Am I Starting a Bad Habit?

That is a good question. Each child is different so it might be difficult to break her of her new routine.
I just have a few suggestions you could try. They have worked for me.
If the car has been working, try rocking her and humming in her ear.
Also, tylenol (generic) and a little oralgel before bed can help a lot.
You may also want to try a warm bath and use lavendar bath wash just before she is going to bed.
My daughter just cut all 4 molars and she had a virus at the same time, so I feel for you!!
I hope things go back to normal for you soon!!

You're doing the best thing you possibly can, you're caring for your daughter. If she's upset, it's your job to sooth her, however that's possible. This isn't a situation where she's having a temper about going to bed, she's hurt and she needs you to make it easier to fall asleep.

Remember that even if a habit forms, all habits can be broken with time, care and patience. For now, I highly doubt a few nights of driving (especially if it's only as a last resort when nothing else works) aren't going to cause you perminant damage. One way or another, you'll survive this stage and guaranteed she won't still be wanting you to take her for a drive at 16.

We did that and our children survived :)

You might also try putting her in her the carrier and putting that on top of the clothes dryer while it's running (stay with her of course).

This book was also a godsend: "The No-cry Sleep Solution" by E. Pantley.

Teething toys (the kind you can put in the fridge) are also very helpful, as well as this teether: http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...

So much good luck to you!

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Have u had her checked for an ear infection? She may not want to lay down if she is having ear pain. I would recommend motrin as it helps with the inflammation of cutting teeth and lasts longer thru the night. Teething sucks! My daughter's lower 2nd molars ha e been coming in for a month. Just need top molars and we will be done with teeth for a few years!

One of our daughter's was colic when she was very young and we tried everything but the only thing that worked was driving her around for about 15/20 minutes-which we did. I think if it works then go for it-just don't make yourself so sleepy that you are the one falling asleep-when your daughter feels better this will end-in the meantime try some of the other things that the other moms have suggested just to help get over the late-night rides-and your sanity. She will outgrow this and then something else will show up-so keep your nap times open for you too! All help-s and then they gorw up and go to school... Oh yeah when the teeth come in and she starts biting (people) what worked for us was we had to have her older sister bite her back-not hard just enough to know that it hurt and that stopped that.

Hi Tangela,
here's a piece of advice for teething: We gave our daughter frozen (organic) pancakes. It feels good and tastes good too....and best of all..it is safe. Better than those plastic chews.
Good luck!
E.

I think you have to do what works for you. I'm assuming you've tried rocking her to sleep and/or bringing her into your bed. In my experience, when kids are sick, they need extra comfort. They don't understand why they don't feel good and certainly while kids this age understand a fair amount, the concept of being sick is still tough. When you think about how so many adults get cranky when they are sick, it's understandable. I spent many a nite in our lazy boy recliner/rocking chair with my sons. Ours was comfy enough that i could get some sleep and if you handoff to dad occasionally, then the burden is shared. Personally, I feel you have to do what works for you and kids at this age really don't develop "bad habits" per se, you just need to make sure it doesn't become part of the routine and that you gradually switch to something else when she is better - you may get lucky and once she is feeling better, she'll be happy to go back to her regular bedtime routine. And, ask the pediatrician about what might be the best OTC product. Personally I worry about Tylenol more than Motrin, but YMMV. If you choose either, please make sure they weren't on the recall list. Benadryl is the product that I have found most helpful when my sons have had colds - I still use it for my 14 year old as it really helps them sleep.

I would try to get her down without the car ride- you want to find other ways for her to be soothed and for her to learn to soothe herself.

My son reacts really severely when teething- to the point that I kept him home one day b/c he just stood in the living room and sobbed all morning. We have found that this helps at bedtime:
- Start slowing her down about an hour before you want her to go to sleep
- Have her brush her teeth b/c the brush feels really good on the gums (and it's a good habit to get into)
- On the bad nights (hands in the mouth all day, resistant to eating, drooling, etc), give her some pain meds about an hour before bed time so that it can kick in **Teething really hurts and remember that we would take something if we were in pain!**
- Rock with her for a good 10-15 minutes before putting her down
**We play soft music for my son so that he has something to distract him while he falls asleep**

Once she's laying down, rub her back and don't pick her up again! When my son has a hard time, I quietly go back into his room, lay him back down and rub his back until he's calm.

If she thinks she will score a car ride when she's crying, the behavior is likely to continue well after the pain subsides!

Well, I am usually a fan of "whatever works" but we did this with our son (not for teething but instead of doing CIO when he would stand in his crib, scream and shake the bars! We did a LOT of driving for much tooooo long. Krista had great suggestions and if I were you (which I'm not) I would avoid the car ride routine if you can. Good luck! Poor little thing--teething stinks! Try freezing some wet baby washcloths so she can gnaw on them. My son LOVED those!