Dear Friends and Experienced Mothers:
Here is my current situation, I need your help---
The good news: Zoe actually broke a tooth!!! Yup-- for all of those who don't know- Zoe has been a toothless baby all up until two weeks ago. This is a HUGE deal because I have been giving her baby Tylenol everytime I "think" she is teething which puts her back to about 4-5 months old. (The kid has serisously drunk --I dunno how many bottles of motrin and tylenol-- which I know can't be a good thing). So for once it was nice to see that she actually needed the medicine.
But here is my problem---the other tooth was suppose to come within a week of the first, right? Hmm...well still nothing and she's still GRUMPY!!!
When, Zoe was little she had acid reflux until she was about 9 months old, thus I was up a lot with her until then and she finally started sleeping through the night when that let up.
However, with all our travelling we have been doing she is (although adjusted to the time zone), still all out of wack with her sleeping. She consistantly wakes up sometimes even twice a night. Here are my guesses as to why, tell me what you think?
1. She pees and wakes herself up (I know this from experience last night because it was everywhere)
2. She getting more teeth
3. She's having nightmares
4. She wants a bottle and thinks it's mommy time at 4 am in the morning.
Ok before you go jumping to conclusions... I have no problem letting her "cry it out"..except for that fact that we are not at MY HOUSE! Thus she crys...she wakes everyone up--obviously not good a good thing. How do I stop this new found habit again but still attend to her needs?
So which is it.... 1, 2, 3, or 4? (anyone have experience with Nightmares/terrors?- Do night-time diapers work better than normal?)
By the way Zoe's official record for "crying it out" is 3 HOURS ---yes that's right.... 3!!! It probably would of gone on more, but I couldn't take it much longer so I gave in let her have a bottle. This was months ago, but nonetheless, she does not give up easily. (At that time she was probably 9 months old).
Does anyone have kids that teethed this late? Am I in for a long stretch of teething or -Will they all come in at once? When exactly are they done teething anyways?
Another situation... I am trying to get enough sleep so that when baby #2 comes... I can have enough energy to deal with more sleepless nights. Do I keep them in seperate rooms? Do I put them in the same room? I put Zoe in her room that first week she was born...... I can't sleep with her in the same room not even now, so I can assume that with this next one right?
I know all kids are different, but if any of you are still reading this amazingly long post...
remember Zoe will be 19 months old so it's not like I will be able to communicate very easily with her on this matter, but any advice or words of wisdom would be much appreicated.
Desperate for Sleep....
Amber
9 comments:
First of all every baby is different & once you think you've got them figured out, they go and throw you for a loop again!
As far as waking up at night, I definitely think the changes in location/time zones etc play a big part. You just have to do your best. Diapers-I would try a bigger size or different brand. I also let babies cry it out, but when you're at someone else's house it's hard...I wouldn't feel too bad about just giving her a bottle- you're only doing it out of consideration for others & you won't be doing it forever. Another thing that has worked for Matthew is just putting on a cd quietly in the room. He likes the Mo-Tab Choir. :) It seems to calm him down & puts him to sleep.
As far as having kids sleeping together (and we're pros now with all three boys in the same room!) I generally have the baby in my room for just the first couple months, and even though I stress when it's time to put them together I've found that they do much better than you'd anticipate. You'll probably have some rough nights, but crazy as it sounds, it seems that the older one starts to sleep better after the baby comes...not sure why, but it happens. And for you....take naps! Catch up on your sleep when Zoe takes her naps. You need the sleep, so get it when you can. Best of luck Amber, I hope you get feeling better & get some sleep! (Oh, and babies' teeth come in whenever they want, in whatever order...) Sorry for the novel length comment!
I feel for you! I'm not sure I can be of much help, but I do know there's no telling how long you'll be doing the teething thing. Baby's teeth vary so much, they can come in any order and at different speeds. As far as the sleeping thing... I was worried about keeping them in the same room, but they've done really great with it. When Miles would cry Zach never even flinched, and vice versa. (Of course maybe they are just sound sleepers, who knows?) I hope things get better - good luck!
