my son is 7 months old and is getting his 3rd tooth through the ones at the top middle. he goes off his food and bottles nearly every day. sometimes he just wants solids and sometimes all he wants is a bottle. i was given the advice to tie a muslin in a knot and put it in the freezer for a couple of hours not so its hard but so its cold. he loves it i have to have 1 always in the freezer it must really sooth their little hot gums. it won't get their appitite back but it stops them screaming for a while so you can get some work done around the house lol. x

i think my son is teething quite severely - is it common for teething to lead to loss of appetite? he is having less thn half his usual amount a day. he is fine between feeds - chomping on his hand and anything else but when the bottle comes near him he either point blank refuses it or manages a very small amount then refuses the rest. my GP said 'he's teething' but that's little consolation when i know he is taking significantly less than usual. how long can it go on for and what can i try to help him eat more? i am not sure if it is the milk he has gone off or whether his gums are too sore to eat unless he's absolutely desperate. he is nearly 5 months old and still sleeps through the night 7 til 7. should i try him on a bit of solids to introduce a different taste and consistency?

Hi there,i know its easy for me to say but relax-its normal.Its happened with all three of my kids and youll find that he suddenly decides enoughs enoughs and he wants his bottle!! Iwouldnt introduce solids unless you were planning to do so anyway before his teething troubles,it may confuse him even more and could even cause a problem with weaning if he associates food with the pain in his mouth. I tried every teething gel etc on the planet and finally found natural teething tablets in the homeopathic range at boots pop a few under the tongue and his mouth will relax,i tried them myself and they do work!! Try something like that a few minutes before a feed and see how he goes,you could also try cold feeds as these sooth too. I was always amazed that my babes loved chomping on everything untill you came to put that teet in their mouths but it is a different motion to chomping so must cause pain-plenty of cuddles and he'll soon be himself,oh and its very unusual for a baby to go off milk just keep offering it and he'll take what he can at the moment and make up for the rest later-be prepared for a growth spurt afterwards!!!!

hi i am going through exactly the same thing with my son, he is 5 months old he isn't doing it with every feed but when he does it is a battle to get the bottle in hs mouth, his 1st tooth has started coming through at the bottom, and he is chomping on his hand, blanket, my chin and basically anything he can get his hands on!! I have been giving him baby rice in the morning & at bedtime with his bottle spoke to the hv the other day who has advised to start introducing veggies with the lunchtime bottle. Like your son he is fine in between feeds and quite pleasant, also once we get him to slee at night it is usually straight thru. I think as long as he is having something it is better than nothing & hopefully will get better in a few days, I am going to see how he is over the weekend and maybe speak to hv on monday.