Teething sucks. Teething pain is experienced both by babies AND their parents who 1) hate seeing their babe in pain and, 2) dread the teething related wake ups at night.
But what if I told you that while teething pain can cause discomfort, it’s rarely the root cause of sleep problems. Yup, in fact it’s largely misdiagnosed and attributed as the culprit of all different kinds of illnesses and sleep issues.
It makes sense though, as a parent you see the classic teething symptoms: drooling, bitting on hands & toys, rash, fever, fussiness, diarrhea and you assume baby must be teething.
Here’s the thing about teething, yes it can cause discomfort, yes it can keep a baby awake when they wake up from a sleep cycle. However, teething discomfort will last approximately 48-72 hours before and after a tooth erupts. “Discomfort” in teething may be annoying for babies, but the gums will actually make room for the tooth so the most discomfort is only felt while it is breaking through the gum membrane and it’s unlikely to be severe pain. Every child is different and you should access whether you want to treat this with pain medication.
In a recent study, researchers found that symptoms consistently occurred only on the day that a child’s tooth erupted and one day after. No symptoms regularly occurred in the days before the tooth.
So if your sleep disturbances are lasting more than a few days and wake ups are happening pretty regularly at the second half of the night (aprox 60-90 minutes apart) they are most likely not due to teething.
If your baby seems fussy during the day, gums appear red or swollen, if you see a little white tooth just below the surface of the gums, drooling, rash and hands in their mouth constantly and they seem in pain, then I would definitely say yes maybe it’s teething and some Ibuprofen (not recommended to children under 6 months old) or acetaminophen (Tylenol) might help that at night (this is not medical advice: talk to your doctor before administering any medication). Drool and mouthing of hands is not necessary an indicator of teething though. Also, if baby is not in any discomfort during the day then it’s most likely not going to appear just at night.
Babies are going to be teething until they are 2-3 years old, that’s the cold hard truth but the good news is, for great sleepers that can put themselves back to sleep, teething discomfort is not going to generally bother them.
If you find that you’re having sleep disturbances past 3-4 days then I would consider 1) maybe it’s not teething and you should consider taking them to the doctor to ensure it’s not any other illness (teething raises body temperature but not to the point of a high fever and ear pulling can also be a sign of an ear infection). 2) It could have been teething for the first few days that turned into a sleep association.
Assess the situation and ask yourself:
Is my baby uncomfortable during the day and displaying signs of teething (swollen, red gums). YES might be teething.
If they are uncomfortable could it be any other illness? Do they have a high fever? More than a few days of diarrhea or pulling at their ears? Consider taking them to the doctor to rule out ear infections or any other virus’. NOT likely teething.
Has my baby been waking up constantly throughout the night for over 3-4 days, doesn’t seem in pain during the day and stops crying when picked up, fed to sleep, brought to my bed..ect. (If they’re in pain they are likely going to continue to cry and prove hard to comfort). NOT likely teething.
In the end, use your judgement and follow your instincts. Teething is unfortunately something we have to live with for many years but sleep deprivation is not mamas.
Contact me at www.lilbabysleep.com/contact-me and I can send you a sleep success checklist to can help guide you in achieving the best sleep possible. You both need and deserve it.
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