Help with 15 month DD teething at night

[alohahellokitty]

I'm 6 months pregnant and our little girl is doing BEAUTIFULLY putting herself to sleep. We have her on a great schedule and we just walk into her room.. sing her a 'night night' song.. and lay her down with her bear.. She then puts herself to sleep....

Well we went on a vacation and she started teething so I brought her to bed with me (b/c we were in a small apartment of my Sister's who just had a baby). So I was trying to keep her quite and just brought her to bed with me. Its the first time I've ever done it and I only did it 2 nights out of 7 that we were there. I'm not sure if it was teething or scared b/c she didn't know where we were at.

Anyway, she's definetly teething and it took over a hr. to get her to sleep tonight!! We gave her tylenol and oragel before she went to bed. And she just screamed bananas when we tried to put her down.. She held on to us to tight each time we tried to put her down. So after wi/wo didn't work we just held her for about a hr before we laid her down. Then we had to keep our hand on her for a few min's while she went to sleep....

What do I need to do to give her comfort but not get off track? I need help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks

[becky1969]

First off, don't you just love BW? Isn't it lovely to have a routine where you say "Night-night!" to your child and leave! 

I'm wondering if teeth are making her both clingy and perhaps more tired than usual.  It's not uncommon for children to need less A time while teething.  She's about the right age to be getting in those AWFUL cursed canines which are evil, evil, evil.  Those hurt more than any others, even the molars, and lots of kids are affected in unexpected ways by those teeth.

Can you post your current routine in EAS format and maybe we can see if shorter As might help.  That clinging and not wanting to go to bed may be a combo of feeling out of sorts from teeth and being wound up from the OT monster.

[alohahellokitty]

Thanks sooooooooooooooooooo much for your reply!!!!!!!!!! Here's our routine

6:30-7am Wake
E 7-7:30
A whenever done with breakfast until 9-10am, whenever showing signs of being tired
S for a hour usually from when she went down
E 11:30am lunch
A whenever done with lunch until 1-1:30 whenever tired
S for a hour or hour and a half
E snack after nap
A until dinner time
E 4:30pm dinner
A from dinner until bedtime
S bedtime can be anywhere from 6:20-7pm whenever showing signs of being tired

YES these are her canines that are coming through!!!!!!!!! And I want to give her comfort and take care of her... but don't want to 'ruin' her schedule and sleep training!! I'm the luckiest mom ever b/c she's soooooooooooooo easy!!! For naps and night time I just sing her a night night song and then give her a special bear and put her in bed.. I have friends who spend over a hour getting their kids to sleep every night/naps!!

But with that being said I want to be able to reassure her and give her ALL the comfort I can through this rough patch.

Tonight I did give her tylenol and oragel a hour before bedtime... and that seemed to help a bit but she was still pretty frantic.

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[becky1969]

I think you may want to move nap earlier. For a 15 month old 6.5-7 hours of A time is an AWFUL lot, which is why I think you're only getting 1-1.5 hours of nap.  I'd try a 12:30 nap and see how that goes.

Your bedtime is only about 3-3.5 hours post nap!  That maybe too early, believe it or not! I think I'd try 4 hours post nap and see how that goes.  She may be protesting b/c she's not tired plus she's hurting and she's just kind of mad at y'all for trying to put her to bed then!

For NWs while teething -- comfort her.  Don't worry about getting her off her routine. That's just what happens when a child is sick or in pain.  Since it sounds like she's been a good sleeper for a long time she'll get back there again! But for now let's give her the comfort  she needs.  I think if she feels cared for and taken care of you may see her protest/freak out less -- right now she's really trying to get your attention saying "Hey! I'm hurtin' here! DO something!" 


Those canines are AWFUL.  Kids who have breezed thru the other teeth will often go bananas over the cannes.  Those puppies are sharp! So def. medicate -- even before nap if you want -- and see if that helps. 

Earlier nap and later bedtime and let's talk after a couple of days!

[alohahellokitty]

She does have a morning nap around 9am or so.. can be more like 9:30-10am if she wakes up later in the morning...

