Parent beliefs about infant teething: A survey of Australian parents

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Parents ascribe many infant symptoms to teething, despite little evidence to support such an attribution. We report current parental beliefs about teething and its management in a suburban Australian setting. METHODOLOGY: A written questionnaire was given to all English-speaking parents consecutively attending infant hearing testing sessions in one Melbourne municipality between August and October 1997. Approximately 90% of Victorian infants attend these sessions. RESULTS: Parents of 92 infants (mean age 9.9 months) completed questionnaires (97% response rate). Only one believed that teething causes no problems. Most (70-85%) believed that teething causes fever, pain, irritability..