When to call the doctor?

When your child can not communicate in a way other than saying mama, dada, hiya and crying, it's really hard to know what's actually going on with him. Is he in pain? Is he tired? Does he just feel like making Mommy go nuts - most likely, but you never know!

Recently, Matt's been teething hard core. His top two teeth just popped through last weekend and he's working on a fifth tooth on the bottom, so needless-to-say the nights have been pretty rough in our household. Last Saturday, he started tugging at his left ear and he has a little bit of the sniffles, but it's been nothing like the typical colds we have seen, so I attributed it to teething. Monday he slept pretty well, Tuesday was awful, Wednesday was pretty good and then last night he woke up screaming. He was pretty inconsolable for about an hour, and because of it, I am pretty sure that my recently colored hair is now peppered with grays again.

Although I was pretty confident his odd behavior had to do with his teeth coming in, I decided to call the doctor hotline this morning to see if I should be worried. To my amazement, the doctor on the other end made me feel horrible that I hadn't come in sooner. He claimed that the runny nose and the tugging at the ear are not in conjunction with the soon-to-be toothy grin my son will be donning.

I admit, I've been a little gun shy when it comes to calling the doctor since the first pediatrician made me feel like the boy who cried wolf, and I did not want to make the same mistakes twice. So it got me thinking... What's a first time mom to do? Err on the side of caution or wait another week to see if it goes away? This morning I decided that it's better to be safe than sorry since I am my child's advocate, but you have to maintain credibility at the same time. It's really a fine line that makes parenting an infant pretty tough some days.

I am happy to report that Matt's actual pediatrician made me feel much better and his ear pulling and runny nose really do have to do with his teeth coming in. Score 1 point for mommy being right. In the meantime, a little Motrin at night will help with the pain, and I'll continue to let my mommy instincts dictate when it's right to call the doctor with concern and when it is nothing.