Okay, here's the meeting of the two schools of thought, and why moms AND doctors are right. Note: I'm not claiming to be a doctor. I just had someone with a fair amount of common sense explain it to me.

Babies often do develop fevers when they are teething. It's not because the teeth popping through causes them to suddenly feel warm. It's because babies shove EVERYTHING into their mouths. And even if they don't put the actual item into their mouth, they hold it and then put their hands in their mouths.

Now, mouths are pretty good at keeping the nasties out. They have to be, because the main purpose is intake of food. Nasty stuff gets in, it better be taken care of. Right? And it's not all the stomach that does it either. If it was, your esophagus and mouth would be a horrible, wretched, disease ridden place, and we'd all be walking around looking like we had rabies. So, 99% of the time, everything goes really well. The only problem is when you cut teeth. It opens up a raw wound, and because babies play with god only knows what kind of nastiness, it goes straight into the wound. The body responds like it should, and as it fights the infection, a fever can develop. So doctors are right that teething does not cause a fever. An infection, germ, or bug does. But moms are right that teething is responsible for the fever, because that gave the germ just enough of an opening to work their way in.

In your daughter's case (and this is not to worry you), perhaps there was an ickier bug than usual, and that's why the fever was a little higher. But don't worry about it. She's doing better, the fever is down, and the tests from the doctor came back negative. Her body fought it, exactly as it is supposed to.

How brilliant would it be if doctors and mothers could collaborate on issues like this. Both have so much to share, but it's all getting lost in the competition over who's right.

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i agree completely. i also like the school of mom thought that fevers can develop because the baby's body is in stress because of the teething and/or the body is reacting with a fever in order to prevent infection due to the open wound. of course, with that high of a fever going to the doctor is a no brainer in my opinion.....just in case, ya know?

i also agree that docs and moms seem to be in competition at times! my mom had to take me to 4 pediatricians when i was a kid because no one believed that i had allergies. 4th one got it right. the rest looked at her like she was crazy. when my son developed mild eczema (inherited from grandpa...ugh) the ped insisted it was just dry skin. so we went straight to a pediatric derm and guess who was right? yep, me. collaboration on both ends would be so great!

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that the majority of doctors are male and they have rarely if ever spent the night fretting over a baby with a fever. Trust your instincts, and take it from me as the mother of six, that babies can and often do run a fever when they are teething.
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