Sleeping Issues - Collinsville,IL

oh L. - i totally could have written this question/post!! my daughter is 16 months old and is cutting her back four molars as well! it started with a nasty upper resp infection and then three days in, the teeth started cutting. her naps, her bedtimes and her wake ups for the last week and a half have included crying/screaming - and she never wakes up or goes down that way. it has been awful :( i feel your pain. i know it's just part of the deal and i am hoping for 'back to normal' very, very soon! until then we will continue our nightly dose of motrin.

as for you sleep schedule - we just recently weaned the morning nap, but our bedtime routine is the same. 6:30 bath and down b4 7:00. she usually sleeps until 7:00 the next morning - a solid 11-12 hours. but the last five days she has been waking up screaming at five. is it the moon??

wish i had more advice and sorry for all the rambling - sometimes it just feels good to know we are not alone!

good luck!

She may have an ear infection, the symptoms are similar to teething pain. Plus it is not uncommon to have an ear infection while at the same teething. Since your daughter is crying when lying down, her ear sould be hurting. Tylenol or Motrin will relieve discomfort of both teething or an ear infection. So, I would take her to her Ped. to rule out an ear infection.

Now, re: her sleeping issues. I would keep her same bedtime if it is working for you & your daughter. There is nothing wrong, especially if it is working for her! :-) As for her lack of napping, teething or an ear infection can be the blame. Either way it is painful for her.

Good luck Mama!

I dont want to just say "give her the drugs!" but when my little one got her back 4 molars, they hurt so bad, I gave her a little motrin before bedtime, which seemed to help. During the day I could give her ice or carrots, but at night she needed the little extra help with the pain.

Teething may really be the issue with her right now...my daughter gets very uncomfortable when she does as well. Also, my little girl (almost 22 mos now) has always had a bit of a sleeping issue as well and it was really important with her to establish a bedtime routine. So routine that we read the same book every night (we can change it up a bit now, but the first 6 mos was the same book so she'd know what to expect).

Is it possible your daughter has an ear infection? It hurts to lay down when they do. Good luck.

Hey L., well first if your child is already normally sleeping 11-12 hours, she probably is not gonna require any naps. I do think 6pm is way early to be putting your child to bed. If i were you, i would seriously think about changing up the routine. Children follow routine, so all you have to do is stay consistent on what you do. For instance, start a bed time routine at 7pm - give her a bath, get pajamas on, and then sit and read a book. Then place her in the crib by 8pm. If she cries, let her cry for 5 mins then go comfort her in her room, leave for another 10 mins, if she cries comfort her, then comfort after 15 mins. ( you get the point ) this is to let her know that your still there, but she needs to go to sleep. The waking up early in the morning, well im sorry to say, but most of the time its just a phase they go through, but make sure your not running in there immediately after she wakes up - give her some time to put herself back to sleep. Sometimes they will even wake up and talk to themselves or play for a bit, give them time to fall back to sleep. I really think if you set up a new routine and put her to sleep later, the naps will fall into place during the day.

Hi L.-
Well lord knows, I am no expert on getting my 2 y/o to sleep, but maybe have you tried giving her Tylenol before nap and bedtime? She's probably just really uncomfortable from the teething. Good luck!

Wow, that is early for bedtime. Are you a stay at home mom? About the teeth, are you giving her Tylenol or rubbing her gums with orajel? What about one of those little raw veggie holders that you can also put ice cubes in? Sounds like she just needs to get into a new routine with not quite as much sleep. Sleep is definitely good but that sounds like an awful lot. Give a new routine a couple weeks. It's hard to bear but not much else you can do besides Tylenol. Never give her anything that makes her sleep unless it's ordered by the doc. Just when your comfortable and think you have things figured out...pops up a new situation. Bear down and stay strong. This is just the beginning of new after new...