Teething

Jessica's Mom · #1 01-26-2003, 07:24 PM

What happens when a baby with a trach starts to get teeth? Do they get more secretions? Does the pulse ox show a higher heart rate? What are some signs, that might be different then a child without a trach? How do you know it is teething and not a cold or something?
Thanks for the information!
Denise
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J&Jsmomee · #2 01-26-2003, 10:45 PM

My experience with Joel was the same as my older son (who was trach-free) Â*Joel just drooled a little more and tried to chew on everything. Â*The secretions were maybe a little more, but most of the drool came out of the mouth into the trach!! Â*The secretions stayed thin and clear. Â*There was no runny nose and the fussiness was usually accompanied by this constant attempt Â*to chew on anything! We didn't have any trouble with high heart rate alarms. Hopefully, this helps.
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Olga · #3 01-27-2003, 12:59 PM

Hi
I think every child is different. I know some who dribbled non stop when they were teething. Luckily Grace didn't. she also didn't have more secretions or a high temperature. I used a teething gel on her gums which seemed to work.
It may be related to how old the child is when they start. Grace cut her first tooth on her first birthday. She is now two and a half and has all her teeth. Fortunately we managed to get through this unscathed. I know that you can get trachy bibs which cover the trachy, but allow the child to breathe through. If Jessica is very dribbly it may be worth considering. Good luck Olga

indiemum · #4 01-29-2003, 06:22 PM

Funny you should mention it. In the last 2 weeks we have gotten 8 teeth. 4top and 4 bottom. Indie had a bit higher heart rate, sweaty, little bit harder to settle and lots of drool out of the mouth, the secretions seemed normal to me. I didn't put 2+2 together until I saw all of the little buds come up. Maisie got all of ther teeth at the same time too and was MUCH more difficult than Indie has been. What a kid! Poor little pumpkins it must hurt so much.

Kelly

#5 02-03-2003, 06:45 AM

ItÂ’s funny you should ask. Last Monday AnnaÂ’s respiratory rate went up. She was in the 70Â’s and 80Â’s. We were concerned because this always happens before she gets sick. We were pretty sure she was teething because she was refusing to sleep at night (she normally sleeps for 10 Â– 12 hours straight through) and she was chewing on anything she could (she has an oral aversion!&#33

. We took her to the pediatrician just to be safe. She agreed it only seemed that she was teething. Well, it continued all week. She had a lot of secretions and continued breathing fast. Thursday she began retracting so we took her to the Dr again. She was concerned and we were off to the hospital. Anna then spiked a fever to 103 degrees F. She stabilized the next day. Got her temp back down as well as her respiratory rate. She is supposed to be discharged today. They think that because she was teething and not getting any sleep her immune system was down and she caught a little cold. They told us that with AnnaÂ’s BPD that they would expect her to show cold symptoms when she was teething. Good luck!!