Does Teething Really Disrupt Sleep for Weeks? What the Evidence Says

Your baby was sleeping great—and suddenly, they're waking every hour. You check their gums and think you feel something. "Teething!" you conclude, bracing yourself for weeks of disrupted sleep. But before you resign yourself to a month of exhaustion, consider this: the scientific evidence suggests that teething doesn't disrupt sleep nearly as much as most parents believe.

The Teething Myth

Teething is one of the most convenient scapegoats in parenting. When babies are fussy, refusing food, drooling excessively, or—most commonly—sleeping poorly, parents often blame teething. But research consistently shows that true teething symptoms are generally mild and brief, not the weeks-long ordeal many parents expect.

As pediatrician Dr. Clay Jones explains: "That's one of the myths... What happens is that the gums remodel—they move out of the way as the tooth emerges." This explains why gums don't bleed when teeth come in—and why the pain isn't as severe as many assume.^[1]

What the Research Actually Shows

The Brazilian Study: Daily Observations for 8 Months

One of the most carefully conducted studies on teething sent dentists into the homes of 47 babies every day for eight months. They took temperatures, checked gums, and interviewed parents about behaviors. This rigorous methodology provides some of the best data we have on what teething actually does.^[1]

The findings were surprising:

• Teething was associated with sleep disturbances, drooling, rashes, runny noses, diarrhea, appetite loss, irritability, and slight temperature increases
• However, these symptoms consistently occurred only on the day of tooth eruption and one day after
• No symptoms regularly occurred in the days before the tooth appeared

This is crucial information. If your baby has been sleeping poorly for two weeks and no tooth has appeared, teething is not the cause.

The Cleveland Clinic Study

Another rigorous study from the Cleveland Clinic tracked teething symptoms in babies of hospital employees. This study found that symptoms like biting, drooling, gum-rubbing, irritability, and sucking were more common up to four days before a tooth appeared and for three days afterward.^[1]

More serious symptoms—including sleep awakenings, decreased appetite, and slightly elevated temperatures (but not fevers above 102°F)—were more likely one or two days before or on the same day a tooth came through.

The key finding: "A baby who drools or is fussy for weeks before a tooth eruption is not having symptoms due to teething."^[1]

Hospital Admissions Study

A study published in the Postgraduate Medical Journal examined 50 children who had been admitted to the hospital with symptoms initially attributed to teething by parents or doctors. The findings were striking: in 48 of the 50 cases, an organic cause other than teething was found. One child even had meningitis.^[2]

This study highlights a real danger of the teething myth: when we attribute symptoms to teething, we may miss actual illness that needs treatment.

Why We Over-Blame Teething

If teething doesn't disrupt sleep for weeks at a time, why do so many parents believe it does? Several psychological factors explain this common misconception:

Confirmation Bias

When your baby is fussy and you think "teething!", you're looking for evidence to confirm your hypothesis. If a tooth eventually appears (even weeks later), you remember that you were "right." When no tooth appears, you conveniently forget the prediction. As Dr. Jones explains, "We forget the misses and remember the hits."^[1]

Coincidence

Babies are teething almost constantly during the first two years, with 20 teeth erupting over roughly 24 months. During this same period, babies get sick frequently, go through developmental changes, and have naturally variable sleep. Many symptoms we attribute to teething would have occurred anyway—they just happen to coincide with ongoing teething.

The Need for Explanations

Parents desperately want to understand why their baby is upset or sleeping poorly. Teething provides a convenient explanation that feels somewhat within our control. As one researcher notes, "It's the nature of being a human—when we're faced with nonspecific symptoms like fussiness and drooling and changes in sleep, we want to peg it on something."^[1]

Memory Bias

The Brazilian study followed up with mothers one week after completing their observations. Remarkably, mothers were likely to report fevers as a teething symptom even when their babies never had fevers during teething. They also forgot milder actual symptoms like drooling. Our memories are shaped by our beliefs and expectations.^[1]

Cultural Beliefs

The idea that teething causes significant suffering has been passed down for generations. In previous centuries, teething was blamed for everything from fevers to death. While we now know better, the cultural belief persists. "There's so much force behind the concepts of teething passed down from grandmothers to moms and society in general... It's reinforced over and over again."^[1]

The Real Timeline of Teething Symptoms

Based on the research, here's what genuine teething symptoms look like:

Before the Tooth Appears

Minor symptoms like gum-rubbing, drooling, and irritability may occur 1-4 days before a tooth erupts. These are typically mild.

