6 Month Old Teething and Waking at Night

Hi, LS,

Don't worry. Breastfeeding won't equate food with pain; it actually equates Mom and love with comfort and relief.

If you want to try something else, I've heard that frozen French bread will work wonders.

I like going to askdrsears.com with any parenting question. They have a lot of great information on issues like this.

Good luck!
L.

You should get some teething tablets. They're kinda hard to find, but they're in the pharmacy section at wal-mart. Best. Stuff. EVER.

It sounds like you are doing a great job. Nothing seemed to help my first child with teething ... Hylands, Ora gel, nada. Don't get frustrated if this behavior continues. Sometimes you just have to wait out those miserable days, weeks or months. Good luck and hang in there!

K.
http://neworleans.savvysource.com/

Hello! I feel you, I have an almost 7 month old and she got two teeth (bottom) at the same time right around 6 months. She would be sleeping fine and then *BAM* be screaming and irritable. I have to agree, Hylands teething tablets seem to help her! I noticed that she actually nursed less for a few days when the teeth were really bothering her. My daughter is not a sleeper by nature (we've really worked on night time routines, etc.) and I was so scared when she started waking up again (she only starting sleeping good stretches at about 5 months) but it has gotten better since the teeth came in. Hopefully you'll get some relief soon! Good luck, I feel your pain :)

Don't think of breastfeeding as ONLY a food source. Babies nurse for lots of reasons, including comfort. They can control how much milk they get while nursing and will only take in what they need. If nursing comforts her while she's teething, then do it. It's likely that it won't make her associate pain with food... instead it will help her to deal with the pain because she has the chance to be so close to you. Plus, I also know that breastmilk has some pain relieving properties... so that's an added bonus.

Remember that breastfeeding is more than just a nutritional thing. It's a parenting style.

Go to a walmart, or walgreens or a meijers, in the pharmacy they have Hylands teething tablets they are wonderful they are all natural and take care of the pain quickly and they disolve really quick in the mouth so you don't have to worry about choking.

My daughter woke every night til she was a year old to nurse. I thought I was going to go crazy! So, it may not just be the teething it could be that she wants you. When I quit nursing her completely, I added some cuddle time during the day and always read 2 books and sing 2 songs before I put her in her bed. I did the rocking and singing and back patting as she learned to go back to sleep w/o a feeding and letting her cry 5 min., then 10 min., the longest we ever got to was 15min. It took awhile, but she rarely wakes up at night anymore (she's 18 mos.) What I've read is, if the tooth is showing, the pain is gone. If you still feel like she is in pain you can try baby oragel which may work long enough to get her back to sleep, or you can get teething tablets which is what helped my daughter when she was teething, you put them under the tongue and they dissolve instantly-I got them at Wal-Mart.
This too will pass!

Try rubbing some of the motrin directlly on her gums where the teeth are coming in and give her the rest orally. I work as a nanny and have been doing it this way for years and it really seems to help.

J.

I have found that for whatever reason, Motrin actually wires my daughter. I noticed this when she was given Motrin at the doctor's office; within 5 minutes she was up buzzing around the office. Needless-to-say, I am hesitant to give her Motrin especially at night!

To help ease teething pain we used frozen waffles or french toast sticks; others have used frozen cookies. Another trick shared by a friend who had twins is to use the freezer pops that come in the plastic bags. Place a couple in the freezer, allow the baby to chew, and place it back in the freezer when finished.

This might not be much help since your issue is at night.

Oh how I get teething pain! My daughter had 10 teeth by one year, and every one of them was accompanied by fever and crying and diaper rash. My son (13 months) just got his fifth, sixth and seventh teeth within about two weeks. YIKES!

Nursing is a great way to relieve pain. The action of sucking on the breast helps block the pain receptors in a baby's brain, and the milk has several things to make babies relax, so it's not just comfort, it really is pain relief! Breastfeeding is created to do more than just feed: it's comfort, quiet and mom's attention when you need it most.

At just six months, her system might not be ready for too much food yet. If she's having trouble digesting something, she might get less sleep and be more fussy. Also, it just takes some babies longer to get to where they sleep straight through.

My daughter didn't start solids until she was 11 months (her choice and food allergies), but she was sleeping through the night quite early, like three months or so. My son started solids quite a bit sooner, but he STILL can't make it all night without nursing at least once. Different kids have different calorie needs. Every once in a while, he surprises me by going 9 hours at night, but, usually, he sleeps 6, nurses without quite waking up (but he'll SCREAM himself awake if I don't feed him), and sleeps another 3 or 4.

Just roll with her needs. My mom says "If you don't like a baby's schedule, it'll be different tomorrow. And if you do like a baby's schedule, it'll be different tomorrow..."

Take care!

