It is usually more challenging to soothe a teething baby at night. During the daytime, the child is equally cranky, but there is daylight and distractions here and there.
This helps you engage the child by going outdoors or visiting with the neighbors so, the child may be less irritated.
Still, the teething symptoms at night are more intense because the gum soreness and elevated temperature can disrupt the child’s sleep and make him more uncomfortable.
From three to four months, a baby starts showing signs like:
- Red and swollen gums
- Biting on things
- Drooling
- Scratching the ears and chin
- Easily irritated
He may also develop rashes around the ears and chin. These are some of the signs of teething in babies. You can check out more of them here.
If you have an infant, it is a new developmental milestone in your child that you should start preparing for. Development of the twenty milk teeth from infancy to toddler should take about two years.
As a parent, you can start finding ways to make the whole process easier for your kids. Teething symptoms, if not managed properly, can make it difficult for you and your baby to sleep well at night.
It is equally stressful enough for you with proper management as you have to wake up at night and during the day. So, you need to be aware of how to soothe a teething baby at night.
To make it easier for you to deal with the teething symptoms at night, I have outlined 12 ways to soothe a teething baby at night, but before that, let’s discuss why does teething hurt?
Why Does Teething Hurt?
The sprouting of a new tooth through the gum makes the gum inflamed (the gum is swollen, reddish, and painful).
It also causes gum hematoma (blue or yellowish discoloration of the gum) and gum sensitivity. Also, the pressure felt when the tooth pushes through the gum and grows out causes discomfort and soreness.
All these are many causes of teething pains, which leads to teething symptoms like lack of appetite, the teething baby crying hysterically, biting on things, discomfort, and irritation.
How Long Does Teething Symptoms Last?
For parents or caregivers who are overwhelmed with a child’s fussiness due to teething, you may want to know how long do teething symptoms last? Teething symptoms may last an average of eight days.
When a child is teething, the child may experience more discomfort when the tooth is about to sprout out of the gum. This is usually when the teething symptoms are intense.
After about eight days, the child should feel better. But if your child experiences more extended periods of discomfort, it may be caused by something else.
Also, note that your child has twenty milk teeth that will grow in about two years. So, expect the teething symptoms to come and repeatedly go for months.
How Long Does Teething Fever Lasts?
How long does teething fever last? Teething fever should stay around the time of teething symptoms which is about eight days maximum.
Teething fever, also called low-grade fever, is a mild fever of about 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. It usually begins about a day before the tooth sprouts from the gum and ends after the tooth cuts through it.
It is vital to maintain your child’s temperature by preventing the child from getting too hot or too cold. Also, wash your child’s hands frequently and wash the teethers or toys he puts in his mouth.
Cut the nails short and clean; doing all these will prevent germs from getting into the child’s mouth. In addition, it will prevent the child from coming down with a fever.
With time, teething fever does subside, but you may need to treat it with medications prescribed by your child’s pediatrician if it doesn’t.
How Long Does Teething Fussiness Last?
You may ask how long does teething fussiness last? An individual tooth should cause discomfort for a few days. Teething fussiness experienced will vary from child to child.
Some children may experience it longer than others, but the baby should feel less discomfort by around eight days when the tooth has sprouted out of the gum.
Since the whole teething process takes about two to three years, expect the child to experience some pain whenever he wants to cut new teeth.
10 Ways To Soothe A Teething Baby At Night
For inconsolable teething pains, you may wonder what to do when the baby is teething and won’t stop crying. There are a couple of teething pain relief remedies:
1. Massage the gum with a cold washed cloth
2. Give the child chilled fruits like carrot and cucumber to bite on
3. Try natural remedies like chamomile tea
4. Cuddle the baby for warmth and comfort
5. Try putting the baby on the breast for a suck
6. Give chilled baby teether or rubbery toys that he can bite on
7. Check and adjust the baby’s temperature
8. Try natural teething creams to soothe the gum
9. Use a white noise machine to distract the baby
10. Give prescribed OTC medications from your child’s pediatrician.
These are ways to soothe a teething baby at night. You may also want to check out the how to soothe a crying baby post here for more tips.
Now, let’s discuss more on the tips on how to soothe a teething baby at night listed above:
1. Massage The Gum
This is one of the quickest tips on how to soothe a teething baby at night because as the teeth sprout, it causes the baby’s gum to be irritated and sore.
Pressure from the sprouting tooth causes pain and discomfort; that is why we notice that babies bite on things to relieve the pressure of the sprouting gum when they teeth.
A quick message on the gum area where the tooth is sprouting can give instant relief to the teething baby facing teething symptoms. So, when a teething baby wakes up at night crying, try this tip.
