The Truth About Teething & Sleep
As parents, we are always looking for a reason why our baby or child is acting a certain way. In the baby sleep world, teething comes second only to “regression” as the most likely explanation for poor sleep.
“Sammy has been teething for the last two months, which is why he has been waking every hour overnight. ”
In this instance, this tired parent is correct. Sammy has been teething for the last two months; however, Sammy’s teething is not the cause of his hourly waking.
Here’s What you need to know about teething
During the first 3 years of life (or slightly more), your child will get 20 teeth.
There is generally an eight-day window before the tooth erupts, so roughly one week per tooth.
Study after study reveal that teething does not cause excessive symptoms, including but not limited to sleep disruption. In fact, a recent study will be published in the April 2025 issue of The Journal of Pediatrics, which concludes that despite what people hear, teething does not cause sleep disruption.
The long and short of it is that teething should not cause any majorly disruptive symptoms, including sleep disruption. If your child has a fever above 100.4 AND is excessively drooling or chewing on things, you should probably get them checked out by the pediatrician before assuming it’s just teething. While drooling and chewing are certainly symptoms of a tooth eruption, fever is not.
Likewise, if your child’s sleep is disrupted and continues to be disrupted for weeks and months on end, it’s probably best to look into behavioral sleep modifications (aka “sleep training”) to help your child sleep better.
For more information on teething, check out this helpful information from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
