DD (5 months) just not settling at bedtime, or for naps

[curlyLJ]

Bedtime has taken well over an hour for the last few nights. 2 hrs last night, including feeding/changing time and about 1.5 hrs tonight. it's getting me down as I want my evening back!

I think it's her teeth. She's almost 5 months. She won't really feed to sleep, she's agitated and won't relax in my arms at the end of the feed and nod off like she usually does. She starts screaming if I try to rock her.

I am having to put her in her cot awake and it is taking her soooo long to go to sleep. She is constantly trying to pull at her ears and stick her hands in her mouth. I try to hold her hands by her sides as that usually calms her, but she was having none of it.

In the end I gave Nurofen tonight which seemed to do the trick once it had time to work. She then had a bit more boob and off to sleep she went (although I still had to go back and settle her one more time, but that's quite usual). She also keeps waking for feeds (which she hasn't done for a while) at stupid o'clock.

It's affecting her naps too and I have given up trying to settle her a couple of times over the last few days because she was just screaming and fighting it. Last night, as a result of missing the last nap, she was really over-tired at bedtime, which is why I thought she wouldn't settle, but to be honest she was no better tonight having had her nap.

I can't just keep giving Nurofen every night can I? I'm never sure if it really is teeething or whether she's just playing up! How long might this go on for? I don't think I can even feel a tooth in her gum yet...

If she's pulling at her ears could it be ear ache? But if it was I expect she would be v. grouchy all day.

My DS naps used to get shorter when he was teething and he would wake up even earlier in the night than usual, but he didn't teeth until a lot later than this.

Have you tried some white noise? I used to 'hair dryer' DS to sleep as the noise helped him to drop off while he was in his cot. This also meant than he learnt to self settle and eventually he didn't need the white noise at all.

Last nap of the day is always a bit tricky. Maybe take her for a walk instead of the car, the fresh air might help.

I don't think it really hurts to give pain relief for a few nights running if you can tell there is a problem.

Ear pulling can be a sign of teething, or it can suggest an ear infection. My DS does it quite a bit at the moment when he's tired, but he has had a tooth cut through in the last few days.

He had his first come through around 5 months. I think the first couple of teeth coming through are the worst: after that, they seem to get a bit better.

Maybe worth trying not putting her in her cot for daytime sleeps for a few days, use the buggy instead. Sometimes you need to break a pattern that started because of something like teething. I agree that it could be an ear issue, my sister always suffered at night when her ears were blocked, something to do with lying down. Get them checked just in case.

She's not playing up at 5mo so don't worry about that. That all starts later She's crying to tell you something, tricky bit is figuring out what...

If the nurofen worked, teething or earache is likely. If you don't want to give nurofen every night, try Chamomilla (also sold as Nelson's Teething Salts I think). Anbesol is also good for numbing the gums.

As for how long it might go on for... I think he is very unusual in this but DS started teething at 9 weeks old and screamed nightly with the pain until he cut his first tooth at 10mo

Lying down makes it feel much worse for them which is why she may be fussing at nap time too. I didn't want to give painkillers every night either and tried everything else first but in the end it was the difference between hours of crying and falling straight to sleep!

I checked it out with my paediatrician dsis and she assured me that babies are given far bigger doses of paracetamol and ibuprofen in hospital over the long term and it doesn't harm them. Do your own research and try other things first if you're not comfortable with giving the painkillers but equally don't feel bad if you do end up using them a lot. DS needed it most days until his teeth started coming through and I didn't like it but thought it was better than him suffering.

Long bedtimes are painful, you have my sympathy. Hope you get sorted soon :)

Have you tried moving bedtime earlier? My dd is a nightmare to settle if she goes to bed late, a dream if she's on time (7pm). Could be that your little one is tired.