Need a little help sorting a few things out - 14 month old

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

Hi Ladies,

I have some questions about my DS's sleep and was hoping you could help me. 

As you know, we are teething, so I know that is a big part of what is going on.  I am trying to sort out though how much of it is OT and how much is teething (which I know you can never know exactly).  I know he is getting OT because of the teething, but want to see how much of the OT I can manage so that he gets as much sleep as possible (for him at this point LOL). 

When an LO cries really hard at BT and is difficult to settle, even though medicated for teething pain, does that point toward OT or UT? This happened last night (despite being in the crib at 6:40 for a 7pm BT, he finally was asleep at 7:30) and I was surprised because I felt it was early enough and he had advil an hour before bed (so it couldn't be pain related).  He had a short 10 min CN at 9:30am (because of a 5:20am WU) and then a 1.5 hr nap from 12:45-2:15.

If an LO cries out within a few hours of going to bed, does that mean OT (even if they resettle themselves very quickly)? Or is that normal? Is it only OT if they can't get themselves back to sleep?

I am scared of an even earlier bedtime, but maybe that is what we need here if these things are pointing to OT.  Just want to make sure that I'm not just blaming teething all of the time if OT is becoming a real issue as well (which I know a bit of OT is inevitable during this time anyway).

Thanks!

[sianie]

Hi

If he's teething then usually they get tired more easily so A-times tend to get shorter. Which teeth does he have coming through? I'm guessing due to his age that it could be 1st year molars or canines, both of which are some of the worst for LO's to teethe.

The teething/OT issue is a tricky one to figure as one can feed the other so sometimes is hard to know.

Generally, crying at BT & crying out an hour or so into sleep means OT for us, when my 2 LO's are UT they are more likely to play & mess around in their cots rather than cry, although this isn't the same for all LO's.

Do you want to post his current routine so we can take a look?

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

Hi Sian,

Thanks!

The top molars are cutting through (bottom ones are fully cut) and it looks to me like at least the bottom canines are bulging - very red and swollen gums. Can't tell with the top canines yet because it is difficult to get a look in there!

Here is what yesterday and today looked like:

Yesterday -
WU 5:20
Bottle 6:00
Breakfast 8:00
CN 9:20 for 10 minutes
Snack 10:00
Lunch 11:45
Nap 12:45-2:15
Snack - 3:00
Dinner - 5:50
BT - 6:40 (in crib with goal of being asleep by 7, ultimately fell asleep at 7:30 after crying hard and being hard to settle with shh/pat)

Today -
WU - 6am (good for me, but not for him since it was still 10.5 hrs)
(Wouldn't take CN in am)
Nap - 12:30-1:20 (this is not the norm -- he woke up screaming in pain and did for about 40 minutes -- trying to transition (again) to cow's milk and he's not tolerating it as I learned today, so he had very bad gas pain)
BT - was thinking about getting him down for 6:15 since we had such a disastrous nap today.

Normally, we don't do a CN in the am, but feel like he needs one when he has EWs (and even some NWs here and there).  

Today was a bit messed up - yesterday's routine looks more like what we've been doing recently with the teething.  When we are lucky or the teeth aren't hurting, we can get a WU between 6/630 (usually closer to 6) with him being asleep by 7pm.  Teething or not, the nap is usually between 1.5 and 1.75 hrs.

TIA for your help!!!!

[sianie]

Molars are a nightmare unfortunately! We've just gone throughout with DS & had around 8 weeks of bad sleep whilst they all came through!

So he's intolerant to cows milk? Do you think this could be causing some of the issues? Allergies/intolerances can also effect sleep. Have you tried goats milk instead? My DS is on goats milk as cows milk aggravates his reflux & it makes a real difference.

I guess you're giving meds before sleeps?

Looking at your routine it probably is that the teeth have caused the issue but he's now got a bit OT as a result. TBH. with teething all you can do is medicate & try & ride it out the best you can. If adding a CN in to help him catch-up a little on sleep is working then stick with it.

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

Thanks, Sian! We are medicating....the milk could have been causing a few issues over the past few days for sure.  Would you also keep an early bedtime (goal to fall asleep before 7pm) until teething is over with? Last night he was in the crib at 6:30 and fell asleep by 6:50 with no crying.  I first heard him stirring this am at 5:30, but I don't think he was fully awake until about 5:45/5:50 (just had little baby grunts up until that time, but no crying or playing etc).  So that's an improvement.
One more question please - do you stick with the EBT even when you have a good day (ie decent WU, good nap, etc?) since the teething takes a lot out of them?
THANKS!

[sianie]

One more question please - do you stick with the EBT even when you have a good day

If the day has gone well then you could push BT back a touch, look out for sleepy cues & go with that....there's always a fine line between UT & OT so take a call on it depending on how your LO is handling it.

I do early BT's when naps have been off &/or my LO's seem really tired (which tends to happen when they are teething).

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

Thanks, Sian.  I think I sometimes forget about looking for sleepy cues anymore (as bad as that sounds).  Yesterday, he had a good nap, but seemed tired early, so I had him in bed early and he slept very well -- 11 hrs last night hooray!

Thanks again for the advice.  You are always very helpful!