TEETHING AND THE EFFECTS ON SLEEP
You may have finally mastered sleep training your baby to sleep through the night. Getting a full night sleep is suddenly a reality again. Suddenly, during the middle of the night, your baby’s cry pierces you right through your dreams.
Why is this happening? Is it another growth spurt? Sleep regression? The flu? No. Welcome to the world of teething. Sleep training while teething can be difficult, but hopefully the guide below will help all you parents out there!
WHAT IS TEETHING?
Teething is when your baby’s teeth start growing, which involves the tooth moving up and down until they finally cut through the gum. This constant movement of the tooth up and down is what usually causes the pain and discomfort, which ultimately can affect their sleep and mood. The pain is somehow escalated in the evenings, which unfortunately can mean multiple night wakes. We also have a guide if your baby is crying in their sleep.
WHEN DOES TEETHING START?
Most babies will start developing teeth between 6 to 12 months. There is a lot of variability with this timeline as some babies can start teething as early as 4 months, while others won’t have teeth until after they’re one year old. The first set of teeth are usually the two lower front teeth (lower central incisors) followed by the two upper front teeth (upper central incisors).
The neighbouring teeth to these central incisors will normally follow suit. Babies grow a total of 20 baby teeth, so this means teething until they’re around 2 years old! Remember though, that the pain associated with teething usually only lasts 24-72 hours prior to the tooth erupting.
7 SIGNS OF TEETHING
- 1Increase in drool: Your baby will have more saliva as a result of teething and therefore lots of drooling. Ensure you have extra bibs lying around as they will quickly get soaked through with the amount of drool!
- 2Drool rash or nappy rash: There may be red patches around your baby’s mouth or on their chin from the constant drooling. Use nappy balm on these areas as extra protection.
- 3Biting on everyone and everything: Notice your baby starting to bite on everything? This is because any sort of pressure relieves the discomfort on their gums. Now might also be a good time to invest in cot rails, as they will literally leave bite marks all along the cot!
- 4Ear-pulling or ear-rubbing: The nerves in your teeth are linked to the nerves in your ears, so you might notice your baby pulling or rubbing their ears frequently. Frequent ear rubbing could also indicate an ear infection, so also make sure to check this isn’t the case.
- 5Night-wakings: Your baby might not sleep comfortably during the night anymore because of the sharp pains of teeth cutting through.
- 6Fussiness during meal times: Due to the pain of the teeth cutting through, your baby might get fussy and not want to eat. Try cool foods or liquid foods so it’s reduces the amount of chewing required.
- 7Diarrhea: You might notice your baby having diarrhea. This is because of the excess saliva being produced making your baby’s stools more runny.
5 TEETHING REMEDIES
- 1Teething gel: Some parents swear by teething gel, while others say it doesn’t help at all. Teething gels contain a mild pain reliever called choline salicylate. Bonjela is a very popular teething and mouth ulcer gel available at most supermarkets and is safe for babies. Like we said, some argue that teething gels are not as effective as claimed, as it is usually quickly removed by their tongue and saliva. Ensure to keep dosage to a small amount as babies can overdose if given too much.
- 2Teething rings: These are usually made of silicone and can be used by your baby to apply pressure on the gums. You can pop these in the fridge before giving to your baby as the cooling sensation can provide extra soothing relief.
- 3Massaging gums: Using clean fingers, gently massage on the gums where the teeth are cutting through. Try to avoid getting bitten if they already have a few teeth out!
- 4Cold packs: Use a small clean wash towel and pop it into the fridge or freezer to use as a cooling pack on your baby’s gums.
- 5Medicine: If the pain is especially bad, you could get pain relief in the form of medicine, such as Pamol prescribed by your doctor. Make sure you get the all clear from your doctor before giving it to your little one.
TEETH CARE
It is recommended to start practicing and exposing your baby to teeth care once that first tooth erupts. Early exposure will get your baby used to good hygiene habits with their pearly whites.
Use baby fluoride toothpaste and a baby toothbrush to brush their teeth twice a day. No need to rinse at this stage, but you can use a clean finger and some water to wash the mouth to remove excess toothpaste.
WHAT ABOUT OUR SLEEP TRAINING WHILE TEETHING?
It is only natural to want to comfort your baby while they’re teething. However, it is very important that you do not undo any sleep training during this period by creating new sleep associations, such as rocking to sleep or co-sleeping (if you didn’t do this previously). This will only cause confusion and irritability as their routine is thrown out of whack.
That being said, this does not mean you can’t pick them up and comfort them if they are really in pain. Perhaps you can try holding them enough to calm them down and then place them back into the crib when they’re drowsy enough to fall back asleep on their own.
If the pain gets so bad that your baby is inconsolable, it’s not the end of the world if you break the rules and just hold your baby to sleep. Sleep is crucial during their teething period as believe it or not, sleep helps with pain relief. At the end of the day, sleep training can always resume once they are feeling better. Just know that teething is not an issue or excuse to undo your hard work sleep training! Good luck! If you're interested, this is how we sleep trained our 4 month old son.
