Teething Myths and Facts

There are facts and fiction for every medical condition known to man and teething is no exception. There is always someone who appears to know better than others and as a result of this, a lot of myths have sprung up to do with teething. This includes gems such as this:

"Rub alcohol into your baby's gums to ease the soreness caused by teething".

It is often the parents who require the alcohol not the baby but you should not give a newborn baby alcohol as their liver is not sufficiently developed to deal with it.

A very unusual tale is that of putting an egg in a baby's bedroom to prevent teething pain. Not sure how that one works! Another tale is if a baby does drool then teething will be much painful for them compared to a baby who constantly drools.

Some people argue that teething does not cause a temperature and that any sign of this in a baby is due to an underlying complaint. But there are parents who state on forums that their little one has developed a raised temperature during teething which has been confirmed as such by their GP.

A classic old wives tale refers to the use of dummies. It is believed that giving a baby a dummy, for example a teething dummy will result in misaligned teeth. The constant sucking forces the teeth out of position which means that the baby requires a corrective brace when older.

At one time teething was thought to cause a variety of illnesses and could even be fatal!