FortKnox's Journal: Please... make... the teething... stop!!

Ugh. Its morning... I think.
Joey wakes up at least a few times a night, now.
He wakes up screaming. We give him baby tylenol, baby oragel, and even breast feed him. But it doesn't stop the crying.
Its agonizing. We wake up in the middle of the night, hearing his screams, trying to do everything you can, but he continues to scream (BTW - hearing your child scream, and not being able to do anything, ties all kinds of knots in your stomach). So, by the time he finally calms down to go to sleep, which takes about an hour (mind you, the wife has worked with infants in daycare for several years, so calming him down in normal circumstances is cake), we are both wide awake, with stomach aches, unable to get back to sleep.
And when we finally do, we only get an hour or two of sleep.

It is kind of a rude awakening. When he was born, we were prepared for the waking up, handled it, and learned how to go on without the sleep. We knew how to calm him down, and how to put him to sleep.
But teething can happen the day they are born until like they are over a year old. So it broadsided us, and can last over a month (!!!). Its harder to adjust to, because its just difficult to adjust to the screams, and seeing him in pain. And, of course, it happens when he's getting to the point of being easier to care after.

Why couldn't I just have had a toothless child? ;-)

Ahhh, teething

[Real World Stuff]

Ice in an infant wash rag. Let him gnaw on that. Once the teeth erupt he will be better. Pay attention to his ears as teething can lead to ear infections.

Thats nice of you to get up.

[Blackneto]

I never got up at night when the kids screamed.
Of course I'm the only income in the family so that might have a bit to do with it.
I also sleep like the dead and am impossible to get up.
But I know what you are going through...

Re:Thats nice of you to get up.

[FortKnox]

I am the only income, and do sleep and am impossible to wake up, but (prolly cause its my first kid) the baby screaming always gets me up.

The way my wife and I work it out is that I go get him, bring him to her, she takes care of him, and I put him back when he's asleep. So, in theory, I can sleep while she's calming him... she even takes him into the living room to help me... but I can still hear it.

Re:Thats nice of you to get up.

[Blackneto]

It's rough but worth it.
When hes 2 and talking it's even more fun.
My son is the 3rd child so he's had a leg up on things from his older sisters.
wrasslin around on the floor with him is THE highlight of my day.
Don't expect to sleep much till he's 3 though.
Might as well have another, it just gets easier. (that is if your wifes health allows)

I don't want to bring you down...

[COBOL/MVS]

...but my youngest is nearly two and she's still waking up with teething pains. Guess what? When molars start to come in, the pain is much worse since the kid is older.

Every child is different, though. But all our friends have had similar experiences.

And, for the record, I get up with my kids at night, too.

Sorry my friend, but the teething won't stop for a while. Welcome to parenthood!

Sleeping et al..

[sporty]

I can't give you advice for the teething, but for your own personal sanity, figure out what your internal clock is. Not on the macro level of how many hours of slee you prefer a nite, but what your REM cycle is. If you can get at least one or two REM cycles a nite, you can last a few days sleeping like this. It isn't comfortable, as you'll start to feel a little groggy, but awake none-the-less.

SLeep cycles vary from person to person. I know mine is about 40 minutes. It explains why I can deal with 6 hours of sleep and 3.3 hours of sleep, but not 3 or 4.

RWS Hit It

[gmhowell]

Ice in a rag is good. Somewhere, we got these little mesh bags with a handle on them. It's supposed to be for putting fruit in, so they can suck the juice without choking on the fruit. Works really well to hold the ice.

Like others said, the teething could stop soon, or it could take a helluva long time. Be careful sticking your fingers in his mouth: those teeth are SHARP. Joseph never drew any blood, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.

