18 month DS still only got 10 teeth

[lucy261101]

Just started to get a bit concerned,my first DS has all his teeth by about 18 months. Also 2ns child is a terrible sleeper, constantly wakes through the night, i can't cope with the lack of sleep, any ideas.

He still doesnt sleep a whole night, wakes up all hours, sometimes at about 0230hrs then lies in his cot and screams and crys, so i go into him, he'll settle for a bit but you know that they are awake so you dont sleep properly - it driving me mad - the lack of sleep.

My DD2 was the same at up to that age and I know what you mean about not sleeping properly as a result. Even though my DD might sleep for 30 -45 mins I would be awake as my body just didn't seem to allow me to sleep because it knew I would be woken suddenly again.

tbh I think there comes a point when you physically cannot cope and have to take action. Prob for me was that by the time I reached that point I had no capacity for clear thinking left in me.

He has to learn to sleep through for both your sakes. Do you think he might be over-tired? Is he getting enough quality nap time during the day - that was the main problem for us in the end? My DD is still worse if I cannot get her to have a nap. My DD had got into the habit of waking and I had to gradually break her of it. Controlled crying did not work as she goes from content to hysterical in 1/1000th sec .

IME it does get easier to deal with very soon after they are 18m too. I started making DD walk everywhere to tire her out and started using simple rewards to tempt her to sleep. I am ashamed to admit to resorting to removing her comforter at one point. She would wake up screaming repeatedly and I was so tired I just went in and took it away. She soon realised that screaming for mummy was not going to get her what she wanted (me to sit over her and watch her sleeping) and she learnt to sleep better. It worked for my DD but she is quite a tricky one, it was a really drastic measure for me to take but her interrupting the nights constantly was wrecking our entire family life. Now she wakes once or twice some nights but goes straight back to sleep with a quick comforting - much easier to cope with.

btw, I wouldn't worry about the lack of teeth.

DD is 22 mo and only has 12 teeth so don't worry.

What did you do the break the cycle of waking, i've tried alsorts and nothing makes any difference.

What have you tried so far? What is his character like? Is he stubborn, clingy, easily upset, easy going? I had to take two completely different approaches with my two DDs who are very different in some respects.

Does he nap during the day in his cot?

He's clingy when i'm here and doesnt like his big brother coming to me for a cuddle if he is already there. He is very stubborn and refuses to take any medication when i can see that it is his teeth that are troubling him. If he was just crying i could probably cope, but he has developed this shrill scream that goes right through you.

Ahhhhh! The 'shrill scream' - I know it well and my gosh does it take some ignoring. DD1 didn't do it but DD2,who is far more forthright in her demands, picked it up quite early. I honestly think they learn it because it gets a response - they know you can't ignore it. If it anything like my DDs it sounds like she is being murdered - in severe pain and close to death .

I can't remember exactly what sorted it for us but I did have to be firm with her and make sure she wasn't getting anything out of screaming for my attention - no cuddles, no gentle chats, no milk, just a quick check that all is OK and then leave again. It is a bit of a blur for me now but it was a combination of things (including removal of the comforter - which worked very well but made me feel awful) that worked in the end. Some of the things were things we had tried before - she just wasn't in the right frame of mind to respond to them before.

tbh, I'm no help at all here so would suggest you start a new thread about how to get him to sleep better. I bet you get lots more informative answers than I can provide . I know there are some good books and techniques that I didn't know about at the time but I have seen them mentioned on other threads since.

Def make sure he is getting enough naps during the day - over-tiredness can really keep them awake at night, strange as that might seem.

my ds 17mths only has 4 teeth!!!!!!

my ds 13 mths and still no teeth! beginning to get concerned myself....?

duckyduck, it's fine. He should start getting a couple by 18 months but at the moment, it's normal.