15/16 month old extended waking and inconsolable crying

[katkniep]

Hi there, i hope someone can help us with this new problem.

My daughter is almost 16 months old. Since last Friday eve she's been ill, bad cold, was unable to breath through nose, bad cough. This is getting better now slowly.. It looks like she's also getting her canine teeth through - she already has 12!

Since last Saturday she's been waking up at night understandably often because of the cold, and then once which lasts about 90 mins every time. It's always around 2-5am that this happens.
The little wakings have now gone, and we're left with this 90 min extended wake where she just cries, nothing we do can help calm her, we've tried shhing, patting, taking her in the arms, walking, sitting by her and waiting.
She just sits there and cries, and sometimes when we have her in our arms she signals at the door as if she wants to get up.
The first night this happened i didn't know what to do as she was totally awake, so i let her in the lounge and she ran about a bit. I only did this once.

She still sleeps in the same room as us and she knows we are there. But that she even cries when she's in our arms i find a bit odd.

She was a pretty good sleeper before this and we're slowly going crazy

Her schedule before this was: 6am wake up, 11.15 lunch, 12.15/30 nap (1-2hours), 6.45pm sleep through till morning

x

[Buttonbobs]

Hi there, I'm afraid we had quite a lot of sleep disruption around this age too, mainly related to teething and developmental changes.

Do you feel anything has changed in her skills recently, or do you think anything is due to change or she's on the edge of learning something new. This can really affect sleep.

But, it could be those pesky canines - they are known for being quite painful teeth, causing trouble even in LOs who have had no trouble with previous teeth. Are you medicating at BT and when she wakes? Or offering a dream-fed medicine dose at around 1am to cover her wakeful period?

[katkniep]

Hi there,

She gets her cough medicine and nose drops at bed time for the cold, the dr said to just give the nose drops before bed and cough medicine twice a day.
She's been a bit more chatty but she's learning different skills it seems like every day.
Is it normal though to just cry and cry and for so long? She definitely didn't do this for all the other teeth!

[Buttonbobs]

It is entirely possible that this is just teeth. I would say try some medicine at around 1am to see if it helps rule out teething.

It could be developmental disturbance but there isn't anything we can do to rule that out, it's just a case of riding it out, but yes teething can be that uncomfortable that she would cry and cry no matter what you do to help.

NWs at that time of night could also be UT but as she's already on one nap and is not happily waking but rather crying I think development or teething are the more likely culprits.

If you're giving cold meds at BT they could be soothing the first part of her night. Can you try paracetamol/ibuprofen in the early morning. Ibuprofen can be more effective for teething though.

[katkniep]

The only medicine we have are paracetamol supps which i only use if she has fever. The cough medicine is herbal and the nose drops have been working. In germany they're not too keen on giving meds to toddlers and babies.

 I'm guessing i'll have to ride it out :/
Is it ok though to pick her up all the time when she's crying or best to try to comfort in bed?
Thanks for your help

[Buttonbobs]

If you are very keen to ride it out without meds then I do understand. I would just say that toothache is really pretty painful at times, and I would always take medication myself for it, so chose to do the same for my toddler. In england you can buy infant versions of paracetamol and ibuprofen so this is what I have always used.

But yes, If you'd rather not use meds then you may need to provide lots of comfort and cuddles until this passes, and also when the molars come in. In this case I'd do whatever she needs for comfort as you would do if she were ill, and then use ST methods perhaps once all her teeth have come in. ((Hugs))

[katkniep]

After all of that she slept through again last night

[Buttonbobs]

Haha! Obviously whatever it was has passed. They love to test us these LOs don't they?!!

[katkniep]

haha i totally talked too soon, 3 hours last night

[Buttonbobs]

Oh no! Would you consider trying any meds?

If not, I'll ask around to see if anyone else has any non-medical ideas

[katkniep]

Ah she slept through again last night! I think we're just going to ride it out. I have some bonjella i got shipped over, so if her gums are looking a bit sore, i'll pop that on

[weaver]

Other non medical things that have helped my LOs are - amber teething necklaces and homeopathic camomilla, sold as teetha in the UK. With these they've had zero daytime symptoms really. We've used children's ibuprofen for NWs, and they resettle very quickly.

[Eva's Mummy]

Anbesol liquid is also much better than bongela for teething. We used along with ibuprofen.

[creations]

Other non medical things

A cold teether, one you can put in the freezer or fridge to get it really cold.
A wet muslin or cotton cloth put in the freezer to chew on.
Chewing on raw celery - I say this every time I post where LOs are teething, I am sure there is no single child ever decided to chew on celery but it is apparently very good for teething, natural local anaesthetic and can be gummed into strands rather than swallowed.
Hard foods such as bread stick.

Although meds all the way for mine. He did choose his own teething toy, a large plastic letter, which he gnawed on and had a lot of comfort from but when he was really bad it was both paracetamol and ibuprofen. Canines and molars were the worst here.
I found bonjella to be totally useless.

[nevinsmama]

If you are giving her cough medicine and are comfortable with that, then you might look at the Hyland's Teething Tablets. They are homeopathic and I gave them to DD.