Teething - what temperature is considered too high

[psimpson3-5]

DS has had a low grade fever for 3 days now. Both Tuesday and Wednesday the highest was 101.7 degrees (rectal). This morning it was 100.4 degrees. DH kept him at home yesterday instead of daycare.

Overall DS doesn't seem unhappy, but he is quite needy. He gets upset when you set him down to play by himself. While he has a bit of a runny nose, it doesn't seem too bad. We've seen much worse (3 back to back double ear infections and croup twice). DS is drooling quite a bit; he's never drooled much, so it is definitely noticeable. He doesn't want to eat many finger foods. He will eat baby food with no problem.

What do you think? Is it teething? That's our best guess. It just seems odd that his temperature is that high.....

[brittone2]

I think most experts feel teething does not really cause a temp. YMMV with that. For us, any fever during teething just happened to coincide with teething. I'd say 101 seems high to chalk up to teething (not that the temp itself is high, just that I'd be inclined to think it is an illness, unfortunately). Sometimes my kids have had fevers with few noticeable symptoms otherwise. If your little one is prone to ear infections, I'd keep an eye on whether this might be another one.

[jlynn32]

Our son always ran temps like that with teething and other than drooling, that was our best indicator. But, you never know...maybe they are fighting off a virus of some sort. :( Hope DS feels better soon.

[gatorsmom]

I agree with Brittone. I've also been told that teething doesn't cause a fever. What I think happens is that babies who are teething will chew on anything and mouth their hands and other objects more than usual. I think they catch an illness from mouthing foreign objects.

I'd maybe call the ped for peace of mind and mention those temperatures. But he'll probably be fine.

[teresah00]

Could have picked up a bug. I wouldn't do a rectal temp (which will be higher than other methods) on him.


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[mikala]

I think most experts feel teething does not really cause a temp. YMMV with that. For us, any fever during teething just happened to coincide with teething. I'd say 101 seems high to chalk up to teething (not that the temp itself is high, just that I'd be inclined to think it is an illness, unfortunately).

I agree. Almost all of the "teething fevers" my kids had revealed themselves as actual illnesses. Our ped also believes temps over 100 are not caused by teeth. This also held true for other kids who came to playgroup with "teething" fevers. All too often the real symptoms seemed to appear right after they chewed on toys and touched all the other kids, sigh.

Teething can definitely cause serious crankiness but the fevers you describe sound like more....

Hope your baby feels better soon!

[BunnyBee]

Do you have a temporal artery thermometer? They're cheap at Costco. Our ped's office uses them too. Much, much easier and non-invasive. :)

My baby is teething too and ran a slight fever. It's also coinciding with her fighting off a little cold/virus of some sort. I've read that teething fevers are a myth, but this is my third kid and I'm not sure! They've all seemed to run low grade fevers, especially feeling hot and sweaty on their heads while teething. 101 seems higher than what I'd attribute to teething. If the baby is drinking/nursing and not lethargic, I wouldn't worry. Cranky and clingy are normal for teething or having a little virus. Hope your DC feels better soon!

[psimpson3-5]

You guys were right. I called the PED and spoke to a nurse. Teething doesn't cause a fever. He still had a fever of 99.7 last night, but this morning nothing. The nurse told me she wanted me to make an appt if he still had it this morning (a total of 72 hrs w/a fever). She also said if it goes away and comes back w/in a few days to make an appt bc it might be the infection returning.

Thanks for your help and advice!