Do you still think the 2nd nap is too late?
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[becky1969]

Yes, I think you don't have enough A time post nap.

I also think she may be getting a bit too much daytime sleep or else her naps are too close together.  At this age A nap at 9 for an hour and then another at 1:30 for 1.5 hours is more like what we see at 12 months.  that first nap is only about 3 hours after waking, which is basically what we see at 7-8 months old!  If you don't push that nap out, you'll never move to 1 nap.  I suspect this could be starting to cause problems elsewhere.  Plus, like I said, bedtime is only 3-3.5 hours post nap.  Again, that's what we see around 8-9 months! A child this age should be able to handle more like 4.5-5 hours between sleep periods.

So I'd start slowly moving that first nap out.  In fact, my guess is you could probalby push it quicker than the typical 10-15 min every 2 days that we usually advise.  Experiment! See how long you can get her to go! She sounds like an angel/textbook, so she probably shows sleepy signs at her normal nap time rather than when she's truly tired.  If you have to, gently distract her to stretch.


Let's try to get this routine going:

7 am wake

10:30 nap (30 min and wake up)
11:00 awake

2:30 nap (1.5 hours)
4:00 awake

8 pm bedtime


What we're trying to do is slowly move that AM nap later; at the same time we shorten it so that PM nap pretty much stays at the same time.  Once AM nap is at around 11:30 we can just jump to 1 nap!

[hjrmom01]

Hi alohahellokitty, I just want to say I know what you are are going through.  We are in the same boat.  H is 12.5 months and teething and I'm so afraid of him getting OT.  We've backed his A time way down to 3 hrs, that worked for a long time but all of the sudden we're back to NW and screaming at naps.  Becky has been a gem helping me but I feel so afraid of pushing him and getting more OT.  How are things going for you?

[alohahellokitty]

Becky,

Thanks soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!! I will try that tomorrow!!! Last night she did stay up a little later... she went to bed a little before 8pm (she was with my parents and she always has so much fun and doesn't want to go to bed). Then she woke around 7:20 am... which really gives me time to get ready in the morning and do a few chores. Tonight she barely made it to 7:15pm... she just got so cranky we put her down.. But I see that with this new schedule I need to try to stretch her to 8pm. I will start that tomorrow.

She is getting MUCH better about going down for naps/night time... I think it was a combo of accidental parenting (from the vacation where I had to keep her quite at night.. so I brought her to bed with me for the FIRST time EVER!!) and also teething. I believe the teething is a bit better now.. We are ALMOST back to our norm... where I just sing her a song (30 seconds), give her a bear and lay her down.. She's almost there.. Probably by tomorrow we'll be back there!!! yippee!!!!!!!

So here's the question.... What do I do when she's back on course and starts teething again?? How do I comfort without 'ruining' where we are???

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!! I APPRECIATE IT SOOOO MUCH!!!!

Hjrmom01- I sure hope your little guy keeps doing good, and starts getting better!! I know the OT stuff can make you about NUTS!!! ......... We are improving... thank god!!!!!!

[hjrmom01]

Alohahellokitty (sorry, don't know your name) What teeth are your lo cutting?  Did she cut way down in A time? Just curious to hear what Becky says about when teething starts again, what to do.

[becky1969]

When they're teething all bets are off.  We always comfort our children when sick or teething.  Yes, it can mean some AP starts happening.  But usually once that's over they either go right back to old routines, or can be sleep trained back in a matter of a few days.  It's just best to offer them the comfort as when you don't it often causes MORE sleep troubles rather than fewer. 

[alohahellokitty]

Becky,
Thanks soooooooooooo much!! Good to know so I'll be prepared for next time.

hjrmom01,
She's finished cutting her canine........ so we are good for now....... until next time.


By the way....... she is BACK ON TRACK NOW!!!!! Just like old times!!

[becky1969]

Great!

[alohahellokitty]

Just a update on my DD... I think you were SOOOOOOOOOOOo right.. The schedule just didn't fit!! So now I've adjusted it as you've said.. Its not quite there but getting closer. We now do a much later bedtime around 7:30 or so and it seems to go much better!! Thanks for all your help!!!