Tylenol Every Night?

amother

Copper

Mon, Apr 06 2015, 8:28 am

My 9 mo. old started waking up for awhile (a half an hr. or more) at around 1 AM. She seems tired, but can't settle down. Sometimes she cries and sometimes she just lies in her crib. She's usually not hungry. She was recently at the doctor and no ear infections. She did recently get two teeth (was up even more during that time). I am assuming that she is teething and that is what's bothering her. I am generally trying to get her back to sleep and eventually giving her Acetaminophen. It often helps. (Or she gets tired enough that she falls asleep before it kicks in.)

I don't think being up in the middle of the night other than for half asleep feeds (which she also is) is good for her. She needs her sleep. I don't like the idea of making Acetaminophen part of bedtime routine, but I end up giving it almost every night once. What should I do?

Miri1

Mon, Apr 06 2015, 12:20 pm

Don't give tylenol routinely.
If she's up every night talk to your pediatrician. You wrote yourself that you think she's falling asleep from exhaustion, before the tylenol kicks in. Don't just "shtip her" with tylenol.

I give tylenol where needed, but remember, it is a medication. If she's sometimes just lying in her crib, as you wrote, why does she need medicine at all?

Have you tried other calming methods? How about teething gel? Or a brisk walk outside?

I'm not sure if she's too young for this, but if it happens every night at the same time, it could be night terrors, which will just pass, tylenol or not.

abaker

Mon, Apr 06 2015, 2:21 pm

Sounds like teething to me. There's been times where I give Tylenol for what seems like every night, and then we go for months without it even once. Definately don't give it all the time, try other ways to soothe and comfort first. Also try giving less than the required dose. That helped for us.

amother

Copper

Mon, Apr 06 2015, 2:47 pm

She doesn't always lie nicely in her crib. There are times when she kvetches. Occasionally, she'll scream, but that's not usually the case. I haven't tried to many calming methods b/c I am afraid that if I take her out of her crib/room, she'll get bad habits. At this point, I don't have too much to lose b/c it's happening every night.

I do want to steer away from the Acetaminophen I'm just afraid that she's in pain. She is super chilled and easy-going and is not such a complainer. She could be in pain and I wouldn't act that different. I've heard negative PR about teething gel, so I never tried it.

I just think she is much more tired throughout the day b/c of her nightwakings. I'm also much more tired b/c I can't go to sleep when she's up.

Tonight I want to skip the Acetaminophen (even if it means staying up all night) and see what she does.

imaima

Mon, Apr 06 2015, 2:53 pm

amother wrote:

there is nothing wrong withwaking up at 9 months. it is not an indication for meds unless she looks sick and uncomfortable.
I think they make homeopathic suppositories that calm bqbies down but contain no meds - maybe you cqn try those?

manhattanmom

Mon, Apr 06 2015, 2:56 pm

MMCH wrote:

do not routinely give medicine.

some babies go through a growth spurt at 9 months old..

and that can change eating and sleeping patterns

I was going to say this too. My daughter is 10 months old now...and always slept well...for about 3 weeks between 8 and 9 months she would get up every night once or twice and out of desperation (mostly because I was way too tired to get out of bed fully,) I would take her into my bed and nurse her....After an hour or so, she'd be in a deep sleep again and I'd put her back in her crib.
She did this every night for 3 weeks, she also just jumped a whole clothing size and started a whole set of new milestones--pulling to stand, making new sounds, etc. And she stopped it completely.

I can't say your baby is going through the same thing....just a thought.

amother

Copper

Mon, Apr 06 2015, 3:22 pm

imaima wrote:

There's nothing wrong. It's just new and unusual, so I assumed it was from teeth. Before this, she was waking up once at around 11 PM and once around 3-4 AM to eat, but she would generally go back right back to sleep. I don't think my DH would do anything homeopathic. He is creeped out of it.

amother

Copper

Mon, Apr 06 2015, 3:25 pm

manhattanmom wrote:

It is an interesting point you make. During the day, she is eating like crazy. She is hungry when she finishes nursing and I have to sit her down for a real meal. Strangely, I have tried to nurse her during this long stretch of wake-up and if she ate relatively recently, she would just take a few sips and come off. She's not acting hungry. Last night, I tried taking off layers b/c it was a warm night, but that didn't seem to help either.

