How To Help Your Baby Sleep While Teething

Do you have a VERY cranky baby and you’re like Oh no, poor thing! You’re teething! We’re in chaos right now!

What if I told you that teething should NOT disrupt sleep?

This is a very big stance I’ve always taken here at Little Z’s. In this video I’m going to lay it out on the table and we’re going to discuss:

1. What remedies to use to help your baby
2. How to manage teething pain during the day and at night
3. A plan for how to make sleep a thing!

This really should come as no surprise but, I’m just going to tell it to you straight.

Teething is not impacting your child’s sleep.

(Say it with me again! Teething is NOT impacting your child’s sleep!)

I have a very strong stance with this… but let’s talk about WHY.

First of all – your child will be gaining (and losing… and gaining) teeth for 12 years of their life! We don’t hear about elementary aged kids having teething issues or losing sleep over teething

However, I DO believe that when your child is teething, there are likely other factors at play.

So in this video, I’m going to walk you through some of the signs that this is causing irritability, show you what to do at nighttime and how, and give you some insight into what your child’s root issues of sleep may be.

I’ve talked to a LOT of parents in the last 8 years as a pediatric sleep consultant but I need to give you a disclaimer… 🗣 There are extreme cases out there with teething, so please consult with your pediatrician if you have any concerns!

But let’s talk about the average baby. What are some of symptoms you’ve recognized when they’re starting to teethe?

Do you have an extreme case (diaper rashes, high fevers), or are you not even aware and suddenly there’s a tooth?

For the average baby, symptoms include irritability, drooling and putting everything in their mouth. Leave in the comments below what your baby’s symptoms are!

OFTEN TEETHING ALIGNS WITH A SLEEP CHANGE

The first thing we’re going to look at with a teething baby is how is this going to impact their awake windows?

There are times when they’re going through the teething phase and guess what happens?? The teething phase also seems to coordinate with their awake windows changing.

When they’re changing their nap schedules or awake windows, they may be irritable or extra tired, and they happen to be teething! The reality is that this is a NORMAL change for sleep changes, too! It’s not necessarily teething.

NATURAL REMEDIES FOR DAYTIME SLEEP

So, in these times, when you have a teething baby and you’re trying to stretch your awake windows, I have a few (free or cheap!) tools to handle their crankiness! And another quick tip: try several different things to experiment for what works for them!

• Frozen washcloths – Take a washcloth, get it wet, roll it up, and put it in the freezer. Let them gnaw away on that!
• Teething toys
• Mesh pouches with frozen food

NIGHTTIME BEDTIME REMEDIES

What about bedtime and overnight? During bedtime routine, use opportunities, like bath, to offer them things like:

• Frozen breastmilk in the mesh pouches before bed
• Chewing on teething rings
• Gentle gum massage

Note: Be cautious about how often you’re using pain relievers. I’m not a medical professional, but if you’ve been using pain relieving medicine every night for several nights in a row or several weeks, please STOP!!

For more night time remedies check out my video and blog post here!

IF YOU’RE BOTH STILL LOSING SLEEP

When we are sleeping, our bodies heal, they are restored… so when your baby has teething pain, they need sleep!!! If your baby is having broken sleep, the kind of sleep where they (and you) are waking up all throughout the night, you’re not feeling 100% and neither are they!

If they’re not sleeping through the night (11-12 hours) independently, OF COURSE they’re not happy during the day!

So what do you do if your baby WAS sleeping great and now all of the sudden they’re not and their teeth are peeking through?

1. Try those natural remedies for daytime and nighttime
2. After you’ve done bedtime routine, keep your expectations for nights
3. If they need extra help, go back through the sleep training methods like leave and check or stay in the room
4. If it’s been over 5 nights and you’ve seen their tooth has already popped out, do not lean on teething as the issue! Get back to our normal expectations by following the method that you’ve used for your family, whether that’s our program or something else that has worked for your family.

And last thing – If you’re still in need of extra help or you need to get back on course, our Baby Sleep Course is exactly what you need to make sleep a thing in a minimum of 3 nights.

 

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