Teething: What's Happening, What Helps

Cutting teeth is a rite of passage for all babies. How they react to teething, however, varies enormously from child to child, throwing even the most seasoned parents into a quandary. "One of my kids drooled, while another stuck her whole hand in her mouth," recalls Marian Kurp, a mother of six from Bel Air, Maryland. "And with one, I didn't even know it was happening until I saw the teeth."

Kurp's trickiest teething challenge came recently, when her 6-month-old son, Daniel, morphed overnight from a sunny delight into a howling, drooling beast. "I couldn't even get him to nurse," Kurp says. "Then, four days later, four teeth popped through. His gums must have hurt too badly for him to have anything in his mouth."

To help you and your baby weather this confusing -- and uncomfortable -- transition, we've answered some of your most common teething questions.