Broken my toddler and his sleep

[SleepingStandingUp]

So whilst toddler was teething he'd wake up and we'd put teething gel on his dummy and he'd go back to sleep.
This became a habit and he increasingly needed it to get back to sleep.

I stupidly thought once he wasn't teething he'd sleep through and wouldn't need out so it would solve itself.

However that isn't the case. I've basically managed to break any natural ability he ever had to sleep through and anything I do will just make it worse.

So we are trying to wean him off it. O afternoon nap generally so by bed time he is so tired he'll go down without it. Thats 8 ish.

By midnight, 1.30, 2.30, 4, 6.30 am he wakes crying. Very occasionally a drink of water will suffice and he'll go back down. Mostly he doesn't go down deep so no sooner am I back in bed than he is crying again.
I sang to him for an hour the other night and every time I stopped he wimpered so id start again till eventually he was asleep. 20 minutes later he was awake. Teething gel and he slept for 3 hours solid but then obviously I'm beating myself up for being a crap mom and giving in and making it harder for him in the long run.

I don't agree with CIO. Agreed with HV to give him up to 5 minutes of moaning, groaning noise before going in but 80% of the time he escalates to distraught within a minute, 20% he drifts off within a minute.

Im just so stuck. And tired. We did 18 months of in and out of hospital where he slept fine but I didn't because I was cot side. Now 14 months hospital clear and he's slept through a handful of times, but I can't sleep because im waiting for that first wake up.

I know I need to be the mom he deserves and get him off the teething gel bit neither of us have the resilience for cold turkey

Just writing this makes me so angry with myself

[tiredybear]

please be gentle on yourself! Sleep deprivation is AWFUL and really makes it hard to keep things in perspective.

So, is he just over 2.5? Could he still actually be teething? those back molars are terrible. My son is a month or so older and his back ones still aren't through but every so often they really hurt him. The fact he was properly crying and whimpering then slept so well once you gave him the gel suggests he may actually be in pain.

[SleepingStandingUp]

Dentist reckons all through. We think it might be his tonsils and the teething gel is numbing it. Now jist need to wait for ENT appt. Thank you xx

[tiredybear]

ah, that makes sense...anbesol works well for sore throats!
Hope that appointment comes through soon. Any more sleep last night?

[SleepingStandingUp]

He has acquired a cough overnight so waiting on call back from gp. Sounds like he's trying to clear something so back we go. No fever at least so that's good. He's been teething gel free for 4 nights now, balancing it will him waking up for water a couple of times a night so def not comfortable