Mapping my teeth - a teething overview

Sam is teething. He's already sprouted his first two teeth (the bottom ones) at 5 months, but then we had a long break. Finally, at around 10 months we saw some more activity in the teeth arena. Some things that told us he was teething (and not suffering from another ear infection):

• Nursing more. Sucking felt good to his gums. But that's not true for all babies. Some hate the sucking because it hurts them more. YMMV. Even when he wasn't actively swallowing, he still sucked, albeit weakly. Sometimes he'd even protest if I unlatched him (this was going on for half an hour already, what was I to do?!). I found that if I unlatched him and immediately gave him a pacifier, he was happy.
• Biting every bitable and unbitable surface within teeth's reach. He'd waltz over to a cheer and start chomping on its legs, for example.
• Random crying outbursts. Sam doesn't usually burst out in piercing shrieks unless he's experiencing pain. Usually crying starts out at a leisurely 5mph whine, progressing steadily to annoying whimpering, culminating in a speedy full-fledged crying.
• Loss of interest in solids that weren't pureed. What he DID enjoy was frozen foods. Cubed peaches that were stuck in the freezer. I'd let them thaw for a few minutes until they were chunky but icy and he'd enjoy that.
• Pulling at ears. People usually associate that with ear pain, but according to Dr. Sears it's actually a teething sign. Babies that young can't pinpoint the source of ear pain. But teething pain radiates to the ears and that's what they're touching when they pull on them.
• While nursing he'd bang his head like a gavel.
• And one of the most annoying symptoms, which is actually related to nursing, is increased soreness and nipple pain. In the following paragraph I'll tell you why.

Imagine I just attached another set of legs to you, for example a set of crutches. You'd be pretty clumsy at first, knocking into everything in site because you haven't yet figured out your spatial bounds. Same with teething. Sam has to map out his new teeth. He suddenly has new little pincers in weird places where he's never had them before. He doesn't know how far he can go with them yet. So while he's nursing, his latch becomes a bit sharper because there are teeth in the way. After a few days, the soreness and discomfort subside because he's realized how to maneuver his teeth. Makes sense to me when I thought of it like this.

We're back!

Sorry for the long break, but we've had a lot to deal with in the past couple of weeks. One weekend he fed for much less than normal. He'd eat for about 2-3 minutes and then refuse to take another drop. He also stopped eating solids that weren't pureed. Then on Monday, his babysitter said he acted a bit out of it. I decided to take him to the doctor and sure enough, he had an ear infection. Without fever. I've always heard that refusing to nurse, or even nursing less than normal, was a sign of an ear infection. But since Sam often had let's-just-nurse-enough-to-survive days, I don't really think into why he is nursing for less.

Then his ear infection developed into pneumonia, which lasted for a few days. And when we finally thought we were in the clear, Sam contracted some kind of stomach bug which caused him to vomit after almost every feeding and have diarrhea. This meant I had to nurse almost double the amount I was used to. I felt so spent!

When Sam got sick I finally saw why I am still making myself crazy over the nursing and pumping. I was able to give him the best nutrition and comfort that no money can buy, that no formula can offer. While his little body was raging with high fevers, chills, nausea, a deep-chested cough and other aches and pains, he was able to snuggle up to me and suck liquid gold.

This weekend Sam really made up for the amount he lost when he wasn't feeling well. He had actually lost weight during that time, by the way. Sunday, from the early AM hours until the night, Sam ate constantly. I don't know if it's a growth spurt or just making up what was lost because he was feeling better already in the beginning of the week so technically he could have made up the calories then. Why wait until the weekend?

Well, maybe he wanted to save it for the nursing time, rather than on a day when we're separated. He actually took some 15-20 minute feedings which stopped months ago!