FACT:

Teething gets way more credit for causing discomfort in babies than it should. The reality is that teething certainly does not cause anything more than some mild discomfort for a few days. Usually that irritation occurs on the days around the actual eruption of the tooth. Simply put, you need to have clear evidence that your baby is actually teething before blaming your baby’s irritation on it: • Baby is gnawing on her hands with copious amounts of drool and possible rash around the mouth. • A few days of being off colour – loss of appetite, mildly raised temperature and snotty nose. • Acrid smelling poo nappies with possible nappy rash. • A small white tooth appearing just below the skin of the gums. In the absence of these signs your baby is probably not teething.

The fact that you say your baby has been “teething since nine weeks” tells me that this is not the case – hardly any babies teethe that early. In fact, if she did indeed start teething that early, she would have more than three teeth by now.

So what we have to work out is why she cries out. If she is generally unhappy and always has been, she is probably a sensitive baby and you need to watch her awake times. Settle her to sleep regularly throughout the day (three to four sleeps) and take care not to overstimulate her.

If she is generally happy and this is a new thing, I would have your doctor check her out – in particular her ears.

If she is generally happy but has bouts of irritability, I would watch her awake times and not overstimulate her. On the other hand, if you have been doing this, I would also see whether she isn’t bored. Around the six-month mark, babies love the novelty of new games, so try engage her with a few activities.