When Do Infants Start Teething? (The 4 to 7 Month Window)

When each tooth arrives

The two front teeth come first, top or bottom. Then the pair opposite them. Then the ones either side of those.

Now look at the last two rows, because this is the part that catches people out. The back molars arrive before the pointed canines. Most parents expect the reverse. It is also why a lot of families get a second rough patch around the first birthday, when they thought teething was winding down.

By around two and a half, all 20 baby teeth are usually through.

Is my baby teething late?

Almost certainly not, and this is the question that worries parents most.

The advice on it is blunt. If your child has no teeth by the end of that window, "don't worry". Timing may be influenced by heredity, so if you were a late teether, there is a fair chance your baby will be too, and it does not mean anything is wrong.

What if my baby is teething early?

Early is normal too. Some babies start before 4 months, and a few are born with a tooth already showing. A sore, red gum and constant chewing at 3 months can be teething, and it is worth mentioning at your next check rather than worrying between now and then. The baby teeth chart shows which teeth are due at any age.

Why you will see different answers online

Search this and you will get several different windows. That is not because anyone is wrong. It is because the spread between babies is genuinely wide, and each health body describes it slightly differently.

1. American Academy of Pediatrics4 to 7 months
2. NHSAround 6 months
3. American Dental Association6 to 12 months

024681012

Three trusted bodies, three different windows. If someone quotes you one precise month, they are quoting one source and leaving out the other two.

So the honest answer is a range with soft edges, not a date. If you are comparing your baby to others at playgroup, you are measuring the wrong thing.

How can you tell a baby is teething?

There is a lot of folklore here, so it helps to separate what the evidence supports from what gets passed around.

The signs parents notice most

A 2025 review pooled 25 studies of children up to three years old and found signs or symptoms of teething in 80% of the children.

Those ranges are wide. The biting figure runs from about a third of babies to nearly all of them, mostly because rates differ a lot between countries. Treat the numbers as "common", not "precise".

Alongside those, the practical tells parents actually report: a sore red gum, one flushed cheek, a rash on the face, ear rubbing on the same side as the tooth, dribbling more than usual, chewing on everything, extra fretfulness, and broken sleep.

Worth holding onto: on those same 2025 numbers, about 1 in 5 teeth came through with no reported problem at all. Plenty of babies simply grow a tooth. If yours seems fine, nothing is wrong.

Signs that are not teething

Two things get blamed on teething regularly and should not be.

Diarrhea has no evidence linking it to teething, despite how often you will hear otherwise.

Prolonged crying is the other one. Teething discomfort is usually mild and short. A baby crying inconsolably for hours needs looking at, not a teething ring.

Can teething cause a fever?

No, and this is the most consequential thing on the page, so it is worth being precise rather than reassuring.

Teething can lift your baby's temperature slightly. It does not cause a fever.

Three sources land in the same place. Two put a ceiling on it: slightly raised but less than 38C, or not over 101F. The third, a 2016 meta-analysis, put it precisely: a tooth coming through "could lead to a rise in temperature, but it was not characterized as fever."

Pediatric guidance goes further, describing fever as a false symptom of teething and pointing to extensive studies.

A small bump fits teething. A real fever does not. Putting one down to teething is how a genuine infection gets missed, at exactly the age when babies are most vulnerable to one.

How solid is that evidence?

Fair question, and worth answering honestly. Both meta-analyses pool observational studies rather than trials. The 2016 authors noted that the studies defined symptoms differently, often did not control for other factors, and relied on what parents reported.

The direction is consistent across every source. It is not trial-grade proof, and the page should not pretend otherwise.

What helps a teething baby

The approved list is short and unexciting, which is usually a good sign in child health advice.

1. Rub the gums gently with one clean finger. The pressure helps, and you can do it as often as you need to.
2. Offer a firm rubber teething ring. Firm rubber specifically. Chill it in the fridge if you like, but never freeze it.
3. Give something safe and hard to chew. Wanting to bite down is one of the signs, so meeting it is the simplest relief you can offer.
4. Keep on top of the dribble. Wipe it away gently and often, and change damp bibs. This is what prevents the facial rash.

