Can teething molars really be this bad??!

[yorkshirejo]

Hi all, looking for some reassurance I suppose.

DS now 18 mo has always been crap sleeper, apart from 6 week period following CC ages ago. Sickness bug and him learning to sit up meant that 3 hour long battles to get him to sleep in the cot, were replaced by us deciding to cosleep.

He has blankie and dummy and will take 2 hour naps during day. He falls asleep whilst we lie next to him. Then once asleep, we leave the room but he must resettle himself as he will nap for 2, sometimes 3 hours during the day.

Night times are HELL however, he wakes 10+ times a night, despite paracetamol/ibuprofen which sometimes seems to work/mainly doesn't.

My question is, can teething really cause this level of waking at night? He has got his teeth thru v fast compared to his peers, at 18 months he has 16 teeth, and the final molars are pushing up under the gums this week. But I am feeling so down about his 10+ wakeups at night, scaring myself silly he has some behavioural issue going on.

GP has referred us for community paediatric team with access to behavioural psychologists....

Sorry for rambling nature of my post and THANK YOU SO MUCH for any replies! X

[Pollyputhtekettleon]

I don't know how you can ever be sure it's teething and I'd not be keen to be giving too much calpol and neurofen without knowing for sure except on the very odd occasion. But I understand you are at the end of your tether! My 3yr old never teethed, ever. He had cranky moments that might have been but nothing bad enough to ever merit calpol. My 18th old now is pulling at her gums and roaring these last few days and waking a lot each night. (She 99% of the time does 13 uninterrupted hrs at night so this is strange for her). I have given her calpol a few times but she also has a cough and cold so it helps with both. I suspect your son is simply a bad sleeper plus some teething? If you feel he is not in bad pain or sick, and if you have already given the cuddles and pain relief, then I would do some cc again. I have barely had to do it with either of mine but when I did, I always asked myself whether baby was just angry not to get its way or whether he/she actually needed me. Usually they are just furious so not giving in to them in that situation is a life lesson. Ie. Eventually they stop, think for themselves and are able to lie down without having the expectation that when they call on a whim, mummy will come. Night time is night time is the message you are giving them. Hysterical distressed crying is a bit different. I'd go in and cuddle a moment, tell them the rules and leave again, and continue until they realised again that they don't get to decide at nighttime.

Good luck. I imagine you are exhausted.

[StellaB1]

You poor thing. You must be exhausted. I have few word of wisdom but with my ds if pain relief lets him (and us) sleep them I am more than happy to give them. Fingers crossed for you all Taft it passes soon

[H3]

Is he still co-sleeping with you? If not he may need some sleep training now? Loads of methods if you look around on mumsnet & just choose what suits you best. CC is not easy on you but quick, other methods work too but might take a bit longer & need a bit more patience.

2-3 hours daytime nap might need to be reduced or gradually phased out? One of my DC ditched naps at 18mths but another kept an hour until almost 3.

Also, I have a wisdom tooth half way through which has caused me no pain at all (did make me wonder if teething really hurts that much) & my DC3 tend to suffer from tummy aches if they've had calpol etc.

Just ideas that might help? Lack of sleep does not make life easy!

[tomatapassata]

YES! It was horrendous! Started just as I returned to work after Mat leave and I was going to work on 2 hours sleep a night for 6 weeks! We still have teething troubles but nothing like before!
Hang on in there. It won't last forever. Get to bed early and pamper yourself when you can... even a long bubble bath helps! Xxx

[ooosaidooo]

How does he sleep at night if he has only had a 1 hour nap during the day?

At 18 months the naps in our house have reduced massively, I find that reducing the naps plus a couple of walks during the day (usually at some point on the school run, or to the shop) helps them sleep better at night.

As well as calpol a few drops Lavender essential oil (go to a good health food shop and buy pure good quality) in the bath at night also helps relax them IME.