Teething pain cause of wakings?

[lukegwsmom]

My 10mo old(tomorrow) has been night waking and waking up early in the morning for almost 2weeks now.  He is getting his molars, I think, but there is no sign of the teeth breaking the surface.  Just the pain, occasional fever, chewing/biting on EVERYTHING!  When he wakes at night, he is fairly easy to get back to sleep...he just needs a little soothing.  In the morning we can't seem to get him to go back to sleep.  He usually wakes at 7:30, but has been waking anytime between 5 and 6:30.  If we are able to get him back to sleep, it is usually for no more than 5 or 10 min. 
I am afraid it is becoming a habit.  We have tried wake to sleep if he wakes at the same time 2 days in a row, with no luck.  We have also tried giving him Tylenol and teething gel.  He refuses both, and will cry until we get him up.
Any ideas?
Thanks, Meagan

[momofclaire]

Meagan,
Can you post what his day looks like? 
Teething can really do a number on sleep but I think the early waking is probably due to a routine issue.  It seems that many babies start early waking around six months and again around the time they are preparing to switch from one to two naps. 
What do you do in the night to soothe him?  Is he really crying for you?  Do you find that it is teething pain or something else that wakes him?

[lukegwsmom]

Sorry...I guess that would be helpful!
Our routine:
5-7 Wake up(try to get him back to sleep. might be in and out of sleep for a few min., but usually will start crying until DH gets him out of crib.)
7:00 Out of crib(Quietly play w/DH)
7:30 BF
8:15 Breakfast
9:20 Wind down/sleep routine
9:45 - 11/11:30 Sleep
11:30 BF
1:00 lunch
1:30 or 2 Wind down(depending on what time he wakes from am nap)
2:30ish - 4 Sleep
4:00 BF
5:45 Dinner
6:15 Bath
6:45 BF
7:00 In crib
7-8 Asleep

He has a hard time falling asleep for pm nap and bedtime.  This is why the time varies.

When he wakes at night, he sometimes will settle down himself and go back to sleep and sometimes he will scream.  When he screams it sounds like a painful/I need you cry, so DH will go in, lay him back down, give him his binky, and hold his hand until he is back asleep.  This usually only takes about 5min, but last night DH got him back to sleep in about 10min, made a bit of noise getting back into bed and LO woke up again, then got him back to sleep about 10/15min later.

I think the waking is teething pain, but I'm not sure.  He also woke early from pm nap this afternoon.  I also think this is from teething pain.  All he wanted was to go back to sleep and to suck on my finger...something he wants to do all day when he is teething.  I let him suck on my finger for a min then put his binky back in his mouth and got him to go back to sleep 15min later...then he woke up 8min later, same thing to get him back to sleep 7min later only to sleep for another 15min.   

Thanks for your help,Meagan

[momofclaire]

So does he sleep much between 5-7? 
You routine looks ok.  I think your am nap might be a little early but if he is mostly awake between 5-7 he is probably tired.  Have you tried giving him tylenol or motrin before bed to see if that helps.  I like Motrin better as it lasts longer and ibuprofen is meant to help swelling pain.
One other thing...do you think the paci is a problem?  Does he usually replace it himself? With all this going on I would attempt to put him to bed earlier at night.  Try putting him to bed 1/2 an hour earlier and see if he resists sleep less and sleep better overnight.
Myia

[lukegwsmom]

No. If he wakes that early, it usually takes us a really long time to get him back to sleep only for him to sleep 10/15 min.  This goes on until we get him up.  The last two days we've had him asleep by 7:30 and he has slept until 6:20/30.  It's not 12 hrs, but it's better.
We have tried giving him Tylenol before bed, with no luck, but not Motrin.  For some reason our ped only wants us to use Tylenol.  Is Motrin just as safe?  I will call tomorrow and try this.

