Teething, Crawling, Standing = NOT SLEEPING! HELP!

I agree with Julie V. My 8 kids experience says hang in there, "This too shall pass" . It seems like an eternity while you are going thru it. All kids handle this stage differently, some better than others, but it's only temporary.

He's teething and you don't want to give him any pain meds. He's in pain! If you don't like the idea of meds, at least get some benzocaine gel for his gums. If you have a headache, don't you medicate? Meds come in doses appropriate for kids, he'll feel alot better, and you'll get some rest.

All of these things are developmental based.

ANYtime a baby is hitting milestones/changing developmentally AND especially when their motor-skills changes and increases and they then learn how to crawl/pull-up/stand/walk... this does totally tweak their sleep.
But, their coordination/appendages is not fully at-will "mastered" yet...thus thus they wake and do it during sleep to. But... this is nature's way, of how they "practice" their new skills. 24/7.

Its a phase.
And plus with teething... and plus with his sleep-deprivation due to his motor-skills and wakings... he is tired too=fussy.

It WILL pass... once the baby gets more control and 'mastery' over their motor-impulses.

The silver lining to all of this is: your baby is developing normally and well. On par and on course. In fact, if he was NOT doing these things... then, that would be worrisome... because it would mean he is not, developing on par. And I am sure you would not want that, then.
So, take photos & videos... because this is a milestone moment!
It will pass.
Just keep to his usual nap times and bedtimes.
It will pass.
It is growing pains for the baby. It is intrinsic in them and normal.
Both my kids did that too.
You can't 'extinguish' developmental impulses or skills...that are fledgling. But its a phase.

He does NOT know how, to put his body/coordination right back into a perfect little sleeping-position after pulling-up etc. That is why he cries. He is unable... yet... to fix his body and appendages and lie back down again. These things occurs in stages... once he does learn how to lie down again after standing, then he will be able to put Himself.... back to sleep or lie down.
So in the meantime, yes, you do have to help him and adjust his body for him. And YES, it is repetitive. All night.
And practice with him during the daytime...

all the best,
Susan

I totally feel for you because I have a 9 1/2 month old active boy going through the same thing. Ever since he started crawling at the end of 8 months, he became a bad napper, eater and night time sleeper. He never slept through the night but at least he only wake up twice but now he wakes up every 2 to 3 hours. One time I caught him just sitting in his crib wide awake and crawling around. We succeeded in training him to fall asleep on his own right before he started crawling but once he started crawling he would pull up and stand up on his crib and crawl around and will not go down to sleep. We have no choice but do the CIO method again and this time it is so bad that I want to cry myself. He would scream and cry so hard that he would be all sweaty and red. He cried and screamed for 2 hours the first night and after that he just sat there and whimpered. I felt so bad that I just went in there picked him up and rocked him to sleep and he passed out because he was so tired from all the crying and screaming. The second night we got lucky and he only cried for one hour. Third night we got lucky again and he actually only fussed a little, jumped around a little and fell asleep sitting but his head slouched forward. We have only tried this CIO method this week since he started crawling. We will see how it goes tonight.

As for his eating, he was never a good eater. He never seemed to be hungry or want to eat. But once he started crawling and teething (he has two emerging bottom teeth that seems to be taking forever to completely pop out) he refused to take the bottle during the day and so I have to mix some formula into his baby food to get him to drink some that way. He loved baby food when we first introduced it to him back when he was 6 months but now he seems to be bored of it. Now I struggle everyday to make him eat. Feeding is the least fun part of the day, well putting him down to sleep is actually the worst part of the day. We are also training him to use the sippy cup but he doesn't seem to care for it either.

I think when babies go through milestones and teething they are too busy to eat or sleep. Sucks for us but for them they are too excited about crawling and pulling up and possibly walking soon that eating and sleeping is a waste of time to them. Even know that is what's going on, I still have a hard time dealing with his refusal to eat and sleep.

I hope this is a phase that will pass soon, perhaps after he gets bored of crawling and pulling up etc. he will go back to his old self. Walking is a pretty big milestone for baby so be ready for another round of not eating and sleeping again.

sounds like he has a lot of new things, possibly scary things going on. when that happens to me i like to hold or be held. Try sleeping with him at night during his emotional neediness, you and him will get some very needed rest.

Are you willing to use teething tablets? Hylands is all natural. He does need some type of pain meds. He is in terrible pain. Teeth coming in feel like little needles in the gums. Each time he eats especially warm foods, it irritates his gums.. Maybe try giving him cold food for a while. .even baby food served cold may give him a little relief. Give him a frozen washcloth to suck on, then try to feed him.

The sleeping through the night may take some of your assistance. When he wakes up and after you have given him time to try to calm down (10 - 15 minutes), go in with the lights off and no eye contact and no speaking, hand him a frozen wash cloth to chew and suck on. Lay him down and pat his bottom and see if that will help him calm down..The pat on the bottom will give him a little rocking motion and wear him out.

I am sending you strength and a good nights sleep.

