Some advice please re: 18 month NW

[parmar1]

Hi all - I have posted a number of times regarding my LO NW's - I wont go into huge amount of detail, however, she is getting up quite frequently throughout the night...we have ditched the night time bottles (yay)...and I dont think she is missing them at all.
The problem is when she wakes at night, she sounds abit windy (often farts whilst screaming/crying) and I know for a fact that she does eat during the day really really fast and doesnt always chew her food properly (like her daddy) - we are still waiting for bottom molars and canines to come through - although her gums do look slightly swollen...my question, do you think that she is getting a tummy ache from not chewing her food properly - I wonder how she can possibly only chew some chicken abit and then swallow without getting a tummy ache - iukwim

I might be completely off track - but just checking

Her rountine is
wake - 7
nap - 12.30 - until 2
sleep - 7/7.30


Any advice welcome

thanx
xx

[*Becky*]

bumping up

[katie80]

My DD (18.5 mo) also doesn't chew her food very well.  I asked our ped about it at her 18 mo appt and basically her advice was to keep waiting for all her teeth to come in (has all her molars, but only two eye teeth and no canines) and give her foods she has to chew, like crackers (great diet!).  Not so helpful, huh?  We usually just encourage her by singing silly songs; 'bite and chew, bite and chew.'  Doesn't always work, but she seems to be getting a little better.

I also hear/feel DD fart in the middle of a NW, but I'd more likely credit it to the crying/screaming.  I believe they still swallow air during that.  I could be wrong, though.  Maybe it's worth a try to do a few days of changing her diet and see if that makes a difference.  It looks like her routine is right on track.  It could be those bottom molars too.  They were tough for us!

[~*Nicole*~]

If she's really windy it probably has more to do with the types of food she's eating as opposed to not chewing well enough. If you're worried about the chewing, I'd try to cut all of her food up really really small. That way it doesn't take much chewing anyway. Maybe try stearing clear of gassy foods anytime after lunch. A lot of veggies and legumes contribute to being excessively gassy. Check out this list: http://ibs.about.com/od/ibsfood/a/GassyFoods.htm

Is she on milk? Does she still take a bottle before bed? You said she's off nighttime bottles I just didn't know if you had the bedtime one as part of your bedtime routine still. If so, maybe only have milk at dinner and offer water or very diluted juice before bed if she needs a "drink" before bedtime.

The teething could definitely be the trouble. Molars are pretty bad and canines are worse! If you think that's the culprit try doing before bedtime meds and middle of the night meds.

Has she always taken only the 1.5 hour nap?

[parmar1]

Hi
Katie - I might try the sing song of bite, chew etc - anything to encourage her to chew properly
Yeah I'll also try and change her diet and see how she gets on -she does have swollen gums where the bottom molars look like they are on their way - it can take months though...
Nicole-Ava's mom - she does have a bedtime bottle half hour before bed, just after her bath and just before story and bed - so may try and give that earlier and see if it makes a difference.
Teething has been a nightmare for my LO - every tooth has caused NW's - so perhaps we're back there until all the molars come through...
She used to take 2 hour naps when I first switch - 2-1 - but for about 3 months she has been doing 1.5 hours and seems fairly ok with that - I do often get her into bed 6.30 if she seems tired or hasnt napped properly...its always hard to know what to do - do you think she should be napping for more?

[~*Nicole*~]

It depends on the LO but I was wondering if she was short napping b/c she was teething and having NWs and therefore a bit OT. So it is a possibility that she needs a longer nap and maybe some shorter A times to compensate for all that's going on at the moment.

[Roseii]

Hey just to say my 18mo does not chew her food properly! She only has the front 8 teeth at the mo, am hoping some more teeth might help her chew better! She doesn't seem to have any trouble with food at all but boy does it go in her mouth and straight into her belly quickly! I have never considered whether that could affect her NWs, I will tag along here if you don't mind.
Congrats on ditching the night bottles

[katie80]

Ok, after your last post, I definitely think it's teething, and probably not the gas.  My LO is the same.  We always get NWs with teeth, whether she's OT or not.  And I think that would also make sense for swallowing more air during the day and some gas at night, as they're always chewing on things.  If she has a runny nose with teething at all, that won't help either (lots of mouth breathing). 

It may still be worthwhile to try some of the food/milk suggestions just to make sure, and keep encouraging chewing.  But my gut says teeth!