Teething woes

Tom now has ten teeth, including two of the biggies at the back, and they seem to have arrived without too much fuss. He was noticeably whingier but didn't seem overly uncomfortable or in pain. Last night, however, oh boy. I clocked him at about six-ish chewing on his dummy and pummelling his face with his little fat fist and thought casually, 'ah, teething', but that didn't prepare me for the following eight hours. He started to scream, and he carried on screaming, and he didn't let up until about two o'clock in the morning. Calpol didn't work, cuddles didn't work and even our fail-safe remedy - letting him sleep in our bed - didn't work. He was clearly in a lot of discomfort and there was nothing I could do. It was quite upsetting, actually. Come this morning and the teeth pain seems to have gone but it's been replaced by a rasping cough and voice that comes from a lifelong B&H fan. And there's another thing. His bottom. When I changed his nappy this morning, his bum wasn't only red but it was raised, swollen and bumpy and painful-looking. I smeared him in sudocrem and that gave him some immediate relief but on changing him again a little while ago the rash was still there and looking as angry as before. I'm reliably informed that red bum syndrome goes hand-in-hand with teething so I'm not to worry on that front. Both will sort themselves out. I used to complain about having a whingey baby but I'd rather have that than the screaming whirling dervish of last night. Not pleasant. Roll on adolescence!