Never Slept-now Teething-help!

I had a daughter like this - all she wanted to do was nurse and wouldn't sleep more than 3 - 4 hours, without awaking. I began to pump bottles during the day and let my husband do the nighttime feeding at 9:00 pm. It was a win-win because it freed me up and made my husband feel more involved. The first night, she slept 7 hours - yes, I did think about waking her because she was sleeping too long! Your daughter may be teething. You can feel how hard the gums are and she may want to gnaw on your finger. You also may need to get her ears checked should she keep running that fever. Also, I remember my dr. telling me that babies get in a cycle of sleep and if you try to outsmart them in their cycle, it helps (i.e. if they always seem to wake up at midnight, wake them an hour earlier to throw off their schedule and you should only have to do this a couple times. This helped for my son). Good luck.

Dear M.,

My heart goes out to you. It is so hard to e so tired and try to figure all these things out.

I do agree with the other ladies about checking for an ear infection. At least it could be one thing to rule out.

As for teething pain, have you ever tried Hyland's homeopathic teething tablets? THat's all I have ever used with all four of my children. The tablets dissolve immediately in the mouth so there is so possibility of choking. When I suspect teething (sometimes there is no way to know besides the crankiness), I give the two tablets right before bed and when they wake in the night. They are pretty inexpensive and may be worth a try.

AS for crying it out, I usually do not attempt this during teething. If you are able to rule out teething, I am a big propenent for helping children sleep through the night. All four of mine were trained to sleep through the night by 3-4 months. I would be happy to share any specifics of how this works. I used Baby Wise book as my reference. (Of course, I did not follow everything to a "T". You know your baby best.)

How much does your baby weigh? My assumption is that she cannot possibly be hungry every two hours at 7 monthsof age. More than likely, it is a pattern that baby has developed. She obviously demonstrated that she can go longer by sleeping 7 conecutive hours.

Did the daycare provider think she was teething too?

I find that there isusuially a small break between teeth coming in. Since one has pooped throu, this may be an opportunity to start working on her sleep. I found, that things were usually back to normal or better withhin 1 week.

Let me know if I can help in any way.

T.
Mother to four (ages 8, 6, 3, 1, and one on the way)

The first teeth are the most painful .My twins were needy,crabby and unhappy too. She may be getting another tooth that you don't see. I've heard that it hurts the baby the most when it is still inside.Try giving her a cold ,wet baby wash cloth to chew on (make sure you are keeping an eye on her though).Just keep doing what you are doing ,Tylenol,oragel,teething rings. It will pass. Each tooth gets easier. Good Luck!

You can let them cry while teething. Get her dose of Motrin and Tylenol and give her both about 30 min before bedtime so you know she's not hurting and get some sleep.

Teething can throw off babie's entire system. I was told that the reason babies go through it is because their memories are not well established and they can forget the pain, whereas if an adult went through the amount of pain and discomfort associated with sprouting those first teeth, we wouldn't make it. My son gets diaper rash (really BAD diaper rash), diarrhea, has had a temperature, is super whiney and needy for about 1-2 weeks before it rears it's ugly head and for two days after. I use the Highland teething tablets as well as infant Motrin. The motrin seems to provide better pain relief for my son than the tylenol. I use two teething tablets everytime he wakes up at night with the Motrin every 6 hours.
As for waking every few hours to eat, I cut my son off of that at around 5-6 months. Cold turkey, no bottles after bedtime till breakfast(I wasn't nursing at that time, though got the advice from a friend who was). Once weened from night feedings, he started sleeping longer. I agree with not letting them CIO when in pain, however as long as you are taking care of the pain, there shouldn't be a problem and it's definately time to sleep train her. There are many methods out there and it's up to you to find the one which works best for both of you. CIO it out or not, as long as you remain consistant it should work. Good luck!

I'm so sorry you're going through this, I can relate to the sleepless nights, etc.

Have you had her checked for an ear infection? Teething certainly can cause the frequent wakings, but I would check to make sure there isn't something else in addition to that. When she wakes, are you nursing/feeding her? If so, you might want to talk to the ped and see what they think of the sleep issues.

If she's waking to nurse, and you don't think she needs it, or it's not working for you, you can phase out the nursing overnight to a frequency you can both manage. I did this with my son by shortening the duration of each nursing session, then having a night or two of semi-CIO (I say semi, b/c he didn't cry much). I had DH go in his room instead of me, which helped.

Talk to your ped, and I hope things get better for both of you!

For teething I used Highland's homeopathic tablets..they melt away in mouth. I used to give a one or two tablet every day for 6 months. She never had any pain.

V.