Hi, When my babies were little and teething I just rubbed numbs-it on their gums and within 5 minutes they were fine. They don't like it when you first put it on,but it stops the pain. I hope this helps!!! joyce

As much as you might be panicking that you're doing something wrong, STOP! As long as you do what makes your baby happy, you are doing great. If that means breastfeeding in the middle of the night, then feed away! Don't let others tell you how to raise your kid 'the right way'. Every child is different and only mom knows what is best for her child. Don't worry, this too shall pass

Hylands teething tablets are the best thing on the market for teething pain.

I totally understand your wanting to be sure you're not creating a problem by nursing her every time she wakes, but she actually may just be having a growth spurt and waking more temporarily while she needs more calories. If she's happy and ready to go back to sleep for a while after you nurse her, and she nurses well and doesn't seem to just be making you her human pacifier, then that may be all it is. The teeth could be it also, but you can probably tell if she seems to only want to nurse briefly and then seems upset, like it hurts her gums. They just have a lot of those growth spurts throughout the first year and beyond that seem to throw everything off a bit, day and night, and I still see a difference in my five-year old's eating and sleeping habits even now when she's growing. I can usually tell if my 18-month-old's fussiness or routine change is caused by teething or growing.......... if the Motrin doesn't help and if she's still wanting to eat a lot, then I assume it's a spurt and just keep feeding her when she fusses. Sometimes it's amazing how much they can put away! When it's teething she doesn't eat or nap well but the Motrin or teething gel seems to help, and when I was nursing her in the first year she wouldn't nurse well at all when there was a tooth working its way through. It always seems like as soon as one thing is better another problem begins which makes it very difficult to determine anything. Anyway, it is absolutely frustrating trying to figure out what's bothering them most of the time, but if it's any consolation to you I can tell you that whatever it is it will pass even when it seems like it never will! I don't think you have to worry about creating a bad habit yet because you'll know if that happens if it becomes every night repeatedly without fail and she seems perfectly fine once you pick her up from the crib, so you don't have to worry about that unless you get to that point. I'm a compulsive worrier and used to always worry about "What if?!" but usually I'd find I worried for nothing. Good luck!

I know this may not help in the middle of the night, but mine loves to chew on a wet wash cloth. They can get the wash cloth right where it hurts and it helps to soothe their gums when they bite on it. Good luck!

Hello, LS. MY first bit of advice is to stop giving one new food per week! It's too much, too soon. The longer you breast feed this child, the lesser are her chances to contract airborn viruses, sickness, etc. She needs your milk to help build her immune system! And at this point, all she should need if anything would be a small serving of cereal made with your milk before putting her down for the night. If she awakens, it hurts nothing to breastfeed her. She's an infant! Forget what the so-called experts say about equating pain with food. She is an infant! She will equate mom's breast with comfort, perhaps not even drinking much but snuggling for a bit. Honestly I don't know where people get these weird ideas. Babies know mom comforts, sometimes with the breast, sometimes without. Pain/food equations come when they are older if it is consistently used in place of any other form of comfort! Her tiny gums are in pain. I always used Baby Oragel and never Motrim, nor baby aspirins. The Oragel is rubbed onto the aching gums and eases the discomfort. The baby can then relax and sleep peacefully.

I jokingly say my baby girl was an Oragel addict! Of course, she was not. But she would stand in her crib each night (when there was pain in her tiny gums) and point to the dresser with a whining tone in her voice. I'd lift the tiny bottle of Oragel liquid and immediately she'd drop herself down to a laying position with her mouth opened wide! It was funny to see how well she'd learned that the little brown bottle eased her pain. I'd rub her gums with a hint of the liquid, close it tightly so as to keep her from opening it, then hand it to her. Just having that bottle in her hand was comforting for her. She'd fall straight to sleep and sleep throughout the night! Of course, as soon as she was asleep I'd remove the bottle and put it in its place on the dresser.

My point is that meanwhile there is pain going on, nurture your baby with the breast and a hint of gel on her gums! It has a numbing effect on the gums while the sucking of the breast is massaging the aching areas of her gums. Once the teeth are out, you will go back to your normal routine of no feedings through the night and she'll sleep well again!

Follow your heart where your baby is concerned. Nobody knows your child like you do, MOM!

Blessings to your baby girl!

denise maria----mother of 3 grown blessings (25yrs, 27 yrs, 32 yrs)my pride and joy!

Poor little thing. If she wants to be breastfed, feed her. It comforts her. It is not the same as using food as a remedy for pain. She will not think that eating is causing the pain, altho some have a hard time eating because of the pain. The pain wakes her, and since she is awake, she realizes she wants to eat. When the tooth is through, she will not wake up.

Hi. Have you tried Baby Oragel? It works great!

I used Hylands teething tablets with both of my kids when they were teething. It is homeopathic/herbal. the tablets are tiny and dissolve easily. i believe now you have to ask for them behind the counter at wal-mart. they work great and help with calming the baby. i have never used orajel or anything else with my kids.
they may be spelled Hilands, not sure my youngest in now 4 so it's been a while.