How do you know if it's teething?

[noblegiraffe]

My five month old has been a nightmare the last few nights, waking up pretty much after 45 minutes every time he goes to sleep and crying. Sometimes he is waking 10 minutes after he is put down asleep. I thought it might be teething so I have put bonjela on his gums a few times but it doesn't seem to have made any difference - still waking and crying even 5 minutes after I've applied it.

The only thing that reliably settles him is feeding him back to sleep, so I've just been doing this, but obviously I would like him to sleep a bit longer.

Could it still be teething despite bonjela having no effect? If not, why is he waking up crying? There doesn't seem to be anything else wrong with him.

I've not tried Calpol because I'm not sure he's actually in pain.

Any ideas?

If he's being put down fast asleep and waking after 45 minutes, it sounds to me like he's rousing after 1 sleep cycle, isn't sure where he is, or why you aren't cuddling him any more, and screams because he is worried.

When I put DD down for sleep, I feed her to sleep, but rouse her just enough as I put her into her cot that she looks round sleepily and 'clocks' where she is. Then when she rouses after her first sleep cycle, she knows where she is and goes back off to sleep.

The other thing is, I read somewhere (No cry nap solution, possibly) that they can take 5-10 minutes to move from one sleep cycle to the next, so they may wake and cry for a few mins, but still fall asleep on their own. May be worth trying it to see if it works.

DD is fine overnight with staying asleep longer than 45 mins, but naps are only ever 45 minutes long.

Hope this helps.

Noblegiraffe - it could be teething. Bonjela doesn't always have an effect - didn't on mine. Is he drooling in the day (constant wet chin) or got a snuffly nose?

Or could be that he's starting to develop a bit of seperation anxiety. Doesn't understand why you are not there when he wakes up and then sucks for comfort?

I've been through many sleep phases with my now 18m ds and can say from experience that most things sort themselves out. It could be a week or two week or monthly blip, but they will eventually go back to normal.

I would say that ime teething pain would mean that your ds would be thrashing around even when you've picked him up. Does he stop crying the minute you pick him up? If so, then its more about seperation than pain.

hth

Thanks for your comments. I don't think he's teething as last night I went all out with Calpol, teething powders, bonjela and he still woke up crying after 45 minutes. I left him and he got himself back to sleep after 10 minutes, but then woke again 10 minutes later. Shushed and patted him back to sleep, then he woke 45 minutes later and absolutely howled. I picked him up but he was inconsolable so I ended up feeding him back to sleep. Then he was up again 45 minutes later so I thought it might be separation anxiety, so I brought him into bed and slept with him for the rest of the night and he still kept waking up crying every sleep cycle and wouldn't go back to sleep till I'd fed him (sucking mostly not proper feeding).

It's all a bit of a mess, I'm running out of things to try.

When my DD started teething she was pretty much the same as you're describing in terms of sleeping for an hour or so and then waking. When she was awake she would grunt in her cot instead of cry which was her way of dealing with the pain. We used Calpol but this had no effect. My friend recommended using Colprofen aswell as Calpol and when we did she went straight back to sleeping almost through the night.

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I think that there are 2 stages to teething. The first being when the teeth are moving around in the gums and the 2nd when they are cutting through. I don't think that Bonjela helps with this first stage, but is really good with the second so it might be worth giving Calpol another go. This obviously depends on your view of giving drugs to babies but I had the opinion of, let's try it because I don't want my DD to be in pain.

It could be teething - my DS woke every hour last night and his top front tooth is on its way down but not cutting through yet. He was awake much of the night before and would cry if alone but if held or fed would be comforted.

I think different babies behave differently with teething. I just had him on and off the boob all night in bed with me as I had to get what sleep I could as I was working today. I know he will settle down again (to his former ways) when the tooth stops bothering him.

No advice really, but my DD is 5 months too. At around 4 months, she had a phase like this. Coincided with a cold and ended with 2 teeth popping through. Now, after a couple of weeks of good sleep, it seems to have started again. Again coinciding with a cold. In our case, bringing her to bed with us works for the last part of the night/ morning. Interesting thoughts about separation though - my DD only wants mummy at the moment and cries if anyone else has her. She tends to stop crying the instant I pick her up!
I'm feeling better about it this time round as it sorted itself out previously.

It could well be teething. Both my girls got teeth early but my 2nd suffered terribly with it. Really bad sleepless nights. Waking several times or being awake for hours. Still waiting for the last 4 to come through.

If the bonjela doesn't seem to help maybe try something else like teething granules. We used an amber teething necklace which seemed to help. Some helpful tips here wp.me/pFWj1-5D

Good luck hope it gets easier.

It could well be teething. Both my girls got teeth early but my 2nd suffered terribly with it. Really bad sleepless nights. Waking several times or being awake for hours. Still waiting for the last 4 to come through.

If the bonjela doesn't seem to help maybe try something else like teething granules. We used an amber teething necklace which seemed to help. Some helpful tips here wp.me/pFWj1-5D

Good luck hope it gets easier.

if he is generally a good sleeper then it is prob teething. if he is generally a bad sleeper then it prob isnt teething, just another phase where you need to teach him how to sleep!