Babies are born with a lot of expectations. Like many new parents, you may be eagerly watching your baby, hoping that everything will go well with his or her growth, such as not waking up too often or learning to roll over quickly. There is also a breakthrough that parents expect their baby to achieve, which is a dental breakthrough! A concern for parents is when their baby will start teething.

Signs of teething

Coughing, biting, drooling and loss of appetite are signs that your baby is teething. However, the little one may also have swollen gums and difficulty sleeping as a result.

Fever and diarrhea are not associated with teething and you should call your pediatrician if your baby is experiencing this symptom. Keep in mind that an infant's immune system is not fully developed at this time. Babies will put anything (clean or dirty) in their mouths so they are at risk for exposure to bacteria and viruses that cause illness.

Coping with discomfort

If you're lucky, teething is a breeze for your baby. If discomfort occurs, we also discourage the use of topical gels and liquids for children 2 years and younger because of the risk of toxicity. Some people also like to have their babies' soothers dipped in sugar or honey, which is also not recommended.

But don't worry, there are plenty of simple and effective measures. Try giving your baby a clean teething ring, cold wet washcloth or frozen pacifier, for example. Keep spares in the freezer and ready to go. If appropriate, popsicles and frozen fruit and the like are also effective. Gum massage can reduce the soreness of your baby's gums. If your little one is really struggling, consult your pediatrician for information on how to use over-the-counter medications for infants.

Teething Timeline

From the time your baby first drools, you may have been looking for signs that baby teeth are coming in. The first teeth that usually come in are the bottom two incisors, which erupt when your baby is about 6 months old.This varies from baby to baby, and your baby's first tooth may erupt at 5 months, or it may be delayed until 12 months of age. So, when do babies actually get their teeth? The real answer is "when they want to".

If a few teeth are coming in now, you may want to know when more teeth will come in. The next two upper incisors will come in, usually between 9 and 13 months. At 13 to 16 months, many babies will have four teeth on top and four on bottom. The rest of the baby's teeth (cuspids and molars) will gradually come in between 2 and 3 years of age. This is a long process and after two or three years your little one will have 20 milk teeth in his or her mouth.

The importance of baby teeth

Many parents believe that baby teeth are not important because they will eventually be replaced by permanent teeth. However, that's exactly why baby teeth are important. In addition to giving your baby a beautiful smile, these teeth help your baby learn to speak and chew nutritious meals, and these 20 pearly white teeth set the necessary place for neat permanent teeth.

It is important to take care of baby teeth and gums from the very beginning, and the importance of early visits to the dentist should not be overlooked. Your child will have lost all of his or her baby teeth by about age 12. When your child is finally done with tooth replacement, he or she will have actually entered the teenage years!