Teething doesn’t actually cause a true fever. It can raise your baby’s temperature slightly, typically to somewhere between 98 and 100.3°F, but that falls below the medical definition of a fever, which starts at 100.4°F (38°C). So the warmth you’re feeling on your baby’s forehead during teething is real, but it’s a low-grade temperature bump rather than a genuine fever.
That distinction matters, because if your baby’s temperature crosses the 100.4°F line, something else is likely going on.
What’s Happening Inside the Gums
When a tooth pushes through the gum tissue, it triggers a localized inflammatory response. The body sends signaling molecules called cytokines to the area where the tooth is erupting. A study measuring these molecules in the fluid around erupting baby teeth found significantly elevated levels of several inflammatory signals during active teething compared to non-teething periods. Two of those signals in particular were correlated with both temperature elevation and sleep disturbances, while others were linked to changes in appetite and digestive upset.
This is essentially the same type of low-level immune activation your body mounts in response to any minor tissue disruption. The inflammation is concentrated in the gums, but the signaling molecules enter the bloodstream and can nudge body temperature upward. It’s not enough to produce a real fever, but it’s enough that you might notice your baby feels slightly warm.
How Common Is the Temperature Rise
More common than you might expect. In a study of children between 4 and 36 months old, about 42% experienced a temperature increase during teething, either on its own or alongside other symptoms like drooling or loose stools. Fever alone (without other symptoms) showed up in 16% of teething episodes, while another 26% had it combined with drooling, digestive changes, or both. Drooling was the second most common standalone symptom at 12%.
So while not every baby gets warmer during teething, it happens in a significant proportion. If your baby seems a little warm and is also drooling heavily, gnawing on everything, or fussier than usual, teething is a reasonable explanation, as long as the temperature stays below that 100.4°F threshold.
Teething vs. Actual Illness
The timing of teething creates a perfect setup for confusion. Babies begin teething around 6 months, which is also when the immune protection they received from their mother starts to fade and when they begin putting everything in their mouths. The result: more infections at exactly the same age teeth are coming in. Parents naturally connect the two.
A few key differences can help you sort it out:
- Temperature level. Teething keeps temperatures under 100.4°F. A reading above that points to illness, not teeth.
- Other symptoms. Cough, congestion, runny nose, vomiting, rash, or persistent diarrhea are signs of infection. Teething doesn’t cause these.
- Duration. Teething discomfort tends to come and go over a few days around each tooth’s eruption. A fever that lasts more than a day or two, or that keeps climbing, suggests something else.
- Behavior between episodes. A teething baby is often fussy but can still be consoled and has periods of normal behavior. A sick baby tends to be more consistently lethargic or irritable.
The biggest risk of attributing a real fever to teething is missing an infection that needs treatment. If your baby’s temperature hits 100.4°F or higher, treat it as you would any fever in an infant, regardless of whether teeth seem to be coming in.
Soothing Teething Discomfort
Since the temperature bump comes from gum inflammation, anything that reduces that inflammation will help with both the warmth and the fussiness. The most effective approaches are simple.
Gum pressure works well. Use a clean finger or a piece of damp gauze to gently rub your baby’s gums for about two minutes. The counter-pressure eases discomfort, and you can repeat it as often as needed throughout the day. For babies over 12 months, you can wrap a small piece of ice in a wet cloth and use that instead.
Cold items also help. Chill a teething ring, pacifier, or wet washcloth in the refrigerator (not the freezer, which makes them too hard and can hurt tender gums). The cold numbs the area slightly and reduces swelling. For older babies past their first birthday, chilled soft fruit like banana slices or berries placed inside a mesh feeder gives them something to gnaw on safely.
Avoid numbing gels containing benzocaine for children under two, and skip amber teething necklaces, which pose a choking and strangulation risk with no proven benefit. If your baby seems particularly uncomfortable, talk to your pediatrician about whether an age-appropriate pain reliever makes sense for a short period.