Teething = more BF's at night. Normal?

[Annie456]

Hi, sorry for lots of posts recently.
DS1 (8mo) is teething and has been for a few weeks. He has 6 teeth and has another 2 coming through. He is waking up every couple of hours literally screaming the place down. I tend to spend 30 mins trying to settle using "pick up-put down" but when I put him down he screams. I always offer bonjella and then calpol when that doesn't work and after 90 mins I end up b'feeding.
I'm really scared of getting into bad habits as he was previously going 7pm-6am and now won't settle without a feed at 11pm, 2am, 4am. I feel like its a lot to be feeding in the night-let alone exhausting for me!

Is this normal? I'm resisting feeding him because I don't want to form habits but it's hard after so much crying!
A x

This was similar to my DS at that age when teething.

I also worried about creating bad habits, but in hindsight (he's now 2.3 years) it doesn't work that way. He has gone through a dozen changes to his sleeping pattern since then, nothing to do with bf, which I stopped at 11 months.

I think it's because they are in pain and want comfort, also the body is going through growth to produce the teeth and other developments at that age - such as becoming more mobile and strong - and the bf gives them the nutrients for that, plus a reassurance from mum.

Hope that made sense! It is a phase and will pass... more unsettled phases will come at other stages, but you're doing a great job.