Tylenol or Advil for Teething

Updated on January 19, 2008
L.S. asks from Santa Cruz, CA
10 answers

Hello, I am a mother of a wonderful 6 month old girl. Unfortunately, lately she has had some acute teething episodes (night waking, grumpiness, extra drooling, chewing on EVERYTHING), but no teeth have cut through. We have been giving her the homeopathic teething tablets and gum-o-mile oil, which seem to help sometimes. Last night we gave her Tylenol and she fell right asleep and slept a good long stretch. That confirmed for me that it is the teething pain waking her up and causing her to moan and cry at night, since before that she was sleeping through the night. However, both my husband and I are worried about giving her too much Tylenol. We did have some without dyes, preservatives, and sugar made up for us at the compounding pharmacy. Unfortunately, my husband read all about the dangers of Tylenol on the internet and he never wants to give it to her. I don't like giving it to her, but it is worse to see her in pain. Any suggestions?

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E.G.

answers from San Francisco on

I have a 15 month old daughter. I only gave her tylenol for a while. I have found that Motrin works better for her than Tylenol. I have heard this from others as well. I only give it to her when she seems to really be in pain though. I feel like if she is in pain, I need to help her feel better. When I have cramps or a head ache, I take somethiing for it so that I don't have to suffer. Why shouldn't I give it to her? Pain isn't good for anyone either. That is just my opinion and I hope it helps.

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J.C.

answers from San Francisco on

Actually they do make Motrin that is safe for infants. You can find it at any grocery store or pharmacy. I used that when my children are teething and there have been no adverse effects.
Best wishes
J.

1 mom found this helpful
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D.F.

answers from Stockton on

Tylenol works great for teething, you cant rely on everything that is on the internet about tylenol, most of which is untrue, your child shouldnt have any bad reactions as long as it is given in the correct does. also try to alternate between tylenol and motrin, do not give her advil as they dont make it in a childrens strength,(not that i have ever seen living in cali) also another mom mentioned hylands teething tablets and i agree hylands has got it right with this one, it works wonders and you dont have to worry about her choking on the tablets as they melt the sec it hits her tongue, it is a really good product, you can pick them up at rite aid for about $5 to 6.00

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R.L.

answers from San Francisco on

You could give her ibueprophen it lasts 8 hours so when you do have to give it to her you give it less often. Also ask your pediatrician if your concerned about certin meds. Good luck!

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M.C.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi L.,

I thought the issue was with the cough and cold tylenol? I gave it to my 8 motnh old every night for about 7-10 days during the bad teething stint and he is just fine. It is one thing drugging the kids up all day, but it is quite another if you are trying to give her and yourselves some much needed nightime sleep by easing her pain. Teething biscuits are great for day, but obviously won't help much while she's sleeping. Like another member said, have your husband deal with it if he is against the tylenol.. Then I'm sure reality will set in and he'll change his mind. Good luck!

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C.R.

answers from San Francisco on

I've found that alternating between the two, as directed, works fabulously. Also, Highlands Teething Tablets are quite wonderful.

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R.S.

answers from Chico on

I never gave anything to my kids, until 2 nights ago. One of my twins woke up screaming so bad, I thought he had seriously hurt himself. After calming him a bit and running a finger along his gums I realized he was teething. This is his seventh tooth, and by far the worse. I gave him a dose of motrin. For your situation, my only advice is to call your baby's dr, tell them the issue and make sure that motrin is ok to give. I know you can only give it when they reach a certain age. And you need the proper dosage, based on the weight not age. Good luck.

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S.J.

answers from San Francisco on

L.,
I can relate to your situation. I didn't want to give my son the Tylenol either, I tried the teething tablets that everyone talked about but those didn't help my son. I used orajel baby teething swabs. They have flavor in them and only distributes the amount recommended, I never really used the whole swab on my son, just wiped it along his gums at night only. http://www.orajel.com/products/baby/teething/swabs.htm

I only used these at night since it seemed to have been worse at night and helped him sleep better.
Try those and see if it works for your daughter. You don't have to use the whole swab, just enough to coat the area that hurts....

good luck.....

1 mom found this helpful

M.F.

answers from San Francisco on

hello L.,
when my son was teething i tried orejel but it only worked for a little bit and he hated it. So someone from worked told me about these teething tablets that just dissolve in the babies mouth. I tried it and my son loved it, he wanted to take more. You can give them up to 2 i think and it's wonderful cuz they think it's candy or something so they will take as many as you give them. sometimes they will ask for more! I think it is by highland, it's the ONLY dissolving tablets for teething. Try it, it worked wonders for me and worked all night, well, at least got him back to sleep for a longer time than orejel. good luck
M.

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C.S.

answers from San Francisco on

Baby motrin works well and lasts 2-4 hours longer than tylenol. If this is your first baby (and it sounds like it is) I can understand your hesitance to give medication. Let me assure you, my son is just fine and we dosed him so often that first year of teething that my fiance joked we should buy stock in Childrens Motrin. I consulted my pediatrician after my fiance's comments started paranoia in my mind and the Doc said we were just fine.
I bought one of those mesh feeder bags and put frozen chunks of mango and banana in it for my son to chew on during the day when he was really miserable. I tried to keep the meds down during the day because every night he got the motrin. Every night. For what seems like months. It was the only way we got any sleep. The first few teeth were really not that bad (if you can believe that!). It was the molars which can take up to two months to break through and put so much pressure on the little ones jaw that really had me worried about the amount of motrin we gave him. Buy the way, baby pulling on it's ears can be a sign of teething when the molars are coming through so look for that around the one year mark.
Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. If your husband is so against giving tylenol or any other pain reliever, I would advise politely suggesting that he stay up all night with a crying, hurting baby so you can get the rest you need to stay up all day with a crying, hurting, sleep deprived baby. And get some ear plugs and tylenol for yourself because it's going to be one hell of a year.
Here's hoping he comes around!

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