night nursing?

[kmbreece]

My almost-8-month-old DD has just started to want to nurse nearly all the time-- particularly at night. She's always been nursed to sleep at bedtime (mostly because she almost always falls asleep when she's finished eating, regardless of the time), but now she'll fall asleep at the breast, relax her latch and then sleep for maybe an hour, usually closer to 15-30 minutes, then wake up squealing (can't think of a better word for this high-pitched cry-- it's horrid!). She slowly drifts into a scream, and then a fuss, but the only thing that will settle her down again is nursing her. I tried rocking, walking, singing, burping, bouncing, driving, pacifiers, Motrin, teething tablets... you name it, we've done it. But all she wants is to nurse. Co-sleeping is not for us-- my husband takes over the vast majority of the bed, barely leaving room for me to sleep, let alone DD. I need some sleep-- I'm falling asleep all day long from lack of rest at night. My mother said she's probably teething, which has been her answer to every issue we've had with her from 4 months on. Is it normal for a reasonably solid sleeper to change over to a cycle of constant nursing/crying when teething? What can I do and when will it stop??!

[lismom2]

http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/comfortnursing.html
posted this in the other thread too. HTH'S!

[H.Starr]

I didn't breastfeed, but when my son is teething, he does wake up in the middle of the night, and often times wants a bottle.
He's ten months old, and has slept 10-12 hours per night since he was six weeks.
So when he started doing that, I was confused (and devastated!).
He only does it when his teeth are bothering him though, which is rare for us.
I think its a normal thing.
I'm not sure why a bottle calms him down, maybe the feel of the nipple on his gums? I'm not sure.
Like I said, with us it only happens when he's teething, two maybe three nights in a row and then that's it.
Hopefully it will pass fast for you as well.

If it is teething, I recommend gingicaine. Its the only thing that worked for us. But you can only get it from a dentist or someone in the dental practice. Its like orajel (same active ingredient) but stronger, and still safe for babies. Orajel worked for about five minutes at a time for my son, so my husband brought the gingicaine home from work and it was a lifesaver. Ask your dentist about it.