On the Day of Eruption

This is when symptoms peak. Sleep disturbances, fussiness, decreased appetite, and slight temperature elevation are most likely on the day the tooth actually breaks through and the day after.

After Eruption

Symptoms typically resolve within a day or two of the tooth appearing.

Bottom line: If your baby has been sleeping poorly for more than a few days and you haven't seen a new tooth, teething is unlikely to be the cause.

What's Actually Causing the Sleep Problems?

If teething doesn't disrupt sleep for extended periods, what might actually be causing your baby's nighttime difficulties?

Sleep Associations

If your baby needs to be rocked, nursed, or held to fall asleep, they'll need the same conditions every time they wake between sleep cycles. This is the most common cause of frequent night wakings.

Developmental Changes

Learning new skills like rolling, crawling, or walking can temporarily disrupt sleep as babies' brains process these exciting developments.

Schedule Issues

Overtiredness, undertiredness, or nap transitions can all cause sleep problems that parents may mistakenly attribute to teething.

Illness

The hospital study showed that many symptoms blamed on teething were actually caused by illness. Ear infections, colds, and other conditions can disrupt sleep and cause irritability.

Habit Formation

Sometimes parents respond to a brief disruption (perhaps genuine teething for a day or two) by changing their response—picking the baby up, nursing back to sleep, bringing them into the parental bed. The baby then learns to expect this response, and the sleep problem continues long after any teething discomfort has resolved.

How to Actually Help a Teething Baby

When your baby is genuinely teething (symptoms for 1-3 days around tooth eruption), here are evidence-based ways to help:

Cold Teething Rings

Refrigerated (not frozen) teething rings can provide relief. The cold helps numb the gums.

Gum Massage

Gently rubbing your baby's gums with a clean finger can help.

Appropriate Pain Relief

If needed, appropriate doses of infant acetaminophen or ibuprofen (for babies over 6 months) can help—but only for genuine teething symptoms and for a day or two, not weeks.

What to Avoid

• Topical numbing gels containing benzocaine or lidocaine—the FDA warns these can cause rare but serious side effects^[1]
• Amber teething necklaces—these pose choking and strangulation hazards with no proven benefit
• Homeopathic teething tablets—no evidence of effectiveness
• Frozen items—these can be too cold and cause discomfort or become choking hazards

When It's Not Teething: What to Do

If your baby's sleep problems have persisted for more than a few days without a new tooth appearing, it's time to look for other causes and solutions:

Address Sleep Associations

If your baby can only fall asleep under certain conditions (nursing, rocking, holding), working on independent sleep skills may be the solution.

Evaluate the Schedule

Make sure wake windows and nap timing are appropriate for your baby's age.

Rule Out Illness

If your baby seems unwell, has a fever over 102°F, or has other concerning symptoms, consult your pediatrician.

Consider Sleep Training

If sleep problems are persistent and affecting your family's well-being, evidence-based sleep training methods are effective and safe.

The Danger of the Teething Excuse

Beyond missing potential illness, there's another danger to automatically blaming teething: it prevents parents from addressing solvable sleep problems. Many families endure months of broken sleep, waiting for teething to "pass," when the real issue is something entirely fixable.

As one pediatrician's mother discovered after weeks of poor sleep: "She's been sleep training you."^[1] Sometimes the most helpful thing a parent can learn is that teething isn't the cause—and that means they can take action.

How Rose Sleep Co Can Help

At Rose Sleep Co, I help families throughout Southern and Central California identify the true causes of sleep problems and develop effective solutions. As a sleep consultant certified by the Institute of Pediatric Sleep and Parenting, I can help you distinguish between brief teething disruptions and underlying sleep issues that need attention.

If you've been blaming teething but the sleep problems persist, book a free discovery call at (213) 935-0769 or fill out our intake form. There's no need to suffer through months of poor sleep—help is available.

Remember: Teething doesn't disrupt sleep for weeks at a time. If your baby has ongoing sleep challenges, the cause is likely something else—and something you can address.