Side Effects of Teething in Infants – Vomiting and Diarrhea

Teething is a developmental step of a baby, which brings about many health problems with it. It’s a general conception since long that during this period the baby suffers from diarrhea and vomiting. But its true that baby doesn’t seems cheerful and jolly during teething days. But the symptoms are not directly related with teething.

Babies get their first teeth between the ages of 3 months to 12 months. When the teeth are trying to come out, gums become tender and swollen, which causes irritation and inflammation. Therefore the baby cries excessively and becomes cranky and fussy. To get rid of irritation the baby chews everything, whatever in his/her hand, even his/her own thumb or finger. Due to which too much saliva is produced. Immediate effect of saliva is that the baby feels cool and relieved for few moments.

Side effects of teething in infants are diarrhea, vomiting, fever, running nose, congestion, sleep disorder etc. But are these symptoms really related with teething or its only a myth? Let’s go inside the real cause of the problem.

Can teething cause vomiting and diarrhea ?

People have misconception that due to excessive swallowing of saliva by the baby causes his/her stool to loosen and stimulates bowel to move, thus causes diarrhea. But this theory is not scientifically accepted. The reason is something else. Vomiting and diarrhea in babies teething is not directly related, in fact these are the symptoms of infection from outside the body. The teething baby may get infection by putting dirty things  into his mouth to relieve pain in gums.

The baby gets immunity from his mother inside womb and after birth from breast milk. But after sometime the gifted immunity from mother becomes insufficient and the baby has to develop his own. This time the baby has lowest level of immunity, until he develops it’s own. So becomes easy prey of infection. When the baby chews toys, thumb  or anything else, swallows bacteria or virus present on its surface. The baby’s immune system can’t fight with these and get infected. The result is diarrhea and vomiting.

Fever and running nose is caused by inflammation of gums. Bacteria and acids passed out with stool causes bottom rashes. All these problems make the toddler fussy and crying excessively.

Tips for relief during teething ?

• Proper feeding and supplement of vitamin and calcium should be given to make the immune system stronger, so that the baby can fight with the attack of bacteria and viruses.
• To soothe the baby from irritation of gums, rub the gums gently with your properly washed fingers. You can give the baby something to chew, like carrot, a rubber ball etc. But wash it properly before giving it to the baby.
• The baby should be given something to eat which controls the symptoms of diarrhea, like banana, rice etc.
• Avoid the food items which can aggravate diarrhea, like apricot, peaches etc.
• If diarrhea and vomiting is not in control, consult your pediatrician immediately.