Saturday, March 5, 2011

Teething Kidnapped My Happy Baby And Makes Mommy Drink More Wine.

My child sleeps through the night. He's been sleeping through the night since he was two months old. I honestly believe that his sleep habits are only so by the grace of God, so please don't hate me. You'll hate me less when I tell you that my child does not nap. Never has. I consider myself lucky if he goes down for 20 or 30 minutes per day. Although my sanity hangs on by a mere thread, we've adapted to a schedule of little to no nappage and we survive. However, this is not the point of my post. My nerves are shot and I'm rambling.

Reel it in, Ashley Paige. Reel it in.

Carter was up every two hours the night before his seven month birthday. When I say awake, I'm not talking the cute kind of awake, chattering away and playing in his crib. I'm talking the kind of awake that involves screaming bloody murder. As if someone was in there pulling the few hairs that he has on his head, out. One. by. one. Only after pinching him or flicking his ears.

Check for fever. Diaper change. Rock. Rock. Rock. Crawl back into bed. 
No fever. Not wet. Rock. Rock. Rock. Stumble back into bed. 
No fever. Diaper change. Rock. Rock. Rock. Fall asleep in nursery rocker.

That was our night. It was awful, for all parties involved. Once Carter did wake, he went back off to sleep with a little shushing and rocking- but all the in between? Drama city.

Morning came, The Husband left for work and as I'm getting Fussy McFusspants all set up in his high chair for breakfast, I glance down and see them. Two pearly whites cutting through the skin of his bottom gum.  

[Enter head-slap moment here] Doh. Teeth. How's that for feeling like the world's worst mother? In my defense, Carter has been drooling and eating inanimate objects for months. My hands, his hands, toys, kitchen utensils, dog toys, you name it. Sure, things could have been moving around in there, but when I would do my "weekly check for chompers," I'd always come up empty handed. Even the Pedi at Carter's 6 month well visit said he hadn't seen any teefers in there! 

Fast forward 72 hours. A dizzying, tiring conglomeration of Motrin before bedtime, Hyland's gel during the day, frozen banana chunks in the mesh feeder, frozen washcloths fresh from the freezer, teething rings, nunnies and a whole mess of fuss.

Teething stole my happy baby. I don't even know who this child is anymore. I know, I know. If adults had to go through the teething process, we'd fail miserably. I get that it's painful. And my Mommy heart hurts to think that Carter is in pain. Short of rubbing whiskey on his gums, I'm literally pulling every single trick I know from the Big Bag of Mommy Tricks.  Good thing we polished off that bottle of Jack a few months ago- I'm not sure who needs it more- me or the baby.

He hates being alone. He hates his toys. He hates his walker. He hates his swing. That 20 minute nap he'd sometimes take? Fuhgeddaboutit. He hates his jogging stroller, he hates his Chicco. He hates walks. Even Mickey and the Hot Dog Dance can't soothe the teething monster.

He likes Mum-Mums and frozen bananas. He REALLY likes me and sometimes he likes Sheepie. He also likes to whine and fuss and whine and fuss and whine... and fuss. And whine.


Please tell me this doesn't last long. Please? I beg you. I don't think I've felt this tired and frustrated since the newborn days. In fact, I KNOW I haven't felt like that since then.

This teething business is no joke. So, how many more times can I expect nights like these? How many teeth does he get?

More importantly, how many bottles of Chardonnay is it acceptable for one Mom to consume during the teething process?




 
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14 comments :

  1. Aww....hang in there. Though I hate to be the one to tell you they get 20 baby teeth between now and about 2 years of age.

    Right now we're dealing with flu recovery and the cutting of the top teeth....which is about 100000000 times worse than when he got the bottom ones.

    Lucky (or maybe not so lucky) for me....he doesn't sleep through the night anyways so no change there. Oh. And he also doesn't nap. Ever. Apparently he functions quite well on little sleep. Me, not so much!

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  2. Aw :(

    I have no advice. I can tell you that we are in the frustrating newborn days if that helps console you but I know it doesn't!

    Let me know what you figure out b/c that will be us before we know it!

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  3. Like we talked about a little on twitter this morning...it does get better! Our scenario was much the same as yours. SCREAMY BABY! Started on Valentine's day. Once the teeth broke through--returned the happy baby.

    This week, apparently there are either more teeth coming or these two are on the move because OHMAGAWD!