First, wash your hands thoroughly (ensure the nails are short and without dirt), then gently rub one or two fingers on the baby’s gum where you notice a new tooth is sprouting.
It may help to use a clean and slightly damp washed cloth, especially if you have nails on.
Next, put the entire finger around the baby’s mouth, focusing on those areas where you notice that a new tooth is sprouting. Do this for about thirty seconds repeatedly to help ease your little ones’ discomfort at night, and the baby may fall asleep soon enough.
2. Try Out Natural Teething Remedies
Natural remedies may just be the trick that helps your infant calm down at night. An added plus is that natural remedies provide vital nutrients to your baby while still helping to relieve teething symptoms.
Natural teething remedies like chamomile tea can help babies from six months old. Chamomile tea has calming properties and could help soothe sore gums; a teaspoon of chamomile tea is mixed with 30ml of water.
You can add one or two drops of flavor to improve the taste. Chill it a bit in the fridge and give the child to sip on with a Sippy cup.
You can also try rubbing the gum with essential oils to soothe soreness or get teething crackers for the baby to bite on.
Also, give the baby chilled breast milk so that the baby can sip on it or freeze some rice in a dried washcloth and give the baby to bite on.
Try out these and many more natural remedies for soothing relief of your baby’s teething symptoms at night. Be sure to avoid natural remedies that you are not sure of.
Some may be ineffective or might pose a danger to your baby. So, always ask your child’s pediatrician if whatever teething remedy you want to try out for your baby is safe.
3. Numbing The Gum Before Bedtime
Before your baby sleeps, you can help ease the soreness of the gum so that the fussiness reduces and the child can sleep with fewer chances of waking up at night.
For example, giving the child a washcloth to bite on or soothing the gum with essential oils can help numb the gum.
You may also apply natural teething cream made with coconut oil, food-safe organic butter, and some drops of olive oil to help numb the pain before bedtime.
Note that other teething creams are not advisable to be used, as they could contain chemicals like lidocaine or benzocaine.
You can also numb the pains by giving the child chilled or frozen fruits like bananas, carrots, cucumber, etc.
4. Give The Child Something To Bite On
To relieve the pressure on the gum as the tooth sprouts, how to soothe a teething baby at night is to give the child something that he can chew or bite on so that he feels relieved.
For example, a clean chilled washcloth can help do the magic for your baby’s pacifier. You can also get teeters or teething gloves made from rubber or plastic that the baby can continuously chew on instead of gumming his hands.
These teething toys may be more effective when you chill them, as the coolness can further soothe the gum. Avoid freezing teething toys, as the cold may hurt your child’s gum; instead, chill them.
Your baby can also bite on chilled carrots, frozen bananas, vegetables, teething biscuits, his hands, etc. Ensure you wipe the drool regularly as he chews on these things and regularly wash his hands, pacifiers, and teeters to avoid germs.
The Food, Drug, and Administration Control (FDA) has disapproved of teething rings or teething bracelets and teething necklaces to prevent the risk of choking in infants.
Especially those made from amber, marble, silicon beads, or even wood, since the baby may bite these beads off and swallow them, which could cause choking.
Some teething necklaces may also be too tight and cause discomfort to the child.
5. Wipe Drool
Regularly wiping teething drool is an excellent tip on how to soothe a teething baby at night. The sticky and wet feeling of the drool drips on the skin can irritate and further increase your child’s discomfort.
So, constantly wiping off the spit with a soft and dry washed cloth can help relieve fussiness. In addition, drooling can cause rashes on the face that can cause irritation and discomfort.
Wearing a bib can also help prevent drool from soaking into the cloth, causing cold and rashes in the chest and arms.
6. Put The Baby On The Breast
Another helpful tip on how to soothe a teething baby at night is to let the baby suck. Breastfeeding (learn more about it here) has a calming effect on the child that can help calm the crying child when dealing with teething symptoms.
For a teething baby crying hysterically, try rocking the baby to calm him down and then put the baby on the breast.
He may not necessarily suck much, but as he gums the nipple with his gum, it helps soothe the sore gum and makes the child feel better.
I used this tip a lot for my son when he was much younger. You may also help soothe the gum by giving him a bottle, sippy cup, or pacifiers so that he can bite, chew and suck on them to relieve the pressure on the gum.
Adding cold tea, cool breast milk, or juice like apple juice to his cup or feeding bottle can encourage the child to keep sucking, biting, and gumming the bottle.
Note that bottles or Sippy cups with rubbery teats are best used for this tip as those with hard plastic may not be comfortable for the baby and injure the gum.
