first two older kids were late teethers; my daughter’s first one came in when she was 9 months old, and my son was actually 13 months when his first one came in (he never did grow in one of his front bottom ones, and he’s 4 now. I had no idea that could happen.). My baby seems to be following the same pattern, as she is almost 6 months old with nary a tooth to be seen.
I didn’t get my first tooth until I was over 1 year old! Lost my last baby tooth at 15, when I was a sophomore in high school. The school nurse couldn’t believe it!
My Gracie started getting her first tooth when she was 3months but it never actually came in, then around 5 1/2 months her two bottom teeth came in like a week. so when people ask us how many teeth she has we tell the 2 1/2
All of my mommy friends said teething would be stressful but she hasnt so much as whimpered, it doesnt even seem to phase her. Thank Goodness!!!
My McKenzie got her first bottom two teeth around 6 months. Then the next one is now in top tooth around 9 months. Now at 10 months she is getting the other top center tooth and possible a few more maybe her incisors at the same time. Because i nursed I am glad she didn’t get her teeth too fast. She bit a few times at the 6 month mark. She weaned herself down to just a morning nursing session and bottles at daycare around 8 1/2 months. At about 9 months and a week she did not want to nurse in the morning either and bit me 3 days in a row so I stopped trying. She also is over baby food she wants to be a big girl so fast. She stopped wanting baby food the purees this week. She still gets some of my milk and we supplement.
my little one is 8 month old and got her teeth exactly like your boy, first two at the bottom around 5 month and the 4 upper once with 7 month, we are battling with them since about a month now, they are more than half way out and are still bothering her a great deal:-( making life almost as hard (because she is so fussy) then when she was 3 month old, i hope this is over soon, today was actually a pretty good day;-) lets see what the night brings…
My husband and I were just talking about this last week…our son, 13 months, just got his first tooth. And our daughter was actually 16 months when she got her first one. She was one of the last in her class to start loosing them too!
My little girl got her first two at 3 1/2 months. By 4 1/2 there was lots of gum swelling on the upper gum and you could see the outlines of the 4 teeth up there. At 6 1/2 months the upper teeth began to cut the surface of the gum and she just turned 7 months and we have the next two bottom teeth popping through! It doesn’t really seem to bother much at all. When the first two came in we had no idea! But since the next 6 are pretty much coming in all at once she’s just been a little bit fussier around bedtime. We use infant Tylenol and orajel but ONLY when she is extremely fussy and has a hard time calming down enough to sleep. She has been a champ through this whole thing!
MINE just got his 2 bottom teeth within a wk of each other at 7.5 mths but had been teething what felt like FOREVER