Teething or OT disrupting sleep?

[BeeAnn]

Quick question / poll re: teething disrupting sleep.

My DD (14.5 months) is normally a great sleeper unless something is bothering her.  For the last two weeks she has been waking 45 mins / an hour after going to bed and crying.  If we go in and either just put our hands on her or do a little PU / PD then she is usually fine.  Sometimes she might wake one more time at around 10.

I originally thought that it might be OT because at around that time we changed from 30mins am nap and 1.5 hrs pm nap to 20 mins am nap and 2 hrs pm nap (but earlier) so she was awake longer before bedtime. 

But I then wondered if it might be teething - and actually I have now seen that about half of her first canine tooth has come through the gum.

But 2 weeks seems a long time for her sleep to be disrupted by this one tooth?  For her other teeth she might have had about 3 nights disrupted sleep max (although it was usually worse than how it has been over the last 2 weeks).  We did medicate before bed tonight and she has been crying out periodically but seems to be able to settle herself a little bette than previous nights, so maybe it is teeth?

What were people's experiences - can teething cause disruption for so long?  Or do you think it might be something else?

[mummylou83]

My experience with both of my boys is that both canines and molars cause disrupted nights for a lot longer  Mine seem to cope pretty badly with teeth and couple of weeks per tooth was not unusual. My nearly 20 month old is really suffering at the moment fans just has the last 4 molars to come through...I can sympathise with you!

For us we do ibuprofen before bed and paracetamol if he wakes in the night and trying as much as possible to avoid AP. Good luck, hope you get back to normal sleep soon and a happier little one x

[HenaV]

hi there,

It could well be teeth IMO. Cainines (and molars) caused havoc for us and resulted in sleep shanaginans beyond your wildest imagination, thrown of course by the odd developmental bout to add to things. Could you post your typical day in EAS format just so we can have a look and see if it worth trying any routine tweaks, just in case!

Thanks

Hena

[BeeAnn]

Hi, thanks for your replies

I think she is teething as she now has a red cheek and slightly high temperature too.

In terms of routine, we changed it two weeks ago to be:

6:45am   Wake up and Milk (200ml)   
8:15am   Breakfast
9.45am   Nap 1 (capped at 20mins)
10.15am   Snack
12:00pm   Lunch
1:00pm   Nap 2 (for up to 2 hrs)
3:00pm   Snack
5:00pm   Dinner
7:00pm   Bed

She goes to nursery four days a week and usually there her second nap is about 50mins or an hour (can be as short as 40 mins though).  We usually put her to bed at 6.30pm on nursery days.

One day this week she did have her first one nap day because they were out at her morning nap time.  She slept from 1-2.30pm and apparently seemed to cope with it fine.  She was a little grumpy at home though but not sure if that was tiredness or not!  I am toying with the idea of trying to go to one nap a day (even if it is just at nursery) - don't know if it will help her get a better nap or if this will make her more tired!!

[HenaV]

I still think that the culprit is teeth BUT re: routine my only observation is that the 2naps could be causing issues yk?

What do you think?

H

[BeeAnn]

I think it is probably teeth actually.  She didn't make much noise last night at all so perhaps they are starting to bother her less.  She also had nurofen before bed.

I do think that we will try to move her to one nap before too long as she needs to be on one nap by mid-April in order to move up to the next room at nursery.

I am a bit worried that she will get overtired but I suppose that we can only really try and see!  I know a lot of mums keep their babies on two naps at the weekends but am worried that that might confuse her and it is best to just do it unless it goes horribly wrong.  What do you think?

[HenaV]

Personally if you're going to do one nap. I'd be consistent and stick with that whether at nursery or at home. It's not unusal for LOs to get OT when transitioning to one nap. Tbh, if you think that teeth is the issue, I'd hang on before starting the transition

Hth x