My 4 month old has been teething for a month straight....no kidding. Everyday! She has always taken 45 min day naps and used to go to bed b/t 7-830. She would be down for the nite but i would feed her before i went to bed, then she would wake b/t 3-4 am to eat. For a month she will not stay in bed after bedtime. Wakes in 45 min like during the day. A couple of times i would let her fuss for a few minutes and she would go back to sleep. Not anymore. She is drooling like a faucet, pullling on her ear ALL the time ( no ear infection), scratching at her neck, biting everything....she's teething. She is fine when i get her out of bed. As long as she is hangin out she's usually happy. She loves the swing. I hate giving tylenol all the time but if she is uncomfortable, then i should. Anyone else give tylenol several nites in a row? Several weeks in a row? Sometimes that doesn't even help it seems. I feel bad for her but what else can i do? sometimes i use a numbing gel. Just now we took her out of bed because she was screaming. Brought her downstairs where she then was just fine and smiling. So we put her in the swing and now she is asleep. I hope she is being soothed by the swing from her discomfort, but i feel like i am starting some bad habits here. Is she too young for me to worry with that? She used to be so comfortable in her bed and sleep so well. Grrrrrr. Has anyone else experienced this from teething? I just keep praying that once a tooth comes in we might get a little break. Sorry this is soooo long and rambled but i need some sleep!! Usually once she is down late evening, like after 10, she will sleep until 2-3 ish. Maybe she isn't tired yet? But once she gets in that swing she falls asleep, so she must be tired. At what age should i start enforcing a bedtime? For a couple weeks she was waking up 2x a night again. first i thought growth spurt but it kept happening after a week or so. Anyway i will stop rambling. I was obviously spoiled rotten when my 28 month was sleeping thru the night at 8 weeks! Please share your story or some advice!! TIA
Hylands teething tabs, they work wonders!!! Now im so homeopathic with my children its crazy. It was all because of one mom who swore its a miracle. Damnit she was right
I didn't finish reading your post, I just skimmed. Sorry, I'm exhausted! LOL! Anyway, my son went through this too. He was in SO MUCH discomfort when his bottom two teeth came in. He was fine for a few weeks and then for like a month straight, he was miserable, I didn't think it could get worse from his bottom two but it did! Well, his top FOUR teeth came in all at the same time! No wonder why he was so miserable. I did give him Tylenol usually just once a day, but sometimes twice when he was really miserable. I don't really like to medicate my kids but he was having such a hard time and the pediatrician recommended that I give him some. I tried the teething tablets that I've heard such wonderful things about, but they didn't do a thing for him. When my daughter was teething, even when her molars were coming in, she never had any discomfort. I only knew she was teething when all of the sudden I would see a new tooth, so I got spoiled too. I don't really have any advice, I just know what you, and your L. one, are going through!
You will make it through!! I only gave Tylenol at night...when we ALL needed a little quiet. But, I used numbing meds on the stops during the day.... I don't know o fthe Hyland tabs ya'all are talking about, but hey....I'd try them since so many of you gave thumbs up!!!
As for the sleeping, obviously she's sleeping flat. Have you tried to elevate the head of the bed? Not much....just a towel under the matress should do it. Sometimes the fluid from teething could be making her uncomfortable and a little elevation could work. She likes the swing? Swing away, making sure she doesn't fall forward into her tray and sleep on the couch with her nearby.
After a severely colicky/reflux baby, I learned to sleep in the shower! 5 min here, 5 min there....eventually it worked out. Good luck to you!
Have you tried Hylands Teething Tablets yet??? They worked great for our daughter. You can get them at the grocery store in the organic/natural section.
I would also suggest trying a chiropractor. Whenever our kids would have trouble sleeping we'd bring them in and notice a difference the very first night! They've been getting adjusted since newborn on whenever needed. (Trouble sleeping, colds, coughs, ear infections, etc.)
And to answer the Tylenol question. No, we didn't give our kids Tylenol for teething or for very many other things. They only get it when their temp spikes (like 103+) and NOTHING else brings it back down. I could probably count on 1 hand how many times out 2 kids have had Tylenol total. Even the parenting magazines say that it is over used......
I found that Motrin worked better with my 2 children for teething pain. If she's having an especially rough night you can alternate the Tylenol and Motrin every 2 hours. My oldest child, now almost 3, slept in the swing EVERY night until he was 3 months old. We were able to transition him to his crib without a problem and to this day he is a great sleeper and has always been a great sleeper. Don't worry about the "bad habits", at this age they are easy to overcome. You need sleep with two little ones and don't feel bad about that. Are you giving her something to chew on during the day to help get those teeth out? With my son I would wet and freeze clean wash clothes and that seemed to soothe him the best, he never cared for teething rings. Just remember, this stage may seem never ending but it won't be like this for long. Hang in there!
You should get a little reprieve after the 1st tooth comes in. My daughter got her 1st tooth at 3 1/2 months old. She got her last (20th) tooth at 17 months. She was a very early teether. She was a poor night sleeper until all her teeth were in! Neither tylenol nor orajel really worked, so we stopped giving them. I personally would not do tylenol several weeks in a row. Her little body needs a break from all that medication. There are homeopathic teething drops (organic, no chemicals). You could try those...at least you wouldn't have to worry about all the medication. Give her cold rings to chew on during the day. I hear a towel put in the freezer could help (though my kids didn't like it). This is just one of the not-so-pleasant parts of being a new parent. Just hang in there & know that this too shall pass, and soon your baby girl will be smiling at you w/ a mouth full of teeth!
Here Here for those Hyland teething tabs! I would be very reluctant to give any pain reliever for a week at a time unless they run a fever with the teething. My daughter often did. We also found Gripe Water to be a great helper in getting her to relax and take the edge off the pain naturally, this was a huge help at night time. Teething does stink, they are cranky, drooling, and sleepless. I had to remind myself that (per an article I read) most adults would need morphine to tolerate the pain of teething and these little ones have to do it months at a time. This gave me and my husband the added tolerence we needed to get us all through teething in our house.
Oh yes...we're in the midst of it now. Our baby cut her very first tooth a bit late...10 months. She was a wreck for an entire week. The next one came in at 11 months and wasn't as bad. Now, at 13 months, she is just getting in both top teeth at once, and she's clingy and miserable. We're trying to maintain a sense of humor...that's my best advice. This, too, shall pass. :) As far as the sleep, I can't help you there since our little one is only now starting to become a better sleeper...
If she's uncomfortable all day, be sure you're not letting her numbing gel or Tylenol wear out, and then she wears down. Pain is a beast at any age:)
You can also use ice flakes in a washcloth with a rubberband or just cold water in washcloth, put it in the freezer wet, get a teething toy, get some Little brand drops or homeopathic teething tablets, to vary your solutions. I've used them all at different points -- if baby wanted to chew, I gave a "chew" or if wanted to drool, I gave a washcloth, or was just crying, I gave a tablet, or at night I gave Tylenol or gel or both...
As for sleeping, well... we'll be back to that sometime:)
I used Hyland's teething tablets and motrin or tylenol if needed for teething. If I could feel the tooth about to come through I did the oragel in that spot. I tried to only give medication at bedtime (on the worst days more often). I did do bedtime motrin for a few days to a week but not a month straight. I would not worry about her sleeping in the swing temporarily until the teething gets a bit better. Most babies aren't ready for sleep training before 5-6 months and even when you get a good routine going it will be disrupted by things like teething, colds, etc.
