Sick or Teething

Yes, another teething post. This seems to be a common dilemma that new moms face. The signs can be very drastic or non-existent.

A week and a half ago Brett was pulling on her ears so I took her to the doctor. The doctor said that one ear had slight congestion that is associated with teething. Ok, great. So we went home and thought, at 7 1/2 months she is finally starting to teeth.

However, other than the ear pulling there weren't many other indicators- until this week!

Brett continued to pull on her ears. She also has been waking up at least once a night, when typically she sleeps at least 10 hours. Finally, Monday afternoon she got a very runny nose. I knew she wasn't sick because the snot was clear. She became very fussy. She is also drooling like crazy! I actually got her ready for bed early and she went down at 7pm. Not only that, she slept 12 hours! She got up the next morning and, even though she had a runny nose, she seemed quite happy. I decided it was safe to take her to a Baby Safety class that I had already committed to. She did great at the class but had a major meltdown on the drive home.

I was intending to go to lunch with my Aunt Mary but it became clear that Brett was going to be in no mood for going out. This is one of those times that I feel fortunate to have family around. I was able to call my aunt and ask her to swing by and pick up baby Motrin. I called the doctor and he said that I could alternate giving Brett Tylenol and Motrin to help with the teething pain.

I started with Tylenol and that seemed to help so I waited on the Motrin until this morning. Unfortunately, I tried to give the Motrin to her this morning and she spit it out! Oh well, her runny nose is gone today but she is still drooling a ton and chewing on everything (mostly her fingers).

While I am still not sure if she has a slight cold or is teething or maybe both I am fairly confident she isn't 'sick.' I'm just hoping she gets teeth before it's time to send her to school!