Chances are he'll get most of the teeth except canines and molars, and you'll get a few months respite. And the crying thing: you'll get used to it. There is a difference between the various types of cries. That machine that Homer's brother made would work. Problem is that most parents figure it out. For example, I know the pain one, and that's a bitch. But as we've entered the toddler phase, I also know the scream of frustration. Believe it or not, Angie and I sometimes laugh at that. (Me because of my Freudian lording of power over him, my wife because his tantrums remind her of his daddy. Oh, how droll)

This is a tad offtopic

[GreyWolf3000]

Why couldn't I just have had a toothless child? ;-)

I just got in a bit of a fight with my parents over the phone. As soon as I was done, I checked my mail and /. to try and forget about it all. Next thing I know, I'm reading this journal, and I suddenly realize I've forgotten all my folks back home have put up with.

So I gave 'em a call and sorted things out. Parenting must be tough, now that I remember what all I've put them through.

Re:This is a tad offtopic

[FortKnox]

and I suddenly realize I've forgotten all my folks back home have put up with

If you are going on just my journal entries, its only the really bad stuff, and its only the first 5 months of life ;-)

Man boobies?

[heliocentric]

We give him baby tylenol...and even breast feed him

Ahem, "we" breast feed him? Gee, FK, anything else we should know about your bodily abilities?

Sorry, I realize you're lacking sleep, but that was honestly a thought that came to my (all-be-it sick) mind when I first read this journal.

Try this-

[datastew]

I have three girls ages 8, 6 and 3. I also have 3 younger brothers and 3 younger sisters. I used to get up in the night with my brothers and sisters to help my mom out. I really love babies and have yet to meet a baby that I can't calm down. Here is what I do:

• Hold the baby right up against you, upright with one arm under their diaper and one arm across their back. They like to feel secure, almost like they are in a cocoon/womb.
• Wrap them up securely with their arms down at their sides. A small stretchy blanket helps, but, of course, make sure they can still breath; don't try this under the influence of alcohol or drugs, etc. Again, they like to feel secure, almost like they are in a cocoon/womb.
• Depending on the age of the baby, be aware of what they are looking at and which way their head is facing. If I have a baby that wants to cry and stay awake, sometimes I find that they will calm down better if I walk with them to a "bland" corner of the room where the walls are plain and make sure that I match the turns of their head so that all they have to look at is the bland corner where the walls come together.
• Stand up with them. They just seem to have a way of knowing whether you are standing up or sitting down. Go from one stage to the next if the lower stage is not working, but give each one a try of at least a minute until you get to know what they like or what works best for them.
  1. Stage 1: Try rocking with them in the rocking chair. I put this as stage 1 because there is the possibility that you might even get some sleep at the same time. However, you need to be aware of what kind of a sleeper you are. I can do stuff like this in my sleep as I am a light sleeper and seem to be aware of what is going on around me even in my sleep.
  2. Stage 2: Stand up.
  3. Stage 3: Walk around.
  4. Stage 4: Get a gentle dip in your step. You can do this by walking around, stepping back and forth, side to side, in place or whatever. I usually end up varying things a bit for my own amusement. I am thinking about how to describe this and all I can say is that it is not deep knee bends, but kind of an exaggerated dance. You need to be holding the baby close, so your arms don't get too tired, and you are not shaking the baby. I would guess that the baby moves up and down probably about 6 inches on each spring.
  5. Stage 5: Exaggerate the dip in your step even more, so the baby may move 12 inches or more with each bend.
• Set up time limits for yourself and the baby. That way they know that you have not abandoned them, but they know that they have to learn to deal with their own problems. I am of the opinion that you can not give a baby too much attention, but you also have to deal with reality. When my oldest started to get a little too dependent on us to help her get to sleep (I think it was around 8 months), I did a 10/10 schedule. I would let her cry for 10 minutes and then pick her up and rock her around for ten minutes or until she was asleep.

It's a shame programmers are paid so much more than child care providers, because I would be tempted to start my own day care even though I am a guy.

My email is datastew(cat)juno(dog)com. Feel free to email if you have questions, or post them here for the benefit of all.

One more thing-

[datastew]

Here [cbsnews.com] is a link to a guy with a similiar strategy.