Sleep is essential for a baby’s cognitive and physical development. The same goes for parents. They need a good night’s sleep to recharge and handle parenting responsibilities all day. However, with a new baby in the family, a few reasons would keep the family awake at night. For instance, Baby Teething is a common reason that keeps the baby tossing and turning, thus keeping the parents awake to soothe the baby. To help you overcome this challenge and maintain restful nights during teething, here’s a guide we have prepared for you.
Understanding Teething
Teething is a natural process that babies go through. It’s painful for babies, but it’s a harmless phase. Babies feel most uncomfortable at night since they feel exhausted during that time and don’t have distractions as they do during the day. This will result in intense discomfort and teething pain, keeping the parents or babysitter awake at the same time.
Besides disrupted sleep, other symptoms of teething in babies include rash around the mouth, drooling, irritability, loss of appetite, diarrhea, mild temperature, intense gum-rubbing, ear-rubbing, and biting.
These symptoms can last about a week, but the duration could vary. It’s most painful in a few days before the teeth come out of the gums and a few days afterward.
To pacify your baby during teething, here are some tips you can follow:
1. Teething Pain Management Strategies
Besides using soothing teething tablets for your baby’s comfort and other teething medications, you can safely relieve your baby’s teething pain through the following proven strategies:
- Frozen berries or bananas
If you have introduced solid food to your baby, feeding them with frozen berries and bananas would work.
- Wet washcloth
You can let your baby gnaw on a wet washcloth that you have kept in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Sippy cup of cool water
If your baby is around 4-6 months, you can let them drink on a sippy cup of cold water.
- Solid teething rings
Put teething rings in the freezer until frozen but not solid rock. Avoid using liquid-filled teething rings, as too much pressure can puncture them, releasing the liquid inside, which could contain bacteria.
- Chewy Toys
Use toys made of silicone and let your baby gnaw on them.
- Your finger
Use your fingers to rub your baby’s gums. Make sure to wash them before putting them inside your baby’s mouth.
2. Creating a Comfortable Sleep Environment
Creating a conducive sleep environment for babies is essential, especially when teething. Start with keeping your baby in a dark room until it’s morning. This way, their body will get used to falling asleep independently. If breastfeeding, use as little light as possible to avoid unintentionally waking the baby.
White noise can also help your baby sleep continuously throughout the night. Some white noise machines, soft toys, and electronic devices can help you. Moreover, install air conditioning units in your baby’s room. This way, you can regulate the temperature in the room. Choose the sleepwear based on the temperature of the surroundings.
If you are at room temperature, do not use two layers of clothing so they won’t feel hot.
3. Establishing a Consistent Bedtime Routine
To establish a consistent bedtime routine during Baby Teething, start feeding your baby 15 minutes before putting them in the crib. This would get them a little drowsy and prepare them for sleep. You can also bathe the baby an hour before sleep time. Use warm water to stimulate blood circulation to your baby’s extremities, leading to a cooler internal core and helping them sleep.
Of course, singing lullabies is an effective routine. You may also try singing a calm, gentle song in a foreign language to help your baby relax at night. Moreover, some parents may think allowing more screen time at night will put their baby to sleep. However, it leads to the other way around. Every minute spent on the touchscreen, your baby loses a minute of nighttime sleep.
4. Optimal Food Choices
Teething would get your baby feeling under the weather, so expect loss of appetite during this phase. It will be hard to feed them during teething, but it’s important to maintain a healthy diet and hydration.
You can try feeding them fruit, vegetable purees, and other nutritious soft foods they can slurp in a spoon. Chilled yogurt can also be helpful. Try cucumber sticks or mushed-up avocado, carrots, or strawberries.
You can feed your baby sliced pepper, sugar snap peas, whole green beans, or bread sticks for hard foods. Just stay beside them while they eat to avoid choking on these solid foods.
5. Comforting Techniques
Before bedtime, you can exert more effort on comforting techniques by gently rocking, swaying, or carrying them around the house. Extra cuddling time can also help soothe the pain they feel. You can also give extra nursing sessions to increase skin-to-skin contact with your baby.
When to Consult a Pediatrician
Teething is harmless, but some circumstances should prompt you to consult a pediatrician. Besides typical teething symptoms, you should call the doctor if your baby’s temperature exceeds 100.4°F. Other alarming signs include a runny nose, cough, rashes around the body, and refusal to nurse.
Conclusion
Rest is the best way to heal when babies are not feeling well. However, if your baby is restless because of teething, you might need some tips and tricks to overcome this challenge. Along with your pediatrician’s advice, just follow the steps we have covered in this guide, and you can ensure restful nights for both you and your baby!
