I felt like he needed the Tylenol last night, normally he doesn't get it.

If they don't get their baths it throws off their schedule even more. He is teething and having a pretty hard time with it :-/ He is even harder to settle if he doesn't get his daytime naps. We have tried not letting nap as much, we also tried a warm bath and that didn't help.

Poor kiddo.

I have 5 month old twins and my son will not sleep. Do any mama's have any tips?

I don't know if this question is appropriate here, I'll remove it if not.

I find myself up a lot during the night and early morning browsing the forums.

Not a mom yet, but I am a certified ECE that works with infants so I do at least have some experience with them ...Have you tried the usual go to's?

*stroller/car ride
*carrying him in one of the baby wraps
*soft classical music
*white noise or nature noise machines, or heart beat machine
*making sure he is neither too hot nor too cold
*humidifier
*rocker
*rocking chair
*laying him down in crib in living room or such with noise if his room is too quiet
*singing to him or reading a story
*simply holding him until he falls asleep
*placing him in something he does like to sleep in such as his car seat and moving him to crib once he is asleep
*simply laying your hand on him while he's laying down to sleep
*stayed in the room with him without actually interacting

Oh yeah, once his head hits the mattress he is awake. He gets a feeding after his bath at 8 and will fall asleep shortly after. He always wakes up before I can get him in his crib. He will scream for 40 ish minutes then I will rock him, pat his bottom, walk around and pat his bottom, I've tried everything for teething, it's a battle every night.

Have you tried giving him the bath earlier or skipping it at night? Usually they have a calming effect and help the babies relax, but sometimes they also wake them up. I had one baby in my nursery who was a lot like that. Would only fall asleep in my arms and as soon as I started to put them in the crib, they would instantly wake up. What I ended up having to do until they got used to sleeping in their crib, was I would rock them to sleep while I was standing up, that way they wouldn't be jolted awake when I stood up, and once they were really asleep, I would rock them back and forth as I lowered them into the crib.

It is tiring and a pain in the butt especially if you are like me with short arms, but it was the only thing I could get to work. Just be ready for him to wake up five or six times while you're doing this when you first start out, I think it's the feeling like you're falling that wakes them up when you go to put them in the crib. The rocking seemed to lessen the feeling for the baby. Once you get him in the crib, instantly start rocking it with one hand while keeping the other on him so it will still feel like you are holding him sort of.

If it doesn't work and he starts waking up completely again, rinse and repeat. Like I said, it may take five or six tries, but it should work. If your crib doesn't rock, gently rock the baby himself back and forth with the hand holding him once he is in the crib. And I mean really gently, it should feel like the crib was rocking, but not wake him up.

Also if he is not a fan of rocking, you can always try gently patting the side of his face with your open hand in a heart beat rhythm. I usually patted my babies on the back with the heart beat rhythm while rocking their cribs if they were having problems falling asleep. I should mention though that my babies were a lot older, we didn't even accept babies under 6 months and most started around 9 or 10 months so on the back was safe. I don't remember what is considered the correct position currently for that young, but even if you can't reach the back, you can also try the same patting on the outside of his thigh. It's the rhythm that matters more than the location.

Yep I do the rocking and rocking while I lower in the crib. I dosed him with some baby Tylenol tonight and he seemed to calm down. I try not to give it to them but...

His twin sister sleeps so good at night its hard not to compare them sometimes.

We gave them their bath at 7 instead of 8 and threw them off their schedule big time. The we're so made they took their naps later today so they wanted to eat at different times. We tried having them wait till 8 for bath and last bottle but it is hard to ignore and make two screaming babies happy

I wouldn't give him baby Tylenol unless he actually needs it. If something actually is wrong, though I'm sure it's not and he's just a picky baby, you might miss the signs if he is out because of medicine.

Hehe it could be worse, you could have two babies that refuse to sleep instead of one. If one of the babies refused to sleep and would cry the entire time I tried to put it to sleep, it would keep the whole nursery up; which trust me is no fun. If she is sleeping alright, don't change her schedule even though it would probably be easier for you to try to keep them the same. Her's works for her.