joystock

Mon, Apr 06 2015, 3:49 pm

I had a similar issue with my baby at about that age. The doctor suggested that I feed him a full meal of solids right before bed, even if he already ate a big supper. I tried it and within a couple of nights he was sleeping 10 hour stretches.... maybe she is hungry but wants real food?

amother

Copper

Mon, Apr 06 2015, 3:53 pm

Miriam F wrote:

She is definitely hungry. I just need to learn how to meal plan and feed her. I started solids a long time ago, but she only really got interested at around 7 mos. and she only started getting hungry for them erev Pesach. (Poor kid) My milk supply is also pretty low during the day. At night, it's great. I try to make up for the day at night and usually nurse 2-3 times from after she goes to sleep. I'm not sure why this is. I probably need more liquid and rest and possibly a LC (which I am totally not interested at this point).

mandr

Mon, Apr 06 2015, 10:07 pm

A nine month old probably does not need a full meal before bed. Most babies who nurse exclusively at that age don't have more than a few spoonfuls of solids a day. You also said in your OP that you don't think she is hungry. Either way, you can totally nurse her. If she wants, great. If not, she's probably not hungry.

I agree with the poster who mentioned milestones. I found that any time my baby learned how to do something big (crawling, sitting up, walking, standing, etc.) he would have a few days-weeks of wakings at night (instead of his usual waking times for feedings).

Have you tried Hyland's teething tablets? They are fabulous and safe to give often. I used them for many months while my baby got his first set of teeth. They calm your baby aside from shushing down the irritated gums, so it helps your baby fall asleep easily.

supty

Mon, Apr 06 2015, 11:10 pm

Babies go through different stages. Sometimes my son would sleep really well and other times he was waking up a few times per night for a few weeks at a time. I don't think giving tylonal is the answer especially if she doesn't seem to be in extreme pain. Unless she's really in pain or has fever and seems ill, the risks of giving it every night definitely outweigh the benefits of relief from a little teething. Like others said, it could also be a growth spurt, milestones, etc. Obviously ask your ped, but I can't imagine that this is a good long term solution.

Miri7

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 12:03 am

Stop the Tylenol! My baby sounds a lot like yours - a pretty mellow kid.

She's done this on and off for the past few months. I've decided it's a combo of teething and developmental milestones.

I read some research and a baby's brain activity actually will go way up at night when they're working on new skills and about to hit a new milestone. So that made me feel a lot better when my baby was waking up at night. She did that right before she crawled and right before she pulled up and now again if she's trying to figure out walking.

My baby also did the loud screaming thing which she never does during the day so I also got freaked out that she was in pain or something big was going on. But it usually passes within a week or so.

I would try the teething tablets too. I've heard that they are great. Good luck!

MagentaYenta

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 12:11 am

Please be careful about teething tablets, a few years back Hylands was suspect since they contained belladonna in inconsistent amounts. And be wary of gels containing lidocaine.

chani8

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 2:05 am

amother wrote:

Being hungry sounds like the case here. At this age, I think supplementing with a bottle during the day is a good idea.

Or instead of giving her the tylenol in the middle of the night, give her a bottle.

ETA - if you gave her 3 bottles of 240ml a day, you'd know that at least she's getting enough calories.

amother

Copper

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 3:17 am

OP here.

Please don't think I'm I putting her to bed w/ Tylenol. That is usually not the case. I just thought that she needed it for her teeth. I am agreeing w/ posters that there probably is something more b/c the waking up and staying up is starting to happen routinely. (And no, I don't want to give Tylenol routinely.)

Bottle-wise, she won't take it. She knows how to drink from a bottle, but if I put formula in, she turns up her nose! I'm so ready to stop nursing especially w/ my recent supply problems, but I doubt it's an option for me.

Teething tablets, I didn't research so much, but was thinking along the lines of Magenta Yenta. The drugs in them have gotten much more negative PR than Tylenol. Although, you are right, don't want to give either regularly. If anyone wants to recommend s/t I can get here in Israel, I could try to ask my ped.

Anyway, last night, I didn't give her Tylenol and she was up numerous times. I'm so tired, but b"H I'm off for YT and can handle it now. She slept in until 9:15 as she must have been exhausted, so at least I got a little bit of sleep.