Can anyone help?! I have a 18 week old that has NEVER slept well, but he was starting to get better until he started teething a couple of weeks ago! Now he refuses to sleep unless being held, and even then he doesn't sleep much more than 1 hour at a time at night (naps are even worse usually). I know he is old enough to sleep train, but with how miserable the poor guy is with his teeth, we haven't been successful at all. Has anyone been in this situation, and have any advice?
have you tried baby orajel? they have a night time one and it works well for my son who is 4 months.
oh I so feel your pain. I have a 4 1/2 month old teething as well. I agree that bedtime routine is key. Anyway... here is what I have found that helps. My little guy seems to peak with the teeth pain around 3:00... so I have been giving tylenol around this time. At times he has been in so much pain he would not take his bottle. Anyway... prior to being able to hold onto teething toys I would put his pacifiers in the fridge. He loves this... I also use oragel and have heard teething tablets work wonders.
Night time... at 6:30 I feed him and then give him a long warm bath. It really helps to take his mind off the teething pain. You could even bathe with him if he isn't fond of the tub... Anyway... after this my little one generally requires another feeding (or partial feeding) then he immediately falls asleep by about 7:30/8:00. This has been accomplished with a lot of trial and error.
Anyway... hope that helps....email me anytime: ____@____.com
M.
I would hold him as often as you're able. And perhaps try co-sleeping. A baby this young needs the attention and giving it to him is not spoiling him. He's new to this world, he's in pain from teething and hasn't ever been able to sleep well which has a cause even if we don't know what it is. Some babies need more attention than others. The baby who gets the attention he needs as a baby will be less needy when he's older.
Have you tried tylenol or motrin for the teething pain?
Other ideas which may help him sleep. Does he have a consistent schedule with a bedtime routine? Is the room the right temperature for him and is he covered so that he stays at a warm temperature? Have you tried putting on soft music, and/or a nite lite? Is he hungry when he wakes up? You could try putting cereal in his bottle.
It seems sleep in nearly always an issue in the first few years. I think that if we can relax and "go with the flow" it is much easier to handle. The baby will get as much sleep as he needs. We just need to figure out how to get some sleep.
Hi K.!
Have you try teething tablets? They seem to help my son during the day!
At night we give him Tylenol, which also seems to help very good!
He doesn't sleep as good as he used to, but much better than without any Tylenol!
Also when he was that little, he co-slept with us, which seemed to help to because I could always sooth him, and he felt more comfortable near me and daddy.
Then we got him into a bedtime routine, which also helps! He eats his dinner, takes a bath (where he plays a little), then I lotion him up, swaddle him (my 9.5 month old falls asleep better if swaddled because this way he can't really move around when he wakes up), give him a bottle, and he is out in about 10 minutes!
I hope it helped a little!
