My 5 month old has slept through the night for over a month now and now all of a sudden she is waking up screaming like she is in pain or having bad nightmares at least 4 times a night. Why? She is not running a fever and i know that she is teething but the orajel should at least ease some of that discomfort. I just feel helpless. Any advice would be a blessing. I know my baby girl's cries and this cry is not one that i have heard before.
Orajel only helps for a very S. time, like an hour- maybe less.
Try some Motrin (works better than Tylenol) and Hylands teething tablets.
You can try giving her some ibuprofen before bed and then another dose in the middle of the night. Actually, we would give our boys either ibuprofen or Tylenol before bed and then the other in the middle of the night. We did this because in the middle of the night it can be difficult to think clearly, and we didn't want to accidentally give them two doses of the same med too close together.
We tried orajel a couple of times, but it didn't seem to help so we just stuck with ibuprofen and Tylenol. Good luck :-)
Have you tried feeding her when she wakes? Most babies have another growth spurt around the 6 month range and then they get really hungry again. So that's great that she has been sleeping through the night but she might need to eat again now for a month or so and then will go back to sleeping through the night for you.
She might have digestive problems, and her little tummy hurts :(
Try giving her gas drops and see if that helps her any. It worked great for ours. Also, my son did not like Orajel, he only likes Hyland's Natural Teething Gel. No numbing, and no bad taste, so it didnt bother him, it just helped.
she's coming up on a growth spurt... probably starving and needs to nurse or have a bottle.
If you know she's teething then I agree to make sure you do motrin or tylenol. My daughter did well with teething tablets too, but I've never heard of the teething tablet gel, I'd check that out over Orajel probably. As far as the actual tablets, if you haven't used them before I always felt it was much easier to dissolve them in a tiny bit of water first. I would put the tablets in a spoon with a bit of water, let it sit for 10 minutes or so and then suck up the mixture with a motrin syringe. Then I would shoot it directly into my baby's mouth and it worked like a charm! I only did this during awake hours however and always used OTC drugs during the night time.
It's possible she could be hungry too. Is she on cereal or anything? Cereal only helps about 50% of kids sleep through the night, but if nothing else works you might try giving her some before bed. I'm usually a big believer in waiting until 6 months if you can, but sometimes you can't. I'd rather have a 50% chance at something than keep guessing randomly, so keep in your arsenol if you're still having issues after her teething is handled. Good luck!
Teething is very painful. It feels like little needles poking through her gums. It can also bring on sore throat and ears that hurt because of all of the drainage. It can then also upset her tummy,. The teething tablets help. Some Motrin, also frozen baby wash cloths for her to chew on..
I know it is so hard to see them in pain.. Just hold her and offer different teething options for her to chew on.
Has she had any vaccinations or anything else different happening in her life recently? She could be having a reaction to that.
Is she sleeping in your room or down the hall? It may be that something is waking her up and you're not hearing the early "normal" cries but only the late ones?
Is she going to bed early enough? An overtired baby wakes more often due to cortisol production.
Maybe tilt her mattress to relieve some of the pressure on her teeth
