The one year, from the time the baby is born to the point when he or she turns one is always full of surprises. They learn to roll, smile at you, sit on their own, wave at you, call out their first words as mama or dada. These moments are really very memorable and one can never miss them, we try to capture these moments as much as possible. So today we are going to talk about these milestones. And whether teething comes under milestones? If there is no teething or late teething till a point of time should you be worried? Let’s uncover the doubts revolving around the subject.
What Are The Basic Milestones Of A Baby?
Development milestones are behavioural and physical skills that the baby or the child acquires, it’s different for every month or every age of the child. Rolling over, sitting, walking, standing, crawling and talking are considered as the normal milestones of a developing infant.
When Should One Worry About The Milestones?
If they haven’t mastered or tried holding their head up by the end of 3-4 months. If they haven’t tried or started sitting up on their own by the end of 10 months. They aren’t using both legs or arms and by 1 year they don’t like supporting their own body weight. They seem way behind than other babies of the same age in milestones, don’t panic some babies can be late bloomers too. But if you still are worried about their progress do talk to your doctor about the same and let him know about the situation.
Is Teething Considered As A Milestone? And Why?
Normally teething begins at the age of 6 months and by the time the child is 3 years all he would all the teeth grown and ready to use, but now a days delayed teething is a very normal and common symptom seen and isn’t a cause of worry. If he hasn’t got even a single tooth by the end of 18 months that would be a right time to consult a paediatric orthodontist. Till then one need not worry about late teething or no teething.
While all the physical growth and development are included in the list of milestones along with all the behavioural development, but teething is not considered as a developmental milestone.
What Are The Causes Of No Teething Or Late Teething ?
Here are common causes behind Late Teething:
Genetic: Genes play a very important role in teething. If either you or your partner had delayed or late teething then it would come as a surprise to you that your baby too will face the same.
Fibrosis: It’s a condition where the gums are thick making it difficult for the tooth erupt if you have the condition it may also affect your baby.
Lack of nutrition’s: If the baby is receiving less calcium and vitamins, If the breast milk or formula milk given to the baby is inadequate of the nutritious components then this might occur. So take an opinion with the paediatrician regarding this and improve the nutritious value of the milk.
Diseases and medications: If you have been getting treated for anaemia, HIV or cancer and were receiving chemotherapy or phenytoins as a mode of treatment then that might lead to delayed teething or late teething in your baby.
Hormone imbalance: If the pituitary or the thyroid hormones are in less proportion in the body might be sometimes the reason behind no teething. So if you have a history of such problems your child might also be facing them. So do take your doctor under confidence and seek treatments for the same.
Injury to the jaw: During delivery or later if there is some sort of injury to the jaw bone it might lead to delayed teething or late teething
What Complication Can Occur With No Teething Or Late Teething ?
Malformation of the jaw: If we wait for too long further than 18 months for the tooth to erupt it might lead to shrinkage of the jaw and malformation of the shape of it.
Delay in chewing: Because of the delay in the teething it might lead to delay in leaning to chew their solid food. And this might also make it difficult to feed the baby with all the healthy fruits and vegetable in their natural state.
Hyperdontia: Delayed teething may sometimes lead to growth of milk teeth and permanent teeth growing parallel. So the child might have extra pairs of teeth this condition is called supermummary.
What Are Some Old Home Remedies Which Can Help In Teething?
- Massaging the baby gums often will improve the circulation and help to hasten the process of teething.
- Include calcium in the diet of the breast feeding mother as well as the baby’s diet
- Consult your doctor if you could give some kind of calcium drops to your baby.
- Honey is considered to give a speedy and painless push of the baby’s tooth, so massaging the gums with honey might help the baby. Honey to be use ones the baby turns 6 months not before that.
What Are The Signs Of A Teething Baby And How To Soothe Them ?
- Constanst drooling can be the first sign of a teething baby
- Along with it you might notice increased activity of the baby trying to stimulates its mouth by chewing on everything that lies around, toys, her hands and legs etc.
- Continuous loose motions might occur owing to the mouthing of stuffs, so you need to be around the baby when these happen.
Soothing a teething baby:
- Apply a cold teething ring or cold pacifier or a clean finger to massage the sore gums
- A mild pain reliever can be used to soothe the pain, but consult your doctor first before you do so.
- Provide clean and safe object for the baby to chew on to ensure that baby doesn’t get affected by loose motions.
- Loose motions may be a sign of teething but it isn’t the reason always so look for fever too, if its present then the cause of loose motion could be something else. Consult a doctor as soon as possible as it might lead to dehydration in the baby.
Folks, I have tried to cover almost all the points of concern regarding teething and delayed or no teething. I hope these solve your doubts and gives you a good clear picture.