Drool, Yes. Fever, No
It’s 10 PM, your 8 month old is fussy and not sleeping well, and hasn’t been for the past 3 nights. You recall that she has been drooling more and putting everything into her mouth. As you are comforting her, you look in her mouth and see a glint of white in her bottom gum line. Is that a tooth? Is this what teething looks like?
The average age for a child to get her first tooth is between 6 and 9 months old, though it can occur earlier (3 months old) or later (12 to 15 months old). Teething symptoms are highly variable from one infant or toddler to the next and may include gum irritation, fussiness, and drooling. But fever is not one of them. So if your child has teething symptoms, but has a fever (temperature of 100.4 F/38 C or higher), the fever is not from teething. Why is that important? Because the fever could be a sign of an underlying illness or infection.