Also, if the room is too cold, the child may start shivering. So, before bed, ensure that the room temperature is ideal for you and your baby at night. The room temperature should be around sixteen to twenty degrees.
It will aid the child in sleeping better and not waking up at night. Intermittently, you can also wake up to adjust the air-conditioner, fan, or windows if the temperature changes. You should also wear proper sleep for the child when sleeping to avoid getting a cold or fever.
7. Maintain A Consistent Night-Time Routine
It is vital to set up a night-time routine for your kids as soon as they can establish a sleep pattern. Usually, your new-born may wake up more at night because they have not been able to establish a sleep pattern.
However, by four to six months, when they have found a sleep pattern, you should help your kid by making a night-time routine that will help them sleep easily and wake up earlier.
It would also create great memories for them when they are older. Now how does this help a teething child?
A consistent night-time routine can help your child when he faces teething symptoms since the child’s body has already adjusted to a particular pattern.
Therefore, it would be easier for the child to sleep at night despite the teething symptoms.
Even when the child wakes up at night, he can easily fall back to sleep when you rock him, soothe the gum or try out any of the remedies mentioned here.
Hence, having a night-time routine is useful during teething. So, when your child is cranky and extra-fussy due to the teething symptoms, help the child cope by giving him a warm bath and wearing a comfortable nightdress.
Feeding him and carrying out your regular night-time routine activities for your kids can help your baby sleep easily.
You have to be extra patient with your baby at this time as they would be more fussy than usual. Also, try not to distract yourself by doing too much at once, which could irritate your baby.
The focus at this time should be the baby. Note that you have to maintain the baby’s bedtime routine as much as possible.
Do not let the teething symptoms interrupt you, as the routine will help the baby develop self-coping skills.
Changing the sleep routine because your baby is dealing with teething symptoms may alter your child’s sleep pattern and the routine you have worked hard to establish.
8. White Noise May Help
White noise may just be the best tip to try on how to soothe a teething baby at night. It is beneficial for the nighttime routine because the noise of the white noise machine can be a distraction for babies and help them sleep.
So, if your little one is having discomfort in sleeping because of teething symptoms, using a white noise machine may help distract the child and make him sleep.
Some white noise machines come with night lights designed with stars and moons to imitate dreamland, which could be an added advantage for your little one.
9. Practice Self-Settling
Sometimes, no matter how you try to calm the child, the child may still be fussy and cranky. What you should do in this case is self-settling. Allow the child to be for a few minutes.
This should make the child adjust on his own for a while. While the child is settling, you can drop the baby on the bed or a couch and sing lullabies.
The child may keep crying, or he may just stop and sleep without intervention.
For older kids teething, when you let them be, they may walk around, and when they see the house is quiet at night, they will come back to you for cuddling and may sleep easily. I used this for my toddler a lot.
10. Cuddling
Cuddling is a valuable tip on how to soothe a teething baby at night. During teething, your baby needs all the extra love, patience, and warmth he can get.
Babies, especially, will not be able to express how they feel, so a cry may be the easiest way to go about it.
While trying other tips to relieve the teething symptoms like massaging the gum, giving them something to bite on, etc.
Do not forget to cuddle the child as much as possible. The child would feel better knowing that you are there to provide him warmth and comfort and doing everything to make him feel better.
11. Use Over-The-Counter Medications
To soothe teething pains, discomfort, and elevated temperature in your child, you may try using over-the-counter medicines that your child’s pediatrician prescribed.
Pain relief drugs like acetaminophen or ibuprofen may help ease the baby’s fussiness.
You can try giving the baby the medications a few minutes before bedtime so that he can sleep better at night. Using OTC is a great tip on how to soothe a teething baby at night.
12. Act Calm
I know how unsettling it can be when your little one (especially a baby) is dealing with teething symptoms. As much as it is discomforting for the baby, it is also distressing for the adult.
You have to act calm and be in charge. Acting stressed, very emotional, impatient, and frustrated when your child is teething may only distress your child further and increase your stress.
It would be best if you had emotional maturity at this time. Talk to your infant calmly, give cuddles, pets, and hugs; even if your toddler has tantrums try to act calm and do not give in to them.
Avoid stress, limit too much work at this time, and let your focus be on caring for the teething child. With time when the teething symptoms have subsided, you can get back to other things and do not fail to rest when your infant is sleeping. Limiting distractions from you is vital at this time.
Conclusion
Try out these sure-fire tips on how to soothe a teething baby at night with your young toddler; trust me, they would help a great deal to ease your child’s teething symptoms.
A little patience and understanding will go a long way as your baby is trying to adjust to a new development and dealing with pain and discomfort for a while.
Don’t forget to share this with other moms!
