5 month old unsettled and chewing fingers aggressively

[IssyKuhle]

Hi everyone. My little boy is going to be 5 months next week. He has been the perfect baby ever until recently. He always slept through the night (about 12 hours without waking) and was hardly ever fussy.
Now all of a sudden he is crying a lot and chewing on his fingers constantly and aggressively. He's definitely not hungry. He is struggling more to fall asleep and now he is waking up sometimes every 2 hours in the night (from about 2am).
It just seems like something has been bothering him now for about a week!

I thought maybe it's teething? But I had a feel in his mouth and I can't feel any teeth coming. It is hard for me to see properly as he has down syndrome and his tongue sticks out his mouth a fair bit. He was also premature and only just starting to fit in 0-3 months clothes.

Any advice would be great as seeing him so upset makes me upset !
TIA

sorry you're going through this but it does sound like teething. you cant always see or feel anything at first. It's all going on underneath the gums. Try giving some calpol and see if that calms him down. Also would he chew on a cold piece of muslin or wet flannel. Its really soothing for their gums

Definitely sounds like teething.
Lots of parents I know likes to use the Teething Chicken from Amazon. If baby can grip and bring things to his mouth then he should be able to use it. My little one loved his one. It really seemed to help during the day.
For nights use calpol and hopefully that’ll help him sleep a bit longer.