Teething already? Or dehydrated?

[ladybird11]

DS was born with his two bottom teeth - and for the last few days he's been trying to gnaw on his fists (usual newborn behavious I guess) but his wee is really smelly and a dark yellow colour. The smell is excatly the same as DD's which she gets when teething.

Is he dehydrated or teething do you think? The dark urine usually occurs after a long sleep (5 - 9 hrs). He hasn't got a temp or any other teething signs.

DS is 12 wks on Wednesday, fyi.

[MantaRay]

My guess would be teething. Does he seem to be drinking as much as usual?

If it's dehydration, you will usually see other signs as well as dark urine. Fewer wet nappies for one thing, probably fewer dirty ones too, he will either scream a lot or sleep a lot more than usual, his eyes will lose their brightness, and his skin will lost it's elasticity (ie if you pinch it, it doesn't bounce right back). Also severe dehydration could sink his fontanelle. If he has these other signs, then seek medical advice immediately. But dark wee is common with teething so that would be my guess.

[MummyNaomi]

My DS was born with one of his bottom teeth also, but it went back down into the gum a few weeks after birth but came up again at about 12-13 weeks, so yes, it definately could be teething

[ladybird11]

I thought it was teething, but no - I called the parent helpline and they thought it was a UTI . So off we went to the Dr's and it was confirmed!

At least I can stop stressing - not knowing what is wrong stresses me big time!

Thanks girls!

[Visitor8]

a really easy way to tell if a child is dehydrated is if they have saliva.
If they are drooling they aren't dehydrated.

Also the skin pinch test mentioned previously.