Teething 7 Mo Old Won't Sleep in Crib

My 5 month old sleeps all night some nights but not all. He always starts out in his crib BUT if he wakes up I put him in the bed with us. I refuse to do cry it out as well. Co-sleeping won't stop him from waking up but it will get both of you more sleep. Good luck.

Hi L.,

In addition to the teething your baby is also becoming more aware of his environment. Our son did the same thing at 4-5 months. We ended up co-sleeping until he was about 11-12 months and then transitioned him back to his crib them. If you aren't opposed to it, cosleeping can help you to both get a better night's sleep. You can also try swaddling him, he may be waking himself up with his movements.

J.
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L.,
Have you tried Hyland's Teething Tablets? They may relieve some of his teething pain so he can calm down and get to sleep. Also, as far as naps go--can you put him in his crib with a few soft toys to play with? He might get sleepy on his own and fall asleep. As far as getting him back to his crib at night, have you tried putting him back in after you rock him back to sleep? Or a soft light and some nice, soft classical music in his room? Could you lie on the floor beside his crib until he drifts off? White noise always helped my son to calm down & sleep. I always ran a cool-mist humidifier in his room at night. I thinkif you keep letting him nap/sleep in your bed, he will continue to resist his crib more and more--but I know what it's like to desperately need some rest! :) After all...any port in a storm.
Sorry--that's all of my ideas! Good luck to you.

I use the cry it out method, but when they are sick or teething, I see no problem with comforting them as you are. I use regular baby aspirin to help them stay asleep, for pain, but only when he seems really uncomfortable. I also found that letting him chew on pretzel sticks made him very happy. You might just have to tough this period out, and when the teeth come in, get him back into his bed. I would put him to bed in his crib each night, but if he wakes up and needs extra comfort, go ahead and give it to him, and that may, unfortunately, mean some sleepless nights for you. If dad is around, ask him to take his turn.

I hated cry it out initially, but after not sleeping for 18 months with my first child, found out that there is nothing wrong with letting them cry for a bit, so long as there is nothing wrong. (like pain from teething) The longer you let that go on, the harder it will be to get them to learn to sleep on their own. Experience talking. But, to each his own. It only takes one to three nights of using cry it out, they give up the crying pretty quickly once they figure out you are not going to respond. Then, when they do cry, you have a better sense when there is really something wrong, another benefit of cry it out. If you can't take it, try to spend time elsewhere in the house while your husband handles it, or go out. That is what worked for my cousin and his wife. Believe me, I understand, it is hard to let them cry, but sometimes it is for their own good.

I would NOT suggest using Hyland's Teething Tablets. When my daughter was teething horribly, I researched them, and was terrified when I found out how dangerous they can be. Check ou this link:

http://boards.babycenter.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&n...

they contain belladonna, and if you read about that, well, I bet you wouldn't want your child to have it!!

It sounds like you just have to wait out the teething and do whatever it takes. If you don't want him to cry it out and stay in the crib at all costs, and he finds comfort going to your bed while he's in pain, that's what you should do. If it goes on TOO long, he may develop the habit of prefering your bed, but if it's just for teething, be sure to move him back as soon as he's feeling better and then be firm. Good luck-sorry about the lack of sleep!!!

Hi L. -

It looks like you took a page right out of my family book. My 7 month son is going through the same exact thing right now. I have been putting him to bed at his normal time, only to have him wake up screaming just a few hours later. I have been successful using baby motrin (it lasts 6-8 hours instead of the tylenol that lasts 4-6) and also the nighttime orajel. I just went out today and bought the Gentle Natures teething liquid (it is made by orajel makers, is natural, and has tigger and pooh on the box). I gave it to him at lunchtime today and he went down for his afternoon nap without a problem. I have also wet and froze baby washclothes for Roman to chew on (make sure your son is wearing one of the plastic bibs instead of the cloth ones though) and frozen banana slices. I put the slices in one of the baby teether nets and he goes to town on them. I hope this helps you some. Good luck. I am just crossing my fingers that the teeth come in sooner than later. It is such a tough time.

The teething process for the first tooth could take months. If you are willing to get up to comfort him for several months, all the power to you. I couldn't do it with any of my children. Your son may also be starting the "separation anxiety" phase. This is when your child can't stand for you to be out of his sight even for a second.

I respect your views about not letting your son cry it out. However, speaking from experience with three kids, letting your child cry it out will not do any harm. After a few days, your child will figure out that you aren't going to come in and comfort him every time and he will learn to comfort himself. This is a very important thing for him to learn. Until your child learns to comfort himself, I fear that you will not get a full night's sleep, even after he finishes teething.

sometimes when my son was teething i would have him in the bed with me then out him back in his own crib when he fell asleep so i could sleep. try hylands teething tablets,they are homeopathic and seem to help my son when he is fussy. i also do infant tylenol when necessary. sometimes, it helps them sleep better. make sure to have thing for him to chew on,like teething toys or freeze a wash cloth. do not freeze the whole thing but half of it so the other half is not cold on his hands. i also let my son chew on the top of the tylenol bottle.he seems to like the rubbery top. i save the empty ones of course for him to chew on but make sure it is screwed on tight. the vibrating teething toys are pretty good. hang in there.

My 9 month old is doing the same thing and I am doing what your doing too. I fugure at least I get some some sleep for the first part of the night. I put him to bed with some pain killer around 8p.m. and he'll sleep till 1p.m. or 3p.m. If I'm extra tired I go to bed at 9p.m. so I'm not so tired in the morning and then I take a 30 minute nap in the afternoon. That seems to keep me surving sleep wise. I figure it will be easier to get him back into his schedule after his teehting pain is over than force him to stay in it when hes in pain. Remember this too shall pass and you'll look back and be glad you held him when he was in pain!

I am a member of the "cry it out club" so I do understand the pain this method causes the parent. It definatly is NOT an easy route to take. Sometimes it would be nice if we all realised how hard it is no matter what method of sleep training we use. I admire anyone who can get up and rock a baby to sleep in the middle of the night. (my husband is a "rocker" and I am not and it works for us to do both.) Anyway with that being said, I have found that fussy babies LOVE the sound of an AM radio station on static. It sounds muffled enough to be white noise but them the voices come through sometimes too. I think it reminds them of being in the womb. It seems to work with one of the girls I babysit and I hope it can work for you too.
Good luck