What on earth is going on???

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

Hi ladies - hope everyone is well!

DS is 15 months old and he has been acting a little abnormal (for him) lately.  He seems REALLY tired right before dinner time (cranky, clingy etc), doesn't eat well at dinner, and then cries during the bedtime routine until I am reading to him.  Since he has seemed so tired (despite normal night sleep and above average (for him) daytime naps), I've been putting him down earlier the past few nights (BT is usually 7:30, these past few days, he's been falling asleep before 7).  Tonight he fell asleep by 6:40 and then started screaming at 7:15.  I went in and patted him and he was back down by 7:30.  Not sure what's going to happen tonight.  I medicated him for his teeth before bedtime (last night I took a meds break and he groaned on and off all night, but slept over 11 hrs).  

Our normal routine is:
WU - 6am
Breakfast - 8am
Lunch - 11:45am
Nap - 12:30pm
WU 2/2:30pm
Dinner - 6pm
Bedtime routine - 6:45pm, in crib - 7:10pm, asleep by 7:30pm

I don't think he is getting sick since this has been going on since the weekend, but he does have two little points that have poked through where is bottom canines are and I think one on top but can't tell for sure.  I guess it could (still) be his teeth, but he has never been like this with teething (he's had NWs, EWs, etc, but never this excessive crying).  He also had his MMR shot last week.  The doc said that he could have a reaction 5-10 days later (which it is), but he doesn't seem generally unwell the rest of the day.  He has some crying outbursts here and there (especially in his car seat), but I'm not sure it is related.

He actually seems very, very OT to me and I'm not sure how we got here if this is the case.  We were away for 3 nights over 4th  of July weekend and he went to bed about an hr later 2 of those 3 nights, but always got a nap in each day.  He was fine for about 4 days when we came back.  

What do you all think is going on? Teeth? Vaccine? Summer heat? This is breaking my heart to see him this upset.

I'm watching him in the monitor now and he is very restless.

TIA xxxx

[~inbalance~]

Teeth, definitely teeth.  Canines are the worst too, so even if he wasn't that bad with previous teeth these ones are probably bothering him more.  So he has two just cutting and two still to come?  Also, some LOs do seem more tired when they are teething.  We are getting some similar stuff too with DS2 who is 14.5mos old, I think he's got molars and maybe canines on the move too. 

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

Yeah - I think that maybe a top one cut, but can't tell for sure.  Also he has 3 molars but the last molar seems to keep moving up and down.  One day I see white and a blister, the next just red and swollen. 

I am taking him to the doctor this am just in case though.  He cried out every 15-60 minutes last night despite being medicated and then this morning was inconsolable for quite some time.  He kept falling asleep on me and then waking and kicking violently and screaming..we repeated this for 2 hours (I brought him to my bed at 5:15).  He wouldn't allow the thermometer near his ear - so I am wondering if there is a chance he also has an ear infection.  (Although I know no one likes things being stuck in their ears lol).  He really hasn't been eating much lately except purees, but this am drank almost 10 oz of milk.  I'm sure it's the teeth, but just want to be sure nothing else is going on.  I feel so bad for him.

[~inbalance~]

Never hurts to get it checked out, right?  Maybe it's his ears.  Does sound like teeth are causing a heck of a problem though.  FWIW, during really bad bouts of teething, especially the canines, meds did not help at all. 

[babybarr]

Ear infections often go hand in hand with teeth - but my DS would only eat pureed food when he had a sore throat.  How did you get on at dr?

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

Thanks, ladies!

Ugh. Today was bad.  We went to the doc this am and DS's ears were perfectly fine! He did have a temp of 100.1.  Doc said that it was a viral infection, but couldn't pinpoint anything specific since he checked out perfectly fine.  At that point, I was just thinking it was his teeth.  Despite giving Tylenol late this am, he was still screaming.  He slept 1/2 hr in the car on the way home and then took a 2 1/2 hour afternoon nap.  Refused to eat lunch or a snack after his nap and was really lethargic after his nap.  He slumped over in the highchair and was just staring.  We then put him down and he started screaming and was so wobbly when he was walking and very unbalanced. He was making strange faces and then grunting/screaming.  We took his temp a few times and it was 95.5.  I freaked out, called the doc and we went back.  Doc still found nothing (temp was actually 97.9) and did a blood test which showed there was nothing bacterial, so he says it's a viral infection.  

On the way home (the second time around), he seemed to perk up and now he is playing like normal.  I was really scared for a bit when he was acting so weak and lethargic.  He may just be very drained.  He's been acting abnormally tired for at least a week now (not that it has translated into more sleep lol), so maybe it caught up with him.  I'm hoping he'll eat some dinner tonight.  I'm still going to put him down early even though he had a lot of day sleep today.  Now that he's acting ok, I'm not even sure that it is virus and maybe like you ladies suggested his canines and he's not feeling too badly atm.

I am exhausted and feel like crying.  You know how it feels when you are a little sleep deprived, stressed, scared, and worried all at once. I had temporarily convinced myself that he was experiencing a bad reaction to vaccine from last week and would never be the same.  Still feel emotional from that even though I know that's not the case.  (I know I'm a little crazy .

I hope all of these teeth come in soon so they stop wreaking such havoc and at least then I'll know I can rule them out when something is wrong!!  

Thanks for your support, ladies. xxxx

[~inbalance~]

You are not crazy at all!  Huge hugs for you and DS.  It does sound like some funny viral thing.  So often they get them and there isn't anything you can do.  Hope he feels better soon. 

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

Thanks, Martina! He STTN last night, although he wouldn't fall asleep until 8pm and then got up at 6am.  However, he had 3 hrs of day sleep in total yesterday so I'm sure that impacted it.  He seems perfectly fine today! We'll see what happens at breakfast...LOL

[babybarr]

Get well vibes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~###


(((hugs))) for you

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

Thanks, Laura! xx