10 month teething and sleeping?

Question

Hi, my daughter is 10mos and is getting her 2nd tooth. While I understand it must be painful for her, she's fine during the day but when I put her down to bed she throws a right paddy!! I am a firm believer of letting her cry it out because I know she's clean/dry/fed/watered and I've just put bongela on her gums so I leave her for 10mins then go check/put her dodo back in etc and it carries on. Sometimes if we're really getting nowhere with her, I bring her back down onto the sofa and she falls asleep in minutes!

Now shes started waking again through night, I give her a dodo back, rub some more bongela on her gums but then the paddys start when I leave her room, same as at bedtime but at 1, 3 or 5am I can't let her cry it out the same because I have other children and our house is terraced! So the same sofa routine starts again and again she's asleep in minutes, but having said that I don't want her to get in the habit of being picked up all the time, she's been so good at going to bed until now!!

I am absolutely shattered and feel awful, my partner does try and help but I feel bad for him cos he works Mon-Fri and needs to be able to function.

Also, I might add, she very rarely (as in three times a month max) naps for longer than 20mins twice a day. She's still eating and playing just the same, I just wish she'd sleep the same!!

Sorry its so long, and my question is, does anyone have anything else I could try to ease her teething pain, I don't want to just dope her up on calpol all the time!

Thanks for reading,

x*x

Answer 1

The child is in alot of pain. Cut her some slack. It wont go on forever and at the moment just try to do anything that comforts her. I'm going through the same with my youngest who is 9 months.  As soon as the tooth cuts through she'll be much happier, comforting your baby when she's hurting wont get her into bad habits!  

Answer 2

oh dear you muct be shatterd poor thing this will pass could you get a single bed in her room and stay in their with her until she gets her pattern back??ther are homeopathic treatments for teething speak to yuor gp tho i do wonder if your little monkey is trying it on a bit? give her a nice relaxing bath put her down slightly later so she is shatterd when she is more active i.e walking she will hopefully need more sleep i have four kids and went through similar troubles my youngest is 4 months and sleeping thru only difference this time is i made her room as dark as possible no lights on upstairs at all it seemed to work for the time being anyway  

Answer 3

Hi - my daughter is 13 months old, still teething and only started sleeping through for 10-11 hours at 12 months.  I was starting to think I was going bonkers so I contacted a wonderful lady called Judy from Bubba Hush Cottage and she was very helpful.  

I tried a few different things including the cry it out but honestly it broke my heart and after 10 minutes (seems like an eternity doesn't it!!) I would give in.  

I am working full-time so needed some break from not having more than 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep for more than 12 months.  

Judy asked lots of questions and suggested for me the following: keep to a routine, (dinner, bath, book, bottle, bed) at the same time every night.  If she isn't eating a lot for dinner, ensure it has dairy (cheese, yoghurt etc) to make her tummy feel full.  Give her a comforter (you can check that one off), and if she has a dummy, make sure the nightlight shines into her cot so if she drops it, she can find it herself.  (I put in an extra one or two just in case she can't find the original dummy)  

Offer water if she continues to wake up at the same time (Mia used to wake up at 2am every morning and I couldn't get her to go back to sleep unless I picked her up) and don't pick her up unless she is really upset.  Just put her back down, turn her on her side, "shhh" her and pat her back.  You might need to do this quite a few times.   Only do this when you know she is ok - not in pain.

If she looks like she is in pain, she will need extra cuddles from mummy so give her some panadol, cuddles for 5 minutes and she should go back to sleep quickly.  It shouldn't last more than a week at a time.

The first night will be the worst and within a week my daughter was sleeping through.  (Judy actually told me it could be up to the age of 2 so I figured I was actually doing pretty good and just when I thought I had no strength left, you find some more fighting power!!)

I think they just need to feel reassured you are there for them when they aren't feeling well and if you are feeling tense or stressed out, she will sense it so its time for 'tag-team' with your partner!!

If it continues, I would see your doctor if you are really concerned.  I don't like giving my daughter panadol much either but I know how bad we feel with a toothache or the dreaded wisdom teeth cutting through so it much be so overwhelming for them when they don't know why so as long as it is according to the medicine, don't feel bad about easing her pain.

Good luck and I hope you have some more settled nights soon.

Answer 4

If your child is uncomfortable, typical treatments include:

a teething aid, such as a wet washcloth, teething rings, etc.

teething biscuits

massaging or rubbing your baby's gums

a pain reliever, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen (if your infant is over six months old)

teething gels, such as Baby Orajel Nighttime Formula, Little Teethers Oral Pain Relief Gel, Baby Orajel Fast Teething Pain Relief, Baby Anbesol Oral Anesthetic Gel

teething tablets

Keep in mind that teething gels and teething tablets are not recommended by many pediatrician and are often overused because parents confuse 'teething symptoms' with other problems such as viral infections, sleeping problems, and ear infections.

If you are frequently using any medication to comfort your child who you think is teething, double check with your pediatrician to make sure that there isn't another cause for his symptoms.