Oh I feel your pain, I still nurse my 18 mo old and she also wakes a lot at night and is a very very bad sleeper. I dont have anything for you so i am super sorry just wanted to say that it does get better. as she gets older she nurses less and as a result wakes less. I did read the no cry sleep solution by elizabeth pantely and she talks about the pantely pull off on how to get them to sleep w/o nursing and that did help. at around 14 mo I also night weaned her using that method in her book and once she was not nursing at night she slept through the night! so once he is a bit older you can deff. night wean, but I am not sure that i would try it at his age. I dont med. my DD either if she is really really uncomfortable I will do so and she will sleep a bit better but I use tynol. not motrin. good luck, maybe you can start reading that book and by the time you are done you will be ready to night wean. again sorry I know this is not the help you were really looking for. xo

CIO even with other kids is often the best option. Yes there will be a night or two or three of exhaustion all around but then it will be over. It is likely that the baby is overtired as well and so very fussy. I would try to look for the very earliest signs of tiredness. Then get him to nap fast with whatever method works and at night I would use cio. In a few days you won't know yourself with all the new sleeping. good luck.

I have an 8 month old. She also got 2 teeth at the same time. She was very fussy for awhile and we alternated tylenol and motrin for about 4 days (it's safe up to 7) the teeth then broke the surface and she's been fine ever since (knock on wood)

Don't be scared of medicine as long as you know it isn't recalled. My mom and sister both gave their children medicine and all of 'em turned out fine (including me)

Dear Mom OTG:

I appreciate your dilemma! First, I support your decision to try the [generic] infant motrin. It has helped my son tremendously! At 10 months, he started waking at least 1x/night -- teething. Sometimes he still wakes up occasionally (we give him a diaper change and a little milk, and he'll go to bed peacefully) but far less with Motrin (we give it when he's drooling and emotional). Second, please know that it took a while for my son to learn to "value" sleep. We started the "bedtime ritual" at 1 month old -- bath, story, bottle, singing. At 10 months, we put a few soft toys in his crib. At 13 months, we added a small wooden toy (interlocking wooden triangles by Haba). 13 months was the turning point for us...that's when he started making it clear when he was ready to go to his crib. It takes him a good 10-15 minutes to fall asleep -- during which time he rolls around, stands on his head, clicks the triangles, hugs his soft toys, and kicks the mattress. But he seems to get alot out of this "alone time." Third, best wishes to you, your husband, and the two older kids -- you're already handling more than I can even imagine!

My some went through this at about 9 month and i was looking through different websites and asked my sister in law if she had experience anything like this with her daughter who was roughly the same age, she forwarded and article to me about, how at physical development stages children have trouble sleeping especially crawling and walking, because their brain is so busy learning these new things it's hard to turn it off! But it is quite temporary, with my son it lasted about 2 weeks. It really helped to let him get lots of exercise/Playtime, So that he was tired enough to sleep.

You are at a major "wonder week" period --goggle it. All you can do is hang in there. It is a phase that will pass.

Go ahead with motrin and if he sleeps longer you will know pain was the problem. Maybe get him checked for ear infection too (my kids always refused to lay down when their ears hurt). Nip this behavior in the bud by finding the problem. Lack of sleep, as you know, is a whole family's problem. Sweet dreams & good luck!

Hi - my little guy went thru the exact same thing we he got his first couple of teeth. I'm not a big fan of medication either, but I did use Motrin and Tylenol during this time. I did find that the earlier I put him to bed the better he slept. Good luck and feel free to send me notes anytime, I'm here!
K.

First of all yes, I'd give him a dose of Motrin when you know he's teething. Infant Motrin lasts about 6-8 hours so you don't have to give as often as Tylenol, which means less medicine overall. Also you could make some healthy homemade popsicles that he could bite on to numb his gums (bake some peeled apples or mango slices at 350 for about 10-12 minutes, then puree. Pour into ice cube trays and freeze - only pour about halfway into each cube so that once frozen, the cubes will be small enough to fit into a fresh food feeder - those things they sell with the mesh bag for baby to eat without choking. Or freeze a banana or grapes and chop into pieces in the feeder).

Regarding the sleeping, every kid is so different with their sleep patterns and what works for them. They're individuals. My 1st slept like a log from the time he was 3 months old and still does at age 3 1/2. My 2nd baby, who is now 1, didn't sleep through the night until 8 months. Her naps sucked too. She'd sleep about 15-20 minutes then be up and not go back to sleep until hours later. And at night she woke sometimes on the hour, or sometimes every 2-3 hours. We tried EVERYTHING. It was really hard to understand at first, because our son had been so easy with naps and sleeping at night.

Finally, finally, I started putting her to bed at 6:30 PM. It seemed insanely early to me at first, but lo and behold, within a few days, we had a sleeper on our hands. She started only waking up 1 time per night - and then she'd cry for a few minutes and be asleep again. AND taking two 1-1 1/2 hour naps daily.

It's normal for babies to wake up at night - they just need to learn not to panic when they do, that they don't really need to eat or be held. It actually stimulates them more and makes it harder for them to go back down. What they need is to fall back asleep asap. And with babies like ours, the better naps they have during the day, the better they sleep at night. Sleep really does beget sleep for our type of sleepers - your little guy sounds totally overtired.

Anyway, if you try the earlier bedtime, likely he's going to be in bed much earlier than your other little ones...so he can cry and it won't wake them up. I use a sound machine in her room to block out our noise (her room is off the kitchen) and also I have a music box that lights up that she can turn on if she gets scared in the middle of the night. Good luck and be patient, it's a process!