Teething Woes

Luke is teething yet again. His two top teeth are causing all the pain and discomfort this time. He doesn't seem to really be bothered by it except at night - go figure. Last night I was up three times with him. I gave him Tylenol but that only lasts for 3-4 hours and I don't like the idea of giving him Tylenol every time he wakes up during the night. Even after giving him Tylenol it seems that the only thing that will settle him back down so he (and I) can get some sleep is if I feed him. So, it seems as though we have regressed to the newborn stage where he is waking and wanting to eat every 3-4 hours throughout the night! UGH! This is where my love/hate relationship with baby books comes into play. I fall victim to reading all the appropriate baby books at times like this - when I am frustrated, tired and at my wits end and don't know what else to do. The trouble is I end up thinking 'if I just read this particular book and do what is recommended by this esteemed author then the sun will shine, birds will sing and hallelujah, the baby will sleep or eat or whatever it is I am concerned about at the time'. Boo, I say. Boo.

If it were only that easy. The problem with reading these books is that when I am up at 4 am (for the third time that night and need to be up in 2 hours) I think back to what the baby books say I should be doing and end up feeling worse about the situation...much worse. I have tried several different strategies to get Luke to sleep through the night with little to no success. I am not strong enough to let him cry it out. Well, I have let him cry it out when I am extremely frustrated and annoyed but I hate it and it doesn't work. That, and I am not consistent enough to let him cry it out for days on end. By the third or fourth night of 'crying it out' I am exhausted and in tears myself and then end up feeding him just so that I can get some peace and sleep. I think the most frustrating thing is that he was sleeping through the night at 5 months and now has been up several times a night for the past 6 weeks. Grrrrr.

In my better moments, I remind myself that "this too shall pass". And then I hide the baby books so I am not tempted to read them again and further torture myself. Ahh, motherhood.