    Our conversation prompted me to write a post about our schedule today and sleep. :)

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  4. Oh and one more thing...wine comsumption is acceptable until there is no more screaming.

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  5. Hang in there mama!! It will get better! Now that my son is 3.5 it seems like the teething phase was years ago. After the first few teeth were in then he would cut them a couple at a time which seemed to make it go by so much quicker. But my son also seemed to get ear infections every time new teeth would pop which was even more insanity to the mix. He also wasn't sleeping through the night at 7-8 months when he cut his first tooth. So I think part of me was on autopilot for most of it...only difference was dealing with a little bit more fussiness then usual. I may or may not have consumed more then a normal persons limit of adult beverages on certain nights.

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  6. We feel you. I wish I could say it would be over in a week, but we've been teething for WEEKS here with our Carter. He only has 3 so far - his top gums are super swollen so we know there are more, but my word, they are taking forever to come in. We should buy stock in Ibuprofren.

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  7. The first two teeth BG cut were pretty bad. She didn't sleep, whined all the time, etc. But.. after that, the others were a bit easier. Until now. I don't know if she's cutting molars now or what, but she's killing me slowly over here. Come over. We'll lock up the kids and drink lotso wine. And bring Lindsey and C. We deserve it! ;)

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  8. I love you for writing this blog. Really, if I could reach through cyberspace and give you a big weepy hug, I would. Teething has also totally hijacked my happy baby. He's like a different little boy over the past few days, and every time he screams while on the changing table (like, every time) I can see those evil little buds on the top. Both sides. He fussed through the bottom two teeth, but now these top guys are making me a crazy person. And everyone I talk to says, "Oh, my baby really didn't have any trouble...." I try not to physically harm them in any way. Please, please, please, teeth- hurry up!! (for all of us) Good luck.

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  9. I feel your pain, and Tommy feels Carter's! Tommy's 1st bottom tooth did not come in until 11.5 months and then the 2nd on a week after his first birthday. He still only has 7 teeth @ almost 18 months, though 2 of his upper molars have started to come through, which probably explains some of our recent night wakings. it's awful, I know...but I found the Motrin really does help, and it WILL PASS, but then it might start again when the next batch decide to pop through. (yes, I'm living proof on all accounts). Ours seems to be pretty drawn out unfortunately. You'd think someone out there would have figured out a solution to this teething thing by now, right? Hang in there!

    ReplyDelete
  10. My girlfriend just told me about these:

    http://www.amazon.com/Little-Remedies-Teethers-Tablets-150-tablets/dp/B001ELDW7M

    She swears by them. Good luck, momma!!!

    Dannielle

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  11. Sucks, doesn't it? Just when normal enters the picture again, it get upended by more teeth. I am happy to say #6 is showing its face today. We didn't have a clue when the first cut through. Now we know exactly why he wakes up screaming as if a chuckle doll is over his crib. Clinginess? You bet ya! We just do tylenol and Orajel. Does C chew on his fingers? I always know when teeth are coming because connors poor fingers are gnawed to death. Last night Connor woke up for an hour and half inconsolable. I finally got him asleep and came back to bed and got a high five from Adam. That is how bad it has been with rsv, ear infection, and Teething over in these parts! I feel like I am breastfeeding a newborn with how little sleep I have gotten lately. Hang in there. If you need to bitch, I'm here!

    And my novel is done :)

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  12. oh my goodness thank you for posting this .... I came to work today so tired and sad because my kid (who is 6 months and 1 week) has been whining, kicking, screaming for 3 days. We honestly thought she had turned into the spoiled kid everyone keeps warning us we're going to end up with.

    Just like you, my kid was super easy (except for colic which took me a couple of weeks to figure out) and very happy. Since 2 months, she would put herself to sleep at 11pm and wouldn't wake until 6am. During the day, she's generally content playing with herself on her mat or in her exersaucer. Usually, very happy .... until this weekend.

    I can't wait to go home and look in her mouth .... and I really do hope I see teeth cause I don't know if we can take anymore of this.

    Thank you again, I sent this to my husband and he has now declared that he will pick her up from daycare tonight after all (instead of leaving her there for a few days).

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  13. i am dreading the day nolan's teeth start arriving. GOOD LUCK!!! do whatever works...including polishing off some wine!

    ReplyDelete

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