Why Is Teething Worse At Night?
Teething is the normal process of eruption and cutting of teeth, especially the milk teeth in babies. The first tooth may appear in a baby between the ages of 3 months to 1 year. Most children will have all their teeth by the age of 3 years. The pain that occurs during teething is not due to eruption of teeth through the gum as many would believe, rather, during the process of teething, chemicals are produced that dissolve the gum and separate the cells giving way for the growing tooth.
Teething is believed to get worse during the night because the increased blood flow to the head is impeded, this lowers the blood pressure. With reduced blood flow, most of the activators of complement system are not well supplied hence pain sensations are strongly felt.
Teething is accompanied with several symptoms that may make it difficult for babies:
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Drool; is the flow of excess saliva outside the mouth. This can be a predisposing factor of upper respiratory diseases (tonsillitis).
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Bad sleep; children might start waking up more often and become harder to put to sleep. Most parents in these cases raise their concern in cold or ear infection rather than teething.
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Whining and crying; babies will tend to express themselves by whining all night, acting clingy and acting as though they are tired. This makes them awake all night.
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Fever; a very low grade fever accompanies the teething process making babies develop headaches at night.
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Diarrhea; teething baby may refuse food or milk and drool contributing to diarrhea.
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    Teething     Solutions
As much as possible, try to get through the teething process without giving your child any type of medicine. The process takes days, if not weeks, and you don’t need to be dosing your child with Tylenol night after night. Frozen washcloths, frozen waffles or pancakes and other items your baby might enjoy chewing with his or her sore gums will help soothe the pain. Topical gels or teething tablets might as well help to soothe your baby.
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