What to avoid

Several popular teething remedies are actively dangerous, and the guidance here is not ambiguous.

Never use teething gels to numb the gums. The AAP warns that in rare cases they can poison a baby's blood cells and stop them carrying oxygen.

Homeopathic teething tablets do nothing useful, and some have been made with harmful toxins in them.

Amber teething necklaces do not relieve pain at all. They have caused cases of choking and strangulation.

Frozen teethers are worse than chilled ones. Anything you freeze tends to go too hard, and can do more harm than good.

When to call your pediatrician

Get in touch with your pediatrician or doctor if your baby has:

• A temperature of 38C (100.4F) or above. That is a fever, and teething does not explain it.
• Diarrhea, which has no evidence linking it to teething.
• Crying that does not settle, or trouble feeding and sleeping.
• Anything else that worries you.

You know your baby better than any page does. Knowing what teething does cause is what lets you spot what it does not.

This guide is general information, not medical advice. For your child's health or development, speak to your pediatrician or doctor.

Frequently asked questions

Can a 3-month-old be teething?

Yes, though it is early. Some babies start before 4 months and a few are born with a tooth already through. The typical window opens at 4 months. If your 3-month-old has a sore, red gum and is chewing constantly, teething is possible. At that age it is worth mentioning at your next check rather than assuming.

Does teething cause a fever?

No. Teething can lift your baby's temperature a little, but not to 38C (100.4F). A real fever is not caused by teething. A 2016 meta-analysis found that a tooth coming through could raise temperature, but not to the level of a fever. Treat any genuine fever as illness and get advice.

Which teeth come first?

The two front teeth, almost always. They can be the top pair or the bottom pair. The opposite front teeth follow, then the ones either side at around 8 months, then the back molars at around 12 months, and the pointed canines last. The molars arriving before the canines catches most parents out.

My baby is 11 months with no teeth. Is that a problem?

Almost certainly not. Some babies get their first tooth after 12 months, and late teething does not mean anything is wrong. Timing may be inherited. If you would like reassurance, raise it at a routine check, but it is not urgent.

How long does each tooth take?

Some teeth arrive with no pain at all. Where there are symptoms, they often last only a few days around each tooth. Teething is not one long stretch from 6 months to 3 years. It is a series of short episodes with quiet gaps in between.

Can teething stop my baby sleeping?

Broken sleep is on the teething symptom list, and irritability was reported in about 6 in 10 children, so a few disrupted nights around a tooth is plausible. Weeks of bad sleep is more likely a change in sleep pattern than a tooth. If it goes on past a few days, look past teething.

Sources

• When Does Teething Start? American Academy of Pediatrics. The 4 to 7 month window, tooth order, and the warnings on gels, tablets and necklaces.
• Teething Pain Relief, American Academy of Pediatrics. Fever described as a false symptom of teething, and prolonged crying listed as a false sign.
• Baby teething symptoms, NHS. Symptom list, the sub-38C threshold, tooth-order timings, and the absence of evidence linking teething to diarrhea.
• Teething, MouthHealthy (American Dental Association). The 6 to 12 month window, and all 20 baby teeth being present under the gums at birth.
• Garima J, Mathur VP, Tewari N, et al. Global prevalence of teething problems in infants and children. Int J Paediatr Dent. 2025;35(3):608-624. The 80% figure and symptom rankings. doi:10.1111/ipd.13272.
• Massignan C, Cardoso M, Porporatti AL, et al. Signs and Symptoms of Primary Tooth Eruption: A Meta-analysis. Pediatrics. 2016;137(3):e20153501. The temperature conclusion quoted above. doi:10.1542/peds.2015-3501.

Both meta-analyses pool observational studies rather than trials, and the 2025 review reports wide confidence intervals driven by differences between countries. Read the prevalence figures as a range, not a precise rate. The first AAP page above was last updated 26 June 2024 and adapts material from Caring for Your Baby and Young Child (2019).

More from our teething cluster

• Teething Rash. Why it is really a dribble rash, and where it should and should not appear.
• Baby Teeth Chart. Enter your baby's age and see which teeth are due next.

Every claim in this guide is matched to a source, and every figure checked against the original. See our editorial policy for how we make and check this content.