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My grandson came to visit us on Friday and had to go home early Saturday as he was running a 102 temp (he started running a temp early in the evening and overnight it got worse) and had the diahrea. My daughter took him into the after hours clinic and they told her he was sick because of teething and to give him tylenol. The dr. said he was having the diahrea because he wasn't eating enough solids. When he was here he did eat normal meals and my daughter said he had been eating normaly. She is frustrated with the dr (as I am too). Does teething cause this? I had thought teething could cause a low grade temperature, but never heard of this before.

Hi Connie:

A couple quick questions: how old is your grandson? Was the afterhours clinic affiliate with your grandson's pediatrician's office?

That said, teething can cause fever and loose stools but viruses and other infections such as urinary tract infections and ear infections can also cause the same symptoms. It is difficult to say how high a temperature can go with teething because kids bodies all differ. I have seen a few kids with sizable fevers and nothing else going on but teething.

The important thing is to have your daughter stay in close touch with her pediatrician and have your grandson reseen if he is not better in a few more days, or getting worse.

Finally, depending on the age of your grandson, some kids do have loose stools normally. So, as the fever clears if your grandson's stools stay loose there may be nothing wrong.

Best,

Thanks for answering...my grandson will be a year old next month and he only got teeth (3 of them) in the last few weeks. He didn't run a temp then but was very grumpy and she was worried when he started running a temp of 102. And it was the weekend too.

My daughter lives in a small town and there is only a GP and this is in another town close to where she lives. She had been seeing the PA that practices where she lives and I went with her one time and I didn't like the PA (this was when Jayden was having the ear infections and I had went with my daughter and the Pa just talked over my daughter's head and wouldn't answer her questions and I just kept asking until she answered me and I could tell she was irritated at me). She was so frustrated and upset because she couldn't get answers for her questions. I told my daughter your Dr. is supposed to help, answer your questions and make sure you understand what is going on. To me that is what the Dr. is there for. My mom had suggested to my daughter to ask me to go with her to the Pa. My youngest son was very ill. He was in and out of the hospital, on oxygen, did breathing treatments for the 5 first years of his life and we wore out 3 of those machines during this time. I am not intimidated easily as I had gone to many Dr.s because I believed something was wrong with my son. The Dr. that put my son on the O2 and breathing treatments saved my son's life. I will always be grateful and I thank God for him. But anyway, here I am rambling on.

The clinic in the next town that she went to has different doctors that work there (I have heard it called "rent a dr") so you always end up seeing someone else, never the same person it seems. The clinic is in the hospital and I think they had opened this to help provide affordable care on the weekends. I know how expensive it is to visit the er and sometimes you don't need the Er but need to see someone or by the time the weekend is over you have a very sick child.

My daughter talked to my mom and my mom thinks maybe Jayden had the flu. That did make sense to us and Jayden is feeling better now and not running a temperature.

Hi Connie:

Sorry your daughter is having such a tough time with medical system. Given what you described, I'm not surprised.

That said, PAs can be good if pediatric trained. I'd advise her to find a true pediatrician at the biggest medical center there is near by. Even if she has to travel a bit to get there it may be more worth it to avoid what she is experiencing now.

I bet the GP in the next town has afterhours coverage. You can check out the American Academy of Pediatrics web site: www.aap.org to hunt for pediatricians near your daughter. The Board of Registration of Medicine in her State can also help.

Best,

My daughter took Jayden to the dr. yesterday as he was still not acting "right". Now he has a sore throat and running a low grade temperature. The closest pediatrician would be 2 1/2 hrs from us. She surprised me and changed dr.'s and so we will see how the new dr. is.

2 1/2 hours. Wow! Sounds really rural. But, GPs in those areas tend to be really versatile and competent. They have to be because they are all that there is. She may have to switch around a few times to find a personality she clicks with. I'll keep my fingers crossed that this one is it for her and Jayden.

Yes, it is very rural! We live about 80 miles from her and we are close to a larger town. But you have to cross the state line and her insurance won't work here in Oklahoma. I am hoping this dr. will be better.

My son had high temperature and diarrhea with teething. As far as I know, teething often causes high temperature, diarrhea, runny nose. But in case of teething diarrhea is not connected with food.

Maybe the diarrhea is because of increased fluids and no solids.

Many kids do get loose stools with teething but it is unclear why. If a child has fever and diarrhea I would not assume it is from teething until a doctor takes a look - especially this time of year with so many viral infections abound.

True diarrhea is very, very frequent loose stools. Usually with teething there are loose stools but the frequency may not be different from usual- so it is not technically diarrhea.

With both, push fluids and stick to a bland diet.