Early Teething

What do we mean by 'early teething?' Well, we mean a baby who starts teething at a very early age, for example at the age of 3 months. Mind you, there are cases of babies cutting their first tooth at only a few weeks old! Babies who are born with teeth are said to have 'natal teeth': these teeth are not always securely in place which means that there is a small risk of the baby swallowing a loose tooth. But this is a rare occurrence.

What causes early teething?

The question you are probably asking yourself is whether your little one is an 'early teether' and if so, why? What we can say is that it is nothing to do with lifestyle but is down to good old genes! In other words, if you and your partner were early teethers then expect Junior to be the same.

Conversely, if one or both of you developed milk teeth at a late stage then your offspring will be the same. Find out more in our late teething article.

Early teething and Old Wives Tales

There are Old Wives Tales surrounding every medical complaint and health issue in this country. So don't be surprised that there are quite a few of these old wives tales regarding teething. The trick is to separate the facts from the myths. Many parents find that they are on the receiving end of well intentioned but often irrelevant or incorrect advice. It is meant to be helpful but there are times when you have to grit your teeth (excuse the pun!), smile sweetly and say nothing. This also applies to old wives tales. Take them with a pinch of salt and ignore them. One example of these tales is early teething being seen as a sign of high intelligence. If that was the case then many of us early teethers would have won the Nobel Prize or gone on to do other great things. Sadly, that is not the case. Another tale is that babies born with teeth will be unlucky in life or display undesirable personality traits such as selfishness. Again, ignore tales such as these.