Today while turning Archer upside down and swinging him around my his feet like a helicopter I noticed that he's packing a pair of black back-gums where his molars are supposed to be coming in.
Just in time for Halloween, Archer's gone dark.
I've never seen black gums before but I'm not too happy with them because frankly, they scare me. It's unnatural and clearly causing Archer discomfort. Which makes me sad. And frustrated.
I googled "black gums" and found a lot of information on trees and this black chewing gum, which apparently has a cult-like following and is quoted as having "Hi-Technical Taste" (Jean-Claude Van Damme did the commercials if you can believe it). Otherwise, I found practically nothing online about babies with black and blue gums.
So since Google has failed me, perhaps one or several of you have experience with this black-gum phenomenon. Is Archer marked by the devil or is this just routine teething bullshit?
Oh and in case you were wondering, the "black gum" is some kind of magical chewing experience, complete with caffeine and a million vitamins. Apparently it's all the rage with the kids these days.
The shit you find on the internet, man.
GGC
Note: I'm guest-blogging over at The Zero Boss all week so if you wanna, Come on down!
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37 comments:
Hey I can't find anything either and I use Web MD. I would suggest calling a dentist. If he's got some teeth already it wouldn't hurt him to have his first dental exam. For brand new kiddies they are very getnle and just get the kids used to having hands in their mouth (other people's). Keep us posted. That sounds REALLY wierd!
Nothing to worry about. My 20-month old had the same thing for weeks. Just as I thought I really should take him to the doctor, the gums were back to normal with little tips of the molars showing through.
It's basically bruising under the thin skin of the gums as the sharp teeth try to push their way through. If he will let you, try to massage them a little bit with some Anbesol. it will help the molars cut through and will relieve some of the discomfort at the same time.
Dee Dee beat me to it but yeah, Amy did a post when Noah had the same thing on his first birthday weekend. Second year molars coming in early is not that unusual and the bruising and discomfort are kinda high (sorry). I hope he takes it like a trooper.
I'm guessing tooth bruising him on their way through. Give him a freezie, he'll love you for it.
Yep-- gums can turn black and blue. Can you even imagine? No wonder they turn into monsters when those dang molars come in. Try frozen mini bagels to gnaw on, and popsicles.
My daughter also has bruised gums from her 1-year molars coming in. And the doctors say that teething isn't painful! Several people have already mentioned Amy @ Amalah's entry about poor Noah's gums.
I've also heard that frozen washcloths (wet them first) can be helpful but when I tried to give one to Emily she just looked at me like "what is this for?!" and dropped it on the floor.
Hope Archer feels better soon.
I'm glad they had answers, because I was stumped!!
omg, gus back teeth were swollen and black as night...sooooo glooss (as he would say). i gave him some tylenol when they got extra bad though. don't worry you are so not alone with the gnarly gum thing!
THANK YOU! I've been giving him tylenol (he refuses anything frozen or ice-cold) and I'll try the ambesol as well.
Wooohooo! We shall survive!
Any clues as to why I'm only able to view your blog in IE these days? I usually read in firefox, but the last post that I see when using it is the "I say soemthing stupid" post.
I have no idea? No one has said anything? How strange. I do everything in firefox but have checked in Explorer and Safari and I can see it as is. Hmmmm...
I'm using Firefox and it's working fine. No worries!
Ditto what everyone else said. The molars are imminent.
Also, think about switching from Tylenol to baby Motrin. It lasts longer (eight hours instead of Tylenol's four or six) so Archer gets more relief for less med and you get fewer interruptions during your day. I think once you're past the one year mark, Motrin is an option but doublecheck with lables, doctors, etc, cause I'm a lobbyist - not a doctor!
Oh no! Poor little guy. I recall Amalah's son is going through this now, and knowing her, she got about 50 thousand words of advice from readers. Check her site?
teeth are miserable on the way in ... and the way out! my two always had snotty noses, temperatures, yucky nappies - the works - when they were teething. can you get gel to rub on their gums? we can get stuff called bonjela that tastes of clove or cinnamon and seems to numb the discomfort. poor little darling - big hugs from us x
I wish I had some advice or experience to share, but I've never heard of either black gums- the Archer kind or the weird kids trend lol.
Hmm.. I've never heard of it. My kids gums just go bright red then whitish before the tooth breaks through. Hope he's feeling better soon, teething SUCKS. Can you rub some bonjella on them? Stings for a couple of seconds then numbs the pain.
I guess it's kind of a weird thing. Ah, well. Thanks everyone for your comments. Much appreciated.
