8 Month Old Acting Odd

Mom of seven wonderful girls! Definitely sounds like teeth! Doctors will say they don't run fevers with them but after seven children I beg to differ! Just give her some Tylenol and cold teethers! Take a wet rag and freeze it, they love to chew and that sometimes helps! But unfortunately you have to just go with the flow and wait for those little chompers to come in! Runny nose is a common sign in my children! Hope this helps, T.

This sounds similar to my son when he was about to get a tooth. I noticed he would be cranky (or 'off') for about a week, slight fever and then clear runny nose. He only has 2 teeth (he is 9 months) but both times this is what happened. About a week after the symptoms started he would sprout a tooth. At first its hard to see, but I could run my finger along the gums and feel something sharp. Within a few days you could see a tooth. Anyways, I was told that with teething their noses would run clear. Also, he gets redness on his knees too, that I attribute to now crawling all the time. I have heard teething gets easy for them as each tooth comes in they get more accustomed to the pain. Hopefully thats true!

Children can run a slight fever when teething. They may not run a fever when teething too. The runny nose and slight drool is also a sign of teething. I suggest giving her some Tylenol and seeing if she feels less cranky. The fussiness may be because she feels uncomfortable from the pressure of teeth moving.

If she has hot spots or red areas, she may have heat rash. The heat rash symptoms may be increased if she is feeling uncomfortable and hot with teething. Try to dress baby in less clothing and give her some Tylenol for the pain or slightly elevated temperature. Perhaps keep a fan on her or the house a bit cooler as well.

Hi L.,
Its so easy to obsess about your child's health isn't it? I have a 10 mo. old, so I am going through the teething thing, like you probably are. It really does sound like she is teething. when my son got his bottom teeth, he had a low grade fever all week and he did not sleep well at night, but napped ok. With his top four, he slept ok, no fever, no runny nose, but was so cranky and whiny. Every child and every set of teeth could be a different experience. Just keep paying attention to symptoms in case it is something other than teeth in the end, otherwise, do all the teething comforts. Try teething toys, there are so many different kinds, (also a cool wash cloth was a hit with my son), try tylenol for extremely cranky behavior, otherwise, put your daughter on teething tablets. You can get them at Walgreens. It is a homeopathic remedy and helps with the gum inflammation and restlessness. This too shall pass, hang in there! And relax!

A.

Sounds like teething to me. I agree with the other mom, motrin seemed to work better for fever and pain. I used to give luke warm baths to get the fever down as well.

At eight months, she really can't tell you what she needs. Have you tried calling your pediatrician to explain what's going on? It could be teething. Our daughter had to have tubes put in a 10 months. The only way we knew she had a problem is that she'd start to get a bad nose from the drainage. You never know, and if it's a real issue, better to have the pediatrician take a look and put your mind to rest.

Has she had a rash at all? That could be roseola.
Has the fever lasted more than 72 hours? The doc should see you for that.
Sometimes colds just linger for a while.
Could be teething. Try getting some teething tablets. They are homeopathic so you don't have to worry about safety.
If it were me, I'd just comfort nurse until it passed, have you tried that?

Hope you figure it out soon!

Hi, L.! I'm sorry to hear about your daughter. I could almost bet you that she's teething. She has all of the symptoms... low grade fever, runny nose, clingy. Don't be surprised if she doesn't eat much. I would give her Motrin or Tylenol. I would also give her cold things, like a frozen wash cloth to chew on, popsicles, frozen tubes of yogurt (Gogurt), a little bowl of frozen peas and carrots, things like that. As for her knees, if the skin is dry, I would put some lotion on them. If they look irritated and sore, I would smear a bunch of neosporin or something on them, especially when she's sleeping, that way it can soak into her skin and not all over your floors when she's crawling! I wish you and your precious daughter much luck and a speedy recovery! God bless!

Highlands makes a great homeopathic tablet for teething which worked well for us because I wanted to avoid Tylenol or Motrin as much as possible. They also have an ear tablet though I found the teething ones worked for both. You can find them at Walmart or any health food store.

I love the book "How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of your Dr." by Robert Mendelsohn, MD. I often refer back to it in times like this just to calm myself in waiting out an ear infection or recognize what symptoms might be coming from. It's a great resource along with this forum of experienced moms.

Let us know how your angel is doing.

Sometimes with the "acting odd" you have to spin the wheel and be a bit proactive to try to figure out what's going on.

Both of our kids were like that with teething. We went and got the Orajel Swabs - swabbed her guns with it, and it helped. So we were pretty certain then that that was it and gave her motrin (which always seemed to work better than Tylenol with teething on both our daughters), which helped even more.

Of course, it wouldn't hurt to take her in to rule out an ear infection or something if you don't see any teeth looking like they're getting ready to push through. (you could also run your finger along her gums to see if you feel anything...sometimes that's an easier 'tell' than looking at the gums)

For what it's worth....and good luck.

