Clarity
02-21-2007, 11:15 AM
DD is 8 months old and is getting her first tooth. She normally sleeps great, usually at least 8p-6a without waking. I loosely use Weissbluth and in the past, have let her work herself back to sleep if she's awoken at night. This has worked well for us so far.
However, she's waking now because of the teething and I'm not sure if I should go ahead and let her cry a bit to see if she'll get back to sleep on her own, or if I should get up immediately and go to her. My goal has never been to ignore my daughter's needs! Last night, she woke at 12:30 crying and I did go to her because I knew she was teething. I gave her some tylenol, tried to cuddle her back to sleep with no success. I ended up bringing her to bed and nursing her back to sleep then returning her to her crib.
I'm not sure if I should be trying to let her cry herself back to sleep or if I should follow my instincts and go to her immediately. I really believe that going to her reinforces night waking and creates a habitual problem but if she's teething and uncomfortable, it seems just wrong to let her cry. How do you meet your dc's needs without creating a night waking problem? Or, am I just overthinking this too much? We've just worked hard on dd's sleep and I'm afraid all the effort will go out the window now that she's teething. Any suggestions, btdt, or reality checks? TIA.
~~Amy
However, she's waking now because of the teething and I'm not sure if I should go ahead and let her cry a bit to see if she'll get back to sleep on her own, or if I should get up immediately and go to her. My goal has never been to ignore my daughter's needs! Last night, she woke at 12:30 crying and I did go to her because I knew she was teething. I gave her some tylenol, tried to cuddle her back to sleep with no success. I ended up bringing her to bed and nursing her back to sleep then returning her to her crib.
I'm not sure if I should be trying to let her cry herself back to sleep or if I should follow my instincts and go to her immediately. I really believe that going to her reinforces night waking and creates a habitual problem but if she's teething and uncomfortable, it seems just wrong to let her cry. How do you meet your dc's needs without creating a night waking problem? Or, am I just overthinking this too much? We've just worked hard on dd's sleep and I'm afraid all the effort will go out the window now that she's teething. Any suggestions, btdt, or reality checks? TIA.
~~Amy