Bec..did you ever think it might be that chewing tobacco you've been feeding him for breakfast? Just a thought. hehe!
DUH! That must be it!!!
Aaaawwww. Poor little man.
But at least it coincided with Halloween.
My daughter's back molars caused erruption cysts to form just under the skin of her gums. If the gum is purple and black, and he hasn't got his molars yet, they are probably erruption cysts, They'll go away after the molars come through.
Good luck!
I am so glad I ran into this blog. Last night, my husband and I discovered the same thing. My son, Lucas, is one and a half, and teething. But he's never had bruising on his gums. So, I called his pediatrician this morning, and he said that bruising in the gums in babies is very common during the teething phase. Its called "something something hematoma"....the tooth that its about to crown apparently hit a blood vessel which caused his gums to bruise. His doc said that when the tooth comes out, not to be surprised if theres bleeding.
I hope that helped...I know it helped me a lot. I couldn't sleep last night worried that it was something more complicated.
OH yeah! Thats what its called: ERUPTION HEMATOMA.
Be careful with any medications that numb the gums. Children do swallow them and it can cause the throat to become numb and destroy their gag reflex. This can cause the child to choke on their own drool in their sleep because they are unable to feel to swallow.
You can use chilled teether's, freeze a washcloth with a wet corner and hold it to the gums, and with older ones, the safe feeders with the nets with some frozen mums milk, fruit or just a plain ice cube can work wonders.
I´m so glad I found this blog post! Last night I was checking out an eye tooth that was poking through in my one year old´s mouth and realized that he had a patch of black gums. Totally freaked me out, since I´ve never seen that before (he´s my second)! I´m relieved it´s nothing serious.
nd you guys. I saw this in my screaming, sobbing little boy about 20 minutes ago and thought it might be an infection or abscess.
Feeling better knowing it's just bruising.
x
I AM HAVE SUCH GRATITUED THAT I FOUND THIS BLOG, MY 6 MONTH OLD SON HAS BLACK AND BLUE GUMS RIGHT IN THE FRONT NEXT TO A K9 THAT IS COMMING IN. HE HAS 4 TEETH ALREADY AND 3 TRYING TO COME IN! I HAVE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF BRUSING OF THE GUMS AND NEITHER HAS ANYONE ELSE I HAVE TALKED TO! I AM THANKFUL THAT YOU GUYS ALL HAD GREAT SUGGESTIONS I WILL STILL BE CALLING A DR BUT IT PUTS MY MIND TO EASE A LITTLE BIT! GOOD LUCK AS WELL TO ALL OF YOU!
Thank you for posting this. It was the only thing I found on Google to explain my son's black gum where his molar is coming in. I'm on vacation and away from our Drs. Thank you Moms!!!
haha Are you ready for this? I also just googled blue gums and found your blog...so if you find the answer, send it my way!
My daughter had the same thing when she was teething.. it's not the prettiest thing to look at, and I'm convinced my mother in law thought I had punched my daughter in the mouth(which of course I had NOT). As soon as the teeth cut it went away.. and now of course it's gone completely. Still quite a shock for a first time mom!
-Sylvia
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Just wanted to let you all know that I was also a worried mother regarding my child's blk and purple teeth. My one year old was experiencing this on and off for 6 months. Finally took her to the dentist. As explaining it to him he pulled out a picture of gums that had cysts on them. This is normal but scary as a mother. Gotta love the little buggers but it's always something:) Good Luck to everyone
oh man thank you thank you. i was all freaked out, thought i needed to take him to the dentist. now i know why he's been up screaming so many nights. and YES please be careful of numbing agents (IN FACT DON"T USE THEM). i've read a lot of bad info on what can happen with such a seemingly harmless product, the most severe of which is reported convulsions. thanks for blogging about this!
what if theres black behind the babys tooth but on the gums?what could that be?
Wow I am so gld I found this!! My 9 month old has black gums where his molars would be and I have spent all day calling doctors and dentists to make sure he was ok. He is my third child and his 2 siblings never had anything like this so it was freaking me out a little!! Thanks to everyone for putting my mind at ease! Hopefully his little toofies will push through soon so he can get back to his easy going self.
So glad I found this. My 11 month old is getting his molars and last night when I was inspecting his gums since he had been extra cranky, saw some bruising where the molar would be coming in. I got worried and called his pediatrician who said she had never heard of or seen such a thing. She recommended I take him to a pediatric dentist if it was still the same on Monday. I might give them a call, but I do think it is harmless. He just seems extra uncomfortable, but he is getting molars, so that is to be expected.
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