overtired teething 2 year old

[caejacks]

Help! My son, who normally is a fairly good sleeper is having BIG PROBLEMS.....it is creating problems for the entire family. He is getting molars and is overtired. He will not stay in bed and screams when put down for naps and at bedtime. We consistently put him back in bed. When he finally does go to sleep he wakes up still tired and refuses to go back to sleep. He sometimes wakes at 4:15am. I am sor tired of it being a battle to get him to sleep....not to mention that I am tired of being sleep deprived myself as we also have a daughter who is 3 months. We have given him ibuprofen to deal with teething pain. Now we don't know what else to do. He is incredibly tired. Any suggestions?

[MommaC]

I'm not sure I can suggest anything for the teething, but I'll take a shot at the sleeping issue. Do what you can to comfort him, but don't let him get out of bed before it's time. Keep his sleep environment dark and soothing. Get him relaxed before you put him down for naps or bed (whatever works for him: bath, reading, singing, rocking, Baby Einstein, etc). Since he's so incredibly overtired, you may have to let him scream it out if he can't go to bed peacefully. It seems cruel when they're teething, but you'll really be doing him (and yourself!) a favor. If it's a treat to sleep in Mom's bed, try that for naps. You can try letting him choose a pillow or blanket from your room (or whatever room) to take to bed with him. You can try setting a timer and tell him that he can't get out of bed until he hears the beeps. Or maybe he can't get out of bed until Mom comes to get him. You know your son--choose something that makes sense to him. Does playing outside or riding in the car/stroller make him tired? I know you don't want to make any of these things habits, but he obviously needs some help soothing himself to sleep so he can catch up. Once he's caught up, you can work on getting back to business as usual. I hope something in there is helpful for you!

[Cynister]

did u always give him something for the pain during early teething? This could be why the molars bother him so much. I only gave my dd twice b/c my doctor warned me that if I always take away the pain I'll be in real trouble when the molars come in. Jade's molar's are coming in & aside from sticking her hand in her mouth she doesn't complain at all.
During early teething I gave her ice chips to chew on. Icies are fine too but very messy. LOL now when ever I open the freezer she asks for ice.

[eniese]

When Jonathan was getting his molars, we gave him Tylenol about 20 minutes before naptime, and then again about 20 minutes before bedtime. He was still fussier and didn't sleep as well as normal, but he was able to go to sleep.

[craftyashley]

If he is really in pain a lot with the molars, keep up with Motrin every 4 hrs. With some pain, it needs maintenance for the pain killers to actually work. We always gave the girls the Hyland's tablets before going to bed just to get them to sleep, and if they weren't breaking in some molars or something, this would keep them ok through the night.

[tcg3187]

Thank you so much for feeling my pain. I was worried because we just got rid of my daughter's binky about a month ago and i swore that was still the problem why she was having troubles sleeping. But, after reading you statement i just put all the puzzle pieces together. THANK YOU!! No wonder she won't eat, she has diarrhea, and won't sleep. I will tell you that as a nurse we are taught that ibuprofen (motrin/ advil) is for pain relief and tylenol is for a fevers or is used as an antipyretic. there are recent research articles out there discovering that the overuse in young children is leading to tolerance and a syndrome similar to reye's syndrome which is associated with aspirin use during a fever and/ or chickenpox in young children. my doctor (and teachers) suggest that to only use the pain relievers when it is interfering with life... this is obviously interfering. they also said sometimes switching between tylenol and ibuprofen is beneficial for the child but must be watched with caution because tylenol i believe is administered every 4 hours and ibuprofen is given every 6 hours and no one wants to overdose their kid. as for the sleeping... no sugary anything before nap or nighttime, lavendar essence is supposed to soothe them and sticking to a routine as much as possible which seems absolutely ridiculous that i am saying that but we notice when we through my daughter off her schedule she is off in general.
good luck!!!