I hear ya ~ I often tease that teeth should be like play doh head hair ~ you should be able to turn a crank and have them all pop up!

Have you ever tried the Camilla for his teething discomfort? I have seen that work wonders at helping a child be able to put the pain aside and focus on having some fun?

BTW I agree Kanageroomama ... I know this is going to sound unsympathetic but I have been known to tell older children (not wee babes) whose parents buy into and excuses the 'behaviour' that comes with being under the weather for whatever reason that 'I am really sorry your teeth are hurting or you've got growing pains or you were up all night with your cold but it is no excuse for behaving like this ~ be nice, be friendly and go play and if that is really to hard for you that's ok than just go lay down and rest your body by yourself until you are feeling better because THIS behavior is not a socially acceptable option They always miraculous feel 'better' and run off to play rather than the option of going to lay down and rest if they are really 'that uncomfortable that they need to whine and cry and carry on'

Not that I am not willing to cuddle a child who truly just needs a few moments of comfort to feel better or kiss a boo boo when they fall or anything if it helps them 'bounce back quickly' but the prolonged milking of something ~ not going to fly here cause the fact is that we ALL have things like this going on internally and we have to just learn to suck it up and put on a smile and go on about our day focusing on the GOOD instead otherwise the bad will just always keep you down!

It is the same as the reaction of an adult to 'falling / injury' has direct bearing on the resilience of the child to said fall or injury .... so many times you see a child go down and than LOOK for is anyone watching and what is the reaction and if there is none they get up and keep going but if the adult does the big ole GASP of anticipation of pain at the time of the fall than the child melts down into a pile of goo because it gets them that 'extra special attention' that well lets face it all humans tend to love