We all expect that a baby getting a new tooth will be accompanied by sleepless nights. However a number of sleep experts believe that “new tooth syndrome” is too often blamed for babies waking at night, and that quite often the problem relates to other factors completely.
There is a lot packed into the first few years of a baby’s life. So many new viruses to cope with, so much physical, emotional and mental development….it’s all happening so quickly, and it can be difficult to pin down why baby is waking at night
All babies will sometimes wake at night, but apart from periods of acute teething and illness, they should tend to sleep through the night most of the time.
Babies and toddlers are pretty much “teething” for the first two to three years of their life. There is what’s known as chronic teething – which is when the teeth are slowly moving through the gums. This pretty much happens all of the time and shouldn’t affect your baby’s sleep or appetite.
In the period of acute teething however, where the tooth breaks through the gum, there may be significant discomfort and pain. This period will last about a week and will affect your baby 24 hours a day. The symptoms of this teething are:
1 – rash on her chin 2 – sight of a tooth cutting through 3 – grizzly and irritable behaviour 4 – Some parents have found that acute teething causes diarrhoea 5 – loss of appetite
Acute teething may cause some disruption for you and your baby. Sucking on the bottle, breast or a dummy can be uncomfortable, even painful, for your baby.
At night, a baby who is already in good sleeping habits may not call for you. You may hear her wake more frequently and even moan in her sleep, but she will probably soothe herself back to sleep until morning. If the teething is very painful, however, she is likely to cry when she wakes.
When you go to her, offer a drink of water, some teething gel on her gums or medicine if needed. It’s important to offer comfort at this time but also avoid slipping into bad habits which will be hard to break later.
A spell of acute teething will present you with a real challenge if your baby is already a poor sleeper. Remember that things should ease up after 7 days, once the tooth has broken through the gum. Offer your baby as much comfort as you can, and try some of the ideas already mentioned in this article. Once the period of acute teething is finished, now is the time to look at improving your baby’s sleeping habits if you want to.
For more advice on helping your baby sleep visit Sleepytot and grab a free baby to sleep guide to solve your baby sleep problems today.