I don't think paci is a problem?  He usually falls asleep with it, but then spits it out and we take it out of crib(maybe we should leave it?).  If he wakes he will find his thumb and use that to sooth himself...when he sooths himself.  If we have to go in to sooth him, we usually replace it for him since we took it out of crib.
We'll try the earlier bedtime tomorrow.  DH just got him to sleep for tonight!  Tonight and the past two nights he has gone to sleep within 20min and has been asleep by 7:30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meagan

[momofclaire]

I do think getting him to bed a little earlier will help.  It seems to be working so far.  I would leave the paci in the crib and I wouldn't be putting it in his mouth at this age. It looks as if you have done well be not letting it become a prop so you don't want that to happen now.
I am not a medical professional so I don't really want to speak to the saftey of Motrin.  My ped said we could give either for pain and we have.  I would check with your doctor about this as he/she knows the history of your child.

Keep me posted. 
Myia

[lukegwsmom]

Myia -
Good News!
Only one NW last night!  It was exactly one hour after he went to bed.  All that I had to do was put my hand on his tummy.  We did not take his paci out of the crib, so I made sure he knew it was near him.  He cried for a little longer than he normally would have if we gave him the paci, but he eventually found his thumb, rolled over and went to sleep about 5min after I went in his room!!!!!  Yeah!  So he slept from 7:30-8:25, then 8:30 to 6:15.
At 6:15, he woke up and cried out, but settled himself back down.  We did not go in to his room and he settled in about 5min.

Now the bad news... he woke back up at 6:40 and was crying hard!  DH went in to try to get him back to sleep and realized that he had pooped!  So DH had to get him up to change his diaper.  He was crying so hard that DH did not want to lay him back down.

I guess not bad overall 7:30-6:40 with 10min of wake time between?

Do you think I should try wake to sleep again?  If so, what time should I wake him?  The past few days he has been waking somewhere between 6:15 and 6:40.

Thanks again,
Meagan

[momofclaire]

I actually think you should give the early bedtime a chance to sort things out.  Waking about 45 min after going to bed is a sign of overtiredness as if early waking.  Of course waking because of poop will just happen occasionally.    I would try to put him to bed tonight at about 6:45.  Now that he is waking a little later you can try adjusting bedtime so that he is in bed about 12 hours after he wakes for the day.  I wouldn't do wake to sleep yet, like I said, it sometimes takes a week to get things really sorted out. 
How is his daytime nap?

I am so glad things are getting better. 

[lukegwsmom]

OK!  We'll stick to the early bed time, but I have some questions.
First off...our naps
I JUST got him to sleep for his pm nap at 3:30.  He took a great am nap, went right down and slept for almost 2hrs...9:40-11:30!  So he should have gone down for his pm nap by 2:30, but he had other plans for us   He ate lunch at 1:30, we started our wind down at 2:05 and I had him in his crib by 2:15...that's when the fun started.  He was fine at first, just having a hard time settling...as usual.  He started standing up and playing.  I laid him back down and told him it was nap time and I was going in the other room to let him settle down.  He played for 10min, then started crying.  I went back in, laid him back down and he started to go to sleep, but then rolled over, stood up, and started playing again...so I did the same thing.  When he started crying this time, I went back in, laid him down, and again he tried to go to sleep, but then started CRYING HYESTARICLY AND STANDING UP.  I would lay him back down when he stood up, which made him more mad then when I tried laying him down he would collapse in my arms and fling himself backwards.  It was AWFUL!!!  I thought he was going to break his neck flinging himself.  I was trying to catch him and lay him down gently...wasn't working so well.  He finally stopped standing, then slowly stopped crying, then FINALLY fell asleep

Sooo...my questions:
Should I still put him to bed at 6:45, even though he didn't take his pm nap until 3:30?
Should I wake him from this nap by a certain time so he goes to sleep at 6:45?
Should I put him down at 6:45 or try to have him asleep by 6:45?

Sorry this is so long!  I really appreciate your help!

