My 5 month old grandaughter is staying the weekend with me and started running a fever of 100. She started late yesterday afternoon not wanting to take her bottle - or seemed to have a hard time with it and will only eat a few bites of food with a spoon. She is little fussy but is still smiling and playing. she did take an unusual amount of naps yesterday and today but never slept more than 30 min. how do i know if she is teething or her throat is hurting?
Sore throat in a child occurs either due to certain viruses like Epstein Barr virus or due to certain bacteria like streptococcus. For breastfed babies, such problems generally do not occur. But for formula fed babies such things may occur. You need not assume the cause of fever to be sore throat however but some sort of viral infection is likely to be the cause. If the child is playful and otherwise ok, you need not get concerned but if you feel that the child is not feeding well or is lethargic, you will have to take the child to a doctor and get her blood counts and C-reactive protein checked. Give paracetamol to control fever. Teething is not associated with fever. Throat hurting is also quite unlikely. Your doctor can examine and say more.