Without old wives and their many tales, new parents would never know that every physical ailment of their infant can be chalked up to teething. Diarrhea? Must be teeth. Constipation? Teeth. Mysterious rashes? Teeth. Drool? Fussiness? Cradle cap? Sleeplessness? Teeth, teeth, teeth and teeth.

There is one thing that most decidedly shouldn't be pinned on the eruption of chompers: High fevers. 

Old wives -- and not a few pediatricians -- used to advise parents to ignore a high fever in a baby older than 6 months. Turns out, that is really bad advice, given that a high fever is a sign of a viral infection, which can go from unpleasant to life-threatening quickly in infants.

Still, there may be other ailments that the old wives were right about. Anyone know of any?

Illo credit: Leif Parsons for the NYT