First baby molars typically arrive between 13 and 19 months of age, while second baby molars come in between 23 and 33 months. Each individual molar can take anywhere from a few days to over a week to fully break through the gum, and molars tend to be more uncomfortable than the front teeth that came before them. Here’s what to expect at each stage and how to help your child through it.
When Each Set of Molars Arrives
Children get two sets of baby molars on each side, top and bottom, for a total of eight molars. The first molars sit just behind the canine teeth, and the second molars fill in behind those.
First molars generally appear between 13 and 19 months. Most toddlers get the bottom pair slightly before the top. Second molars follow later: lower second molars typically erupt between 23 and 31 months, while upper second molars come in between 25 and 33 months. That second set is the largest of all the baby teeth, and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles notes that the 25 to 33 month window is when many children have a particularly painful teething experience.
These ranges are averages. Some children run early, some late. A few months outside these windows is normal. By age 3, most children have all 20 baby teeth in place.
Where Molars Fit in the Eruption Sequence
Baby teeth follow a fairly predictable order. The lower central incisors (bottom front teeth) usually appear first, around 6 months. The upper central incisors follow, then the lateral incisors on both sides. The first molars are next in line, skipping the canine spot entirely. Canine teeth typically fill in after the first molars, between 16 and 23 months. The second molars come last, completing the set.
This means molars arrive in the middle and at the end of the teething process. By the time first molars show up, your child has already been through several rounds of teething with the front teeth, but molars are a different experience because of their larger, flatter surface area. They have to push through more gum tissue to emerge.
Why Molar Teething Feels Worse
Molars are broad, multi-cusped teeth. Unlike the thin edge of an incisor slicing through the gum, a molar has to push a wider surface through, which creates more pressure and inflammation. Common symptoms during molar eruption include:
- Irritability and disrupted sleep: Pain from the gums can be persistent enough to wake toddlers at night or make them fussier than usual during the day.
- Appetite changes: Many toddlers refuse food or eat less because chewing puts pressure on sore gums.
- Increased drooling: Extra saliva production is common during teething and can cause skin rashes around the mouth or an occasional cough or gag.
- Cheek rubbing and ear pulling: Pain from erupting molars can radiate to the cheek and ear on the same side, so toddlers often rub or tug at those areas.
- Swollen, red, or tender gums: You may notice visible inflammation, slight bleeding, or redness where the tooth is pushing through.
Body temperature can sit slightly above normal during teething, typically between 98 and 100.3°F, but this falls below the threshold for a true fever. If your child’s temperature rises above 100.4°F, something else is likely going on.
Eruption Cysts on the Gums
Some children develop a fluid-filled bump on the gum right before a molar breaks through. These eruption cysts look bluish or clear and are most common toward the back of the lower jaw, exactly where molars emerge. They can look alarming, but most resolve on their own once the tooth pushes through.
If an eruption cyst lasts longer than two weeks, it’s worth mentioning to your child’s dentist. Cysts that persist beyond a month may need a minor procedure to drain the fluid and help the tooth come in. Occasional tenderness when chewing, slight swelling, or minor bleeding around the cyst can happen but rarely signals anything serious.
How Long the Process Takes Per Tooth
Once you can see or feel the gum swelling where a molar is coming in, the tooth itself usually breaks through within one to two weeks. The worst discomfort tends to happen in the days just before and just after the tooth cuts the surface. After that, symptoms taper off quickly even though the tooth continues to settle into its final position over the following weeks.
Because toddlers get four first molars and four second molars, and these don’t all arrive at once, you may go through several rounds of molar teething spread over a year or more. It’s common for both lower molars or both upper molars to come in around the same time, which can make for an especially rough few days.
Caring for New Molars
Molars are more cavity-prone than front teeth because their flat, grooved surfaces trap food. Start brushing as soon as the first molar appears. Use a small, soft-bristled toothbrush (softened under warm water if needed) with a rice-grain-sized smear of fluoride toothpaste for children under 3. Brush twice a day for two minutes, using gentle circular motions across all tooth surfaces.
Once your child has two teeth that touch each other, which often first happens when molars arrive, flossing between those teeth matters too. A small flosser designed for children makes this easier. The contact points between molars are especially hard to reach with a toothbrush alone, and cavities between baby molars are one of the most common dental problems in young children.
When Molars Are Late
Tooth eruption timing varies widely among healthy children. If your child’s first molars haven’t appeared by 20 or 21 months, or second molars by 36 months, mention it at a dental or pediatric visit, but isolated delays are rarely a sign of a problem. Genetics play a large role: if you or your partner were late teethers, your child may follow the same pattern.
Delayed eruption across multiple teeth, not just molars, can occasionally be associated with conditions like hypothyroidism, Down syndrome, or certain genetic syndromes. If your child had no teeth at all by 9 months, that’s a reasonable point to bring it up with a healthcare provider. But a single molar running a few months behind schedule is well within normal variation.