Could be that she is teething and the swelling in her gums has caused more discomfort from the mild cold, the ears and the teeth and the nasal passages are so close together. We had lots of luck with the Hyland teething tablets and motrin.

You should keep an eye on the fever, it was kind of hard to tell from your post, but if she had a cold or was getting over a cold and then started running a fever, that could be a sign of a secondary bacterial infection. Some times kids will run a slight fever when the cold starts, but if it comes on at the end of the cold, then you should probably have that checked out.

Keep in mind too, if she is still running a fever above 99.6 the rule for school (and I would guess most day care) is no fever for 24 hours without medication, for the safety of the other children, just in case she has something contagious!

Take her to the doctor if it makes you feel better, don't worry about seeming like you are over reacting, that is what they are there for. I would take her if it goes on for many more days, especially if you have to stay off work because of the fever. Your day care might let her come with the fever if you have your doctor check her out and says that she does not have anything contagious, but if she is feeling bad, you probably would want to be with her anyway.

M.

I think it is teething. The last time my daughter was going through a round of getting teeth she spiked a fever of 103 for 2 days and then she was fine and then her fever went back up 3 days later to 100 degrees. I took her to the doctor because I thought it was strange that the fever was coming and going...possibly an ear infection. Nope, nothing was wrong. Then surprise two days later she got 2 teeth in. When both of my kids were teething they would go through spells of fever, sleepiness, cranky, diarrhea. Sometimes all of the above. Sometimes only one, but they both always seemed miserable for about 1 week. Sometimes their appetite would diminish. Sometimes not. I would wait it out another 10 days or so and then reevaluate the situation.

It sounds like teething to me. I have experienced similar symptoms with my 10 month old when he was about 8 months also. He had a really bad runny nose for about a week, but no other symptoms of a cold and it turned out he had a tooth popping through. He is more clingy when he has one trying to break through and is a little more fussy too. He likes to chew on cold things like teethers and wash cloths. I also use Baby Orajel or Tylenol which seem to help. Just be prepared if it is teething. My little guy took about a month for one tooth to pop through, but once it did the rest just kept coming - he now has 4 on bottom and 3 on top! I would just keep an eye on her to see if that is it. If she continues acting weird or spikes a fever again or something then call the dr. My husband and I tend to try and wait it out before we jump into the dr. If there is something more to it you will know...just listen to your instincts. Good luck!

This really does sound like teething. And she is at the right age to be teething. Don't rule out an ear infection. My daughter spiked a fever once, no ear pulling, and I insisted the dr. see her and it turned out she had double ear infections. So just cause she's not pulling on her ears doesn't mean its not an ear infection.

As for the red knees, when my baby was crawling she always had red warm knees. Its "rug rash" from crawling.

If you are really worried, call the doctor and insist they see her. Usually if you tell them you are worried, and your baby is just not acting like herslef, they will go ahead and tell you to bring her in. But it really does sound like teething. Good luck!

It does sound like teething to me but just in case it is a cold buy some vicks salve and put it on the bottom of her feet and put socks on and in a day or two it will be cleared up. Does she seem to be in pain or just fussy. My granddaughter had a terrible cold, I suggested the vicks to our kids but they never bought any so when my husband went to the store I asked him to get vicks. When mamma and daddy went out that evening I sat on the couch with the granddaughter and I put vicks on her feet and let her put vicks on my feet then we put our socks on by the next morning she was so much better and no coughing at all.

It sounds like teething to me. Docs always will tell you that kids never run fevers or get runny noses when they teeth. However, every single tooth my daughter cut was accompanied by a runny nose and a slight fever.... and of course, crankiness.

One thing to keep an eye on are the ears. With my daughter she never gave signs of having an ear infection. Always would lay down fine, no issues going to sleep, etc... The one sure sign was a spike in temp of up to 101 or more from the low grade 99-100. The Eustachian tubes are not angled in a baby like they are in adults. So, stuffy noses can really cause problems. One thing you can do to try and keep them clear is tug on the upper ear... up and away from the head. It helps open up the tube and get things draining.

The slower eating thing is also a good indication of teething. It can take a little time...but in our experience, once the tooth cut the surface then all was well again.

It seems there are some colds going around right now as well.... but it really sounds more like teething. Colds, the runny nose will typically go from clear to thicker over the course of several days.

Lots of lovin' from mama usually helps get us through these times. :-)

Everything you mentioned sounds like teething to me, especially about eating slower and being cranky.
So just keep an eye on her.

Is your daughter still running a fever? A low grade fever lasting more than a couple of days is sign of an infection. So if she is still running a fever take her to the ped and have her checked out. Also when my kids teethed they ran a fever and drooled. They also had a runny nose and diareaha. So it could be the teeth. If you run your finger on her gums you should feel them.