Does WI/WO work for spirited toddlers?

[roimata9]

I'm really at the end of my tether! My 13 month old has been a good independent sleeper, he was sleeping through more nights than not, however he had a tummy bug recently and started cutting molars and that's thrown everything out the window.
Last night he screamed from 6:30pm-11:30pm I didn't leave him for more than 15 seconds, but even going in and picking him up didn't seem to settle him. He currently has a viral infection of the intestines and is passing a lot of gas, which I think is really uncomfortable for him. I've given him pain meds but they don't seem to help. After falling asleep at 11:30 he then woke every hour and then was up at 6am.
I know that he's in pain right now - what do other people with spirited babies do when they are like this?
Normally I can get him to sleep by rocking, going for a drive or feeding him if he's teething or otherwise disturbed, but he's not having a bar of even the APOPs!
Everyone is telling me to do CIO - which I don't want to do. I've tried PU/PD, as he stands up in his cot and wails, but hugging him around the side of the cot doesn't soothe him.
I'd love to hear from anyone with a spirited toddler to find out what works for them - I'm feeling pretty desperate here.
His EASY for what it's worth before all this happened was
WU 6:30
A 2.5
Nap 9-10
A 3 hours
Nap 1-3
A 4 hours
BT 7

[becj86]

When teething molars, things have gone out the window for us a bit too, DS still settles to sleep himself but wakes a few times at night - I just breastfeed him and pop him back in bed.

With the gas, it can be excrutiating for them and that's the only time DS has ever been up for hours on end. No pain meds would touch it, we did find that holding him with his head on my chest and his legs bent (tucked up to his chest), basically in fetal position but with his head on my chest helped him settle - the pressure on his belly seemed to help with the gas pain and I have slept on the couch with him in that position before as he couldn't sleep any other way. TBH, nurofen (ibuprofen) actually made the gas a lot worse - a rare side effect as I discovered when I looked it up... (I think it may have been the cause but don't know for certain).

I can't believe people tell you to leave him to CIO while he's ill and teething! Poor little man

Spiriteds tend to feel more intensely which makes these things all the worse and honestly, I just give him all the TLC he needs and get him back on track when he's better. I know he's been an independent sleeper before and he goes back to that really quickly with little if any retraining now.

FWIW, WIWO did work for us with our spirited DS - used it for about 3 days to get him back on track.

Hugs. Its hard when LO is in pain and not sleeping

[Bex09]

Hi there, totally agree with Becky that your LO will need all the TLC he can get when teething or not well and you can get back on track later. My DD is an awful teether and it always upsets her sleep. But she always gets back on track quickly once she is feeling better. For what it is worth though WIWO never worked for our spirited DD, we always use GW instead. WIWO was just too stimulating for her and she would literally meltdown with the frustration and anger of us keep WO. She is so determined though and I would always cave before she did because she would sob as if she was heartbroken and I couldn't take it. We still use GW method of sitting by her cot or door now if she won't settle due to teeth or illness, it rarely lasts more than a night or two. Hope he is better soon.

[roimata9]

Thanks so much for your replies.
I was gobsmacked at the CIO suggestions too. And it was from a govt 24hr phone line for help with babies (plunketline for you NZers) too. Good thing they were talking to DH or I would have given them an earful. We were after advice for how to relieve his pain so he could sleep, not how to leave him to suffer alone!
I've tried doing the fetal position on my chest too, but he writhes around when he's in pain, he keeps throwing himself backwards then jerking his knees up, so I'm not sure what to do there. When he's like that he wil BF, but once he pops off will then writhe and scream again.
Very interesting about the nurofen, we've been giving him that a lot at night for his teeth. I might skip it tonight and see how he goes.
Last night wasn't so bad. He went to sleep at 6:30 woke at 7:20 screaming, screamed for an hour before we decided to take him for a drive and he fell asleep in car, slept to 3:30 awake til 4:30 (he finally calmed enough for me to feed him) then slept til 8am.
Bex, does you rLO settle when you are by her cot? My boy just seems to scream no matter what

[becj86]

I've tried doing the fetal position on my chest too, but he writhes around when he's in pain, he keeps throwing himself backwards then jerking his knees up, so I'm not sure what to do there.

Same behaviour here but if I held him still in fetal for a minute, he'd realise it was more comfy Hate having to restrain him but the other option at the time was pretty much that I'd drop him because he was thrashing so much. Same issue with the BF Also found that he screamed blue murder if I did bicycle legs and tummy massage to help the gas along but it did help get the gas out.

It took a few days for the gas to subside after I stopped the nurofen - about 3 days I think. Panadol (pamol?) doesn't seem to do as much for the teething here but it takes the edge off just enough to make a difference to sleep - not great, but better. Nurofen was like a magic elixir the first night we used it. Pity it causes such terrible gas for DS. Hope it isn't the culprit for your guy! but worth a try.

My boy just seems to scream no matter what

This is why we did WIWO - he was being disturbed by our presence (cries escalated when we went in) but seemed to need the reassurance we'd come if he needed us. Not sure WIWO will work while he's in pain though.