I wish there was a simple answer! How about #s 1 through 4. Ha hah. That's the way it's been with Landon until recently. He's stopped eating in the middle of the night (by force) but we're still dealing with #1-3. He has really bad night terrors and wakes up with a soaked bed almost every night. It's annoying and I hate washing his bedding so much. He's got 8 teeth.... but is still wakes up fussy because of it. He pretty much lives on Tylenol. I heard that teething can last for 2 years off and on because they are supposed to get molars at the end and they're the worst of all the teeth. Oh, bathroom exhaust fans and soft static noises help calm Landon down maybe try that at night when she wakes up.... it might help cover her noises for everyone else too.
oh amber, i feel your pain! getting up with your baby girl in the middle of the night can be so exhausting! i am so sorry little zoe is having a hard time! i don't really have any advice...you have been doing the mommy thing longer than i have :) i def know that moving around messes with their sleep schedule though. sade slept horrible the first month we moved here to texas, she's doing better now though. she is also getting all 4 of her top front teeth right now at the same time, so i know what grumpy is like! i just do baby tylenol, a bath and bottle right before bed and primary songs...works for us. hope things start to look up for you guys! :D
Hey Amber! Random comment...but my friend just told me that Gap is going a casting call for Baby Gap and Gap Kids. And since Zoe is so precious (despite the fact that she's keeping you up all night!), I thought I'd share the news:
www.gap.com/castingcall
Good luck! I love you!
I would guess it is most definitely about being in a new place, new bed and all of that. Kids NEED routine and if that is thrown off, you are in for it. I think you are probably going to have to ride it out until you are back in your own home. Then I would do the crying it out thing again. It will be hard but so worth it.
As for the teething thing. It really shouldn't be too terrible for her. All kids get their teeth at their own rate and sometimes it will bother her and sometimes it won't! Just because she is fussy doesn't mean it's her teeth. She may just be sleepy or on edge because her life is a little hectic right now. Chances are she will be teething for quite sometime- it will be a long while before her molers come in.
Totally take naps when she does. I would bet it won't be long until she is back in her routine again.
And the music idea is a great idea!
Good luck!
O.k. friend, here's what worked for us.
First off, Mason and Nat were late teethers. Way past one until they started to come. I would dampen a washcloth and put it in the freezer for about 20 minutes. that way the waters cold but your also not holding this frozen block of washcloth. Then I would give it to my kids to suck on. The cold numbs their gums and they were happy to just sit and suck all the cold out. Babies know when they aren't at their homes. I'll bet Zoe is waking up wondering where the heck she is. Have you tried sleeping next to her? It gets tricky in this situation because when you do get home she'll probably expect you to sleep by her every night. Pick your battles I guess. But if she's still waking up when the baby comes, I would strongly suggest different rooms. If she wakes up your new babe then there's crying kids all over the place. You need to sleep now girlfriend! After 3 kids, I'm about 564 hours behind on my sleep! :) Good luck and let me know what works.
The besy book for sleeping at all ages is 'Sleeping Through the Night'. I know all the moving around is throwing Anna off but as other people have said, schedules are important. I don't think you need to wait until you get home to work on it, I say adjust to each place as you will be there long enough.
Amber,
just got on your blog and saw your question. Thought I'd take a few minutes to condense 12-13 plus years of babies....The answer to your one question...... 16 to 18 years...yes that's right...16-18! When they finally get their
3rd molars... as a mother, your done. And then of course you get to pay to have them removed...ha ha! Then--times that by the number of children you have...definately a fun time!!! Then some children even overlap each other. My children all got their teeth late. I felt okay about it because it protected them from decay that much longer. Again this is a "WELCOME TO PARENTHOOD" moment.
As was mentioned each child is different. I haven't been able to understand why so many of these young mothers are so anxious to take a bottle away from their babes so early. It's not about their teeth...I know that one. I never had a problem when the timing was right to wean my children of it. Each child is different again, and you can usually tell when the time is right. Books are guidelines, but you are the mom. Use wise decisions. Bottles are the comfort, food and security for many little ones. All aren't ready just because the child is 1 now.
As for the sleeping arrangements. I kept my babies close in a bassinet for 2-3 months until they out grew it. It was nice because if they were noisy sleepers I could wheel it to the other room. I had Joy and Troy in cribs at the same time. They are 2 yrs. apart. When we moved to Tenn. and Joy was almost 2 1/2 she went into a "big girl bed". When Tyler was born, I had both Troy and Tyler in cribs. They shared rooms all their growing up years. They learned to get along with each other. Joy moved into her own room when almost 5 and we moved back to CA.
As for night terrors, didn't have much problem with them. Once in a while. I played soft music nightly as my children went to sleep. I read to them nightly and prayed with them. Don't forget that if you ever need them to have a blessing...don't forget to ask. Sometimes things get nuts, and you get exhausted, you need to ask for help, send Zoe to a friend and just take a nap.
Well there's my 10 min. novel. I'm sure your aunts could all give you advice. Hope this may help you. Love across the miles-
Aunt Vicki
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