[momofclaire]

Do you think maybe he is begining the transition to one nap?  I would maybe limit the morning nap to about an hour and see if that helps him take to the pm nap better.  Has he been resisting this nap for a while or just today?  How long was his pm nap? At his age he probably only needs about 3 hours of daytime sleep so if he sleeps 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the afternoon he will be getting too much. 
Remember that the biggest key to Tracy's advice is to watch your babies cues.  If he is simply to awake to put down at 6:45 give him a few minutes.  When Claire has a late nap I generally take her outside for some good running around to make sure she is tired by bedtime. 
If he is up at 6:45 I would aim to have his head hit the pillow at 6:45. 

[lukegwsmom]

He might be getting ready for one nap, but not quite yet.  Most of the time he does resist pm nap, but if he doesn't take it he is EXHAUSTED and CRANKY.  Which makes dinner and bath difficult and then he will fall asleep BF.
pm nap yesterday was 3:30-4:40, (3hrs total nap time) which made putting him down at 6:45 impossible!  I knew he wasn't tired yet, but I talked myself into trying anyways...I hate when I don't listen to my instincts!!!  It wasn't easy and he didn't fall asleep until 8:15...then woke at 9:15 back to sleep at 9:25.  He first woke at 6:30 this am, then was in and out of sleep until 6:50 when he started crying.

What do you think of this...
He went down for am nap at 9:45.  Let him sleep until 11.  Then pm nap at 2:15/2:30-4.  Then have him in bed by 6:50/7.  Then hopefully he will be tired enough to go to sleep by 7:30.  I think the key to getting him into bed early is to make sure he has enough A time between pm nap and bed.

[momofclaire]

I think you can even limit the morning nap to one hour if you like and then try for a 2-3:30/4 afternoon nap (wake at 4) and then bed by 7:00  You are right about needing to have a good enough A time before bed.  Overall your plan sounds good.  Be sure to do a good windown with him and pay attention to his cues.  If one night he seems a bit more or less tired go with it.  I like the idea of a window bedtime (6:45-7:15) because it causes you to pay attention to the cues you are getting instead of the clock. 
Keep me posted. 

[lukegwsmom]

how do I know if he is ready for 1 nap?  we are always fighting over this pm nap...which we are doing now.  Had him down at 2:00, it is 2:40 and no sign of sleep.  I think he is tired and then I lay him down and all of a sudden he is WIDE awake.  I'm sure this is messing everything else up to.
Sorry to vent

[momofclaire]

Venting is welcomed here.   
I am pretty sure at 10 months he is not ready for one nap, but he is probably on his way.  I wouldn't even attempt only one nap now as he will most certainly become an overtired mess.
What did the entire day look like? Come back and let me know how bedtime went ok?
It will get better, I promise.
Myia

[lukegwsmom]

Thanks Myia!
Just when I think I can't take it anymore, he does something good
Crazy day yesterday!  I was on the phone yesterday am, and was not able to wake him after an hour for am nap   So he slept for 1.5hrs, 9:45 - 11:15.
He never wound up taking his pm nap.  We tried for 1.5hrs and it just was NOT happening.  I finally got him up, BF, and went about our day.  He was a little needy, wanted to be held, but not too cranky.  He made it thru dinner and bath and did not fall asleep BF.  We were able to do our bedtime routine and he was asleep in 10min...at 6:50pm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He had two night wakings.  First one at 10:15 -10:20/25, second one at 11:30-11:34, DH had to go in for both.  Then he slept until 7:00am and woke in a GOOD mood, which he has not done in a while!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   He might have slept longer if DH had not dropped a pan in the kitchen, but I'm not complaining...12hrs..YEAH!!!!!!!!!  I don't want to jinx it though

What do you think?  He does do everything a little early, so maybe he is starting to only need one nap???

So far today:
7:00 wake
7:00-7:20 played and talked to self in crib
7:30 BF
8:30 Breakfast
9:40 Wind down
10 asleep
7