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teething and fevers

I dont get how teething can bring on a fever.. can someone explain it to me.. lol! My son has his first 2 teeth hes had them for about 2 weeks now and last nigh he was fighting a fever all night.

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Asked by cheermickey at 1:45 PM on Feb. 11, 2009 in Babies (0-12 months)

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Answers (4)
  • It actually doesn't. There's no link to it.

    Answer by Anonymous at 2:27 PM on Feb. 11, 2009

  • When your babyâ€™s teeth start erupting from the gums, youâ€™ll notice that she may be feeling a little off color from her normal self. Some babies experience very few troubling symptoms whereas others suffer each time a tooth emerges, until itâ€™s safely through. When you notice a low-grade fever, it could mean that she is teething, but it could also be an indicator that something else is going on, such as a viral infection, so itâ€™s important to rule out other possibilities before simply accepting that itâ€™s a teething issue.
    The truth is, children develop temperatures for a variety of reasons.

    Answer by NAT24ROXY24 at 2:34 PM on Feb. 11, 2009

  • people have misunderstood this....fever over 99 is NOT usually caused by teething. If its higher than that there might be something else going on.

    Answer by calliesmommie at 2:49 PM on Feb. 11, 2009

  • Like many things that moms "know" to be true, doctors will say that teething doesn't cause fevers. But like many things that doctors "know", they end up changing their minds when they realize that mom was right all along. In short - teething DOES cause fevers in some babies, even my AAP baby book agrees.

    How? As the tooth pushes up through the gum, the gum tissue is actually being injured. Any injury - even a scraped knee - can cause a system wide inflamation response and thus, a fever.

    How high? Usually the fever will be under 100.5 but I've seen posts from a couple of moms who swear that their child got a higher fever (101 or higher) with each tooth and they even got to the point of looking for new teeth before assuming the child had a cold.

    Answer by kaycee14 at 2:59 PM on Feb. 11, 2009


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