My daughter will be 4 months Feb. 7 and for the last couple weeks she has been teething. Some days are better than others but I have had a hard time finding something she will bite on besides my finger to help soothe her. She is breastfed and she will not take a pacifier so I'm wondering if that has something to do with the reason she won't use teething rings or anything like that. Also, she has been waking every 3 hours during the night like clockwork and prior to the last week she was sleeping 4-5 hours on avg. between feedings. I have been nursing her every 3 hours throughout the night and she isn't just sucking, she is really eating. I am thinking maybe its a growth spurt too, but how long does that typically last? I have heard that by 4 months a baby is able to sleep throughout most of the night without eating but may wake just because the way our sleep cycles are and if you let them be they may put themselves back to sleep. Should I try leaving her be for a while and see if she puts herself back to sleep? Sorry so long. Thank you in advance for your input!
J.,
Hi. I have also tried the dissovable teething tablets, and they seemed to work for my daughter. It is by a company called Hyland's. It helps with restlessness and wakeful irritability. There are 125 tablets, and it says you can give her two to three tablets under the tongue 4 times a day. Or you can dissolve them in a teaspoon of water. Have a good day.
When my husband and I took a baby care class, we learned that it is best not to put frozen items on the child's gums as it could cause frost bite. You're better off just chilling them in the refrigerator and that can offer relief to teething gums.
My son didn't really use teething rings either. He didn't sleep through the night either until he was 11 months old! ugh!
I've heard other moms suggest freezing a washcloth and letting them teeth on that. Or freezing teething toys or maybe even pieces of fruit.
Also, there are teething tablets that are supposed to help soothe the gums.
Hi J.,
We had the same issue. My daughter was sleeping beautifully through the night and starting to wake up once the teething started. For me, 4 months old was too young to let her cry herself back to sleep. We nursed a lot. I think part of it was a growth spurt, but I think the major reason she nursed a lot was for soothing. If she soothes herself to sleep when you first put her down, then I might try letting her fall back to sleep in the middle of the night before you go in. I always erred on the side of caution. If I suspected she was waking due to pain, then I would go in and nurse. Infant Tylenol has been helpful on occasion. My daughter is 9 months and still nurses. She has never taken a pacifier, which I hear is common for breastfed babies.
Good Luck - it will get better!
S.
J.,
One thing you should know is that it is only typical that FORMULA fed babies sleep through the night by 4 months, most breastfed kids can do so by about 6 months (though neither of mine did until about 9 months). So I wouldn't be that concerned about her feeding at night even if she weren't teething. I do wonder about her daytime sleep and eating habits though...How often is she eating during the day and is she sleeping longer in the daytime than at night? As far as teething rings are concerned, my experience with my 2 boys was that anything that wasn't intended to be a teething ring (the remote control, my fingers, etc) is what they wanted usually but they would use the teething bead ring that looks like a bracelet (probably because they thought it was my bracelet since I would put it on my wrist and let them have their way with it). If your daughter seems irritable or uncomfortable, Tylenol isn't a bad idea but it sounds more like she is nursing because she's hungry.
You could give her Tylenol to help ease the throbbing pain for her. I know when my son started teething, I was weary of giving him Tylenol for him but eventually I realized it helped him so much. You could also try the following: Try brushing her gums with a baby toothbrush, the stimulation will help it get over soon. Put a damp cloth in the freezer and use that to rub her gums. I exclusively, breast fed my son as will and he never liked any of those teething rings as well, I wonder if there is a connection??
She is probably going through a growth spurt and increasing your milk supply for it... I can't remember how it took but I'm sure if you have faith it will soon be over.
As for sleeping through the night... Your baby might not be ready if she is still drinking out of your breast than just pacifying herself.
Good Luck!
I know you already got a lot of comments and help, but none of that worked for my son. Clove oil is all natural and actually what the dentist uses when he puts in a filling to relieve your pain. It is the only thing that worked for my son, I use it myself too. It last for hours, sometimes days without pain. It can be hard to find, but I usually go to an organics store and they always have it.
I have four girls, and I have typically found that when they are teething they nurse ALOT at night. It is the only way that feel better. She also could be going threw a growth sput, just relax it usually only takes around a week, and once it is over you can just stare down and marvel over what you just help accomplish. As far as a four month old sleeping threw the night, I personnaly do not know of any kids that do this. My 15 month old still gets up once or twice. Just remember all children are different. I wouldn't leave her, if anything bring her in bed with you to snuggle. That might even help her sleep better not feeling great.
My oldest son now 3 started teething at ofur months also and at the same time gave up his pacifer on his own. I would suggest adding a little rice cereal to her bottle, ashe may be waking up not only because of her teeth but that your milk is not staying with her long enough. You can also try giving her maybe 2-3 ounces of water that will also fill her up more.
As far as the teething they have baby orajel ( just put a little on your finger and rub it on her gums) and teething tablets(just give her one or two they will dissolve with her saliva). As with my 2nd son now 13 months old and a mouth full of teeth. The orajel did not work with him as they did his brother. What does work is Vanilla extract, yws the kind you use for baking. Take a q-tip and apply some to her gums. It will numb her gums as well as give her a good taste. It works well and causes no harm to her.
Good luck
they have all natural teething tables at wal-mart the desolve quickly that help my kids. as for the not sleeping at night since you breastfeed you make see if just before bed time if she'll take a bottle and add a little rice ceral to it not alot just thicken it up so that it stay with her longer. have you thought about introducing her to baby food yet? that could have something to do with her during the day to she maybe needing a little more to satisify her. by the way i have 2 girls 6 and almost 3 (feb 14) so it's not been that long ago and the 2 year old had acid reflux and all kids of feeding problems.
You sound like you are describing my first son (now age 2). He was breastfed on demand and started teething at 4 months- and would not take a pacifier. What I figured out was that the sucking was soothing to his teeth, and there were many nights that he nursed off an on all night, every 2 hours. It was exhausting, but was what he needed at the time- (he never acutally slept through the night until after his 1st birthday). I know it's frustrating when your child used to be able to sleep through the night, and now wants to eat all night long, but my advice is to let her eat. It probably makes her feel better, and the close-ness to you is probably very comforting as well. Signs of teething include lots and lots of drool, unexplained crying or fussiness, sometimes a low-grade feever, and sometimes diareah. If your baby is uncomfortable due to teething I would urge you not to "let her be" but to try to help her feel better. You will be very tired from your sleepless nights, but maybe you can try to get a nap in when she naps during the day. You will have plenty of time to work on getting her to sleep through the night as she gets older, but working on it while she is teething might be bad timing.
With regard to the teethers, I was able to get my son to use a couple. (His favorite looked like the fisher price deluxe gum soother, but without the hard plastic piece to hold.) It seems like the softer and smaller teethers are easier for them to get into their mouths. You probably already know this, but the first teeth tend to come in in the center of the bottom. If your baby has unexplained crying and you think it's the teething, try using the teething gel (medicine). Baby Oragel makes it in a swab- kinda like a q-tip. It is much easier to apply this way. The relief doesn't last a really long time, but when my son was really teething it was perfect to use and by the time it wore off the tylenol had a chance to kick-in.
Just my thoughts, Hope this helps!
