Help..I'm going crazy!!

[cathncait]

I seriously feel like I can't take anymore. DD is 11 1/2 months old now and is capable of sleeping through the night as she has done it many times thanks to CC when about 8 months. But every single time she has a teething niggle or is ill (even just slightly) she starts waking up again. She now has 6 teeth and since 7 1/2 months when she got the first its pratically been one every 3 weeks. So I do some CC to get her back on track, it lasts a week and then we go through it again. I have tried just patting her, cuddling her and eventually after being awake for 2 hours (which is what happens EVERY time she wakes) feeding her. And even today the feeding didn't work. By the time we got to 5.30am (started at 3.30) I gave up and got her up . She then played very happily till 7.45 when I put her back to bed where she went straight to sleep. I feel like its a waste of time with the cc since I just have to keep doing it over and over and I hate hearing her cry like that (she sometimes gets quite distressed).

She sleeps great during the day and outs herself to sleep then no worries. What am I doing wrong?? I am so frustrated and upset (I also have a bad cold at the moment too). If anyone has any advice I would be really grateful.

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thanks sb. I try to remember that it will like everything, pass but its not just the tething thats like this. Shes still wakes up for 2 hours arounf 3-4am even after the teeth are through.Mostly out of habit I think. Dh is willing to help but dd won't have hime at night only wants me. Still I should try and get a lie (unfortuneatly he's working today ) it is only 8.25am here so its all still pretty fresh. I've been up since 3.30am so am feeling a bit emotional. Thanks for the support

Poor cathncait - it's rough loosing your precious sleep. Here's what worked for us:

A dose of Calpol (or baby Nurofen, depending on which child) last thing at night during periods when we knew his or her sleep was likely to be disturbed. Another dose middle of the night if absolutely necessary.
Any night-wakings dealt with in as dark a room as we could manage, and without taking ds/dd out of the cot if possible.
Only ever giving water to drink during the night.
Using controlled crying principles again as soon as possible after the worst of the illness/teething was over.

Sometimes cc works quickly, you think you've cracked it, then darling starts up again - you've got to keep going with the cc in that case, however rough it feels. DD doesn't understand yet that you're only going to help her at night while she's under the weather, and not otherwise. She's too young of course, but with consistency on your part she may even learn to comfort herself again after a waking when she is ill - our ds did.

Good luck, and come online to offload. A crying baby is hard work, we all sympathise!

Just a vote for the camomila homeopathic stuff, works a treat on babies really hysteriacal went trough packets of the stuff. Also for really extreme cases I have occasionally given Neurofen and calpol together (mainly for the biggies at the back) only when necessary though.

Teething is a nightmare and dare I say it it will pass

thanks so much for the practical advice. We have decided to get really serious and and tough on dd again. We have realised that we got slack and so here goes again.....she screamed last night for 2 hours! and was awake from 3.30 till 6.15. Then slept till 9am. It was awful but I guess we'll get there, and now that we've started theres no going back...there is no way I will waste that! thanks again for listening, its nice to know I'm not alone.

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thanks so much for asking sb34 - its great to know someones thinking about us...things have improved no end. We got really tough on the poor little buggar and shes done really well. Only one horror night of crying for 2 hours and then nothing. I was still feeding her to sleep for her night sleep (not during day) and I stoppped that too which has helped a lot too I think. Of course she's waking up at 5-5.30am (I don't get her up till about 6) but honestly I am happy with that. She does go to bed at 6.30 pm so thats a pretty long sleep. I feel sooooooooo relieved! 3 nights in a row!!
Thanks again!