Does he go right to sleep during his afternoon nap or are you having a problem with that as well. The reason I ask, is even though he's still pretty young, some babies just don't need the nap or even just as long of one. If you are having problems with the nap as well, maybe try skipping it one day or at least pushing it back until he really wants one.

If you aren't having a problem with the nap, maybe try starting it a little earlier or letting it to last less time. I know there's the old rule about never waking a sleeping baby, but sometimes you have to and as long as it is done gently, the baby won't be startled .

Hairann has pretty much covered everything I'd try with my kids. I'd definitely hold off on the Tylenol as long as possible if you can sooth your boy with old fashion cuddles.
Have you tried a teething gel? Most pharmaceuticals carry it, you just rub it on his gums and it numbs the pain. I recommend you look, it's harmless to your baby and gives almost instant relief to you and babe.

Yep we have teething gel, teething tablets, organic teething gel. He just screams and cries and chews on anything you put in his mouth. He won't chew on teething toys either. We have those weird teething things that look like a strawberry, he hates them.

They both used to scream and cry at the same time when they were smaller. I'm thankful sister is sleeping through the night now!

We used the teethers (but only the round ones) and teething gel, with baby tylenol as a last ditch resort... but I also let my daughter (since she was the worst at chewing on everything) gnaw on a frozen bagel when she was teething. You just have to watch him when it starts to thaw, to make sure he doesn't gnaw off any chunks too big to swallow!

The bagel was like her eating something, and she didn't fuss like she would with the teethers (which also got warm way too fast for her taste!). I usually managed to get it away from her before it got too soggy, though, and the extra cold kept her happy longer than the teething gel.

Sorry you're having so much trouble!

~~Wiccan~~

Wiccan, pretty much the only thing I have not tried yet it the frozen bagel. I got some little frozen mini waffles to try. I'm just cautious since they are only 5 months :-/

I got some fresh fruit to make my own baby food!

Thuper exthited!

Wiccan is spot on about the frozen bagels. I used those too when I was out of the teething biscuits I also had in the freezer. And yes, you gotta watch them like a hawk. When a hunk would break off I'd scoop that out of their mouth and throw the whole thing away. When I was in a pinch and had neither, I'd wash my hands, hold my finger in ice cold water for about 30 seconds, then let them chew on my knuckle

My sister-in-law had necklaces with amber beads for teething. Her two kids loved them and I rarely heard them fuss over teething. They were great because we didn't have to look for them, and they couldn't be dropped. The kids had total control over when they would use them, so there wasn't a fuss about trying to find something before the pain/irritation got too bad.

We had a vibrating teether for my kiddo which helped, but she actually preferred an empty Tylenol bottle. The rubbery dropper top seemed to work best and she could fit it in her mouth the way she wanted it. We also had a little mesh thing we could put frozen fruit in and she could gnaw on that. The fruit had to come out in little pieces through the mesh, so we were less concerned about choking and kiddo could gnaw on it to her hearts content!

I remember what a slight change in schedule would do, and I feel for you!! Hang in there! When it was a bad night, we usually just found a comfy spot on the floor, made a makeshift bed and slept in a big pillow/puppy pile. Probably not the best parenting decision to get her to sleep by herself, but some nights the effort of caring was just too much! I hope you all get a better night's rest tonight!

I plan on getting some amber teething necklaces. I have heard they work wonders. I actually have one of those mesh things. I have some bananas I will try. He loves to chew on blankets and other cloth things because they are easier for him to hold.

Thanks ladies

i dont have kids, nor do any of my siblings, but i do remember a friend taking a face towel, and soaking it in water that had some sugar in it, not a lot mind you just enough to give it a taste, then ring it out and freeze it yourself. You have a teething towel that you can reuse, and wont hurt them. Though like all things i would say watch them no matter what, and never reuse the same one right after another, but *shrugs* just a thought!

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