Damien got his first tooth last week – on the bottom right. Although this picture is a couple of months old, it kind of illustrates how he felt about the situation. The night before the tooth pierced through, Damien was fairly fussy at the Christmas party in our strata, which we thought unusual at the time (he’s usually quite good out of the house). The next morning was also a little fussier than normal, though he’s not generally a morning person. After his nap, there it was!
Since getting that first tooth, he has had a few rough days. It’s very likely the second bottom tooth is bothering him, though it hasn’t come up yet. He’s a little fussier than normal, so we have to take him out more, and his naps are not as good (though they are generally not great anyway). He puts his hands in his mouth quite a lot.
Thankfully, despite all that, he has not regressed on his night sleep at all. Neither teething nor colds have caused him to wake at night. SO THANKFUL FOR THAT!
It’s been 3 months since Aiden has cut any new teeth. The last to come in were the molars and I’ve been expecting the last lower incisor to pop up, as they are supposed to come in pairs (Left, Right). However, that’s not what’s happened. Today Aiden cut his top canines, putting his teeth total up to 13.
Cutting new teeth also explains why Aiden was up 4 times last night. Poor Daddy had a rough night (since he tends to Aiden’s wakes most of the time now).
In the last month, Aiden has been hit with a whole set of new teeth. He has 4 molars coming in and got one of his bottom incisors. Though the incisor is almost fully grown out already, the molars are still only the edges. It’s been a slooooow and painful process for Aiden. He’s always poking at his mouth and is in obvious discomfort. He started waking up numerous times in the night.
To make matters worse, my little cold turned into bronchitis. And then Aiden got it. All of a sudden, everything fell apart. Aiden was waking up every hour one night, every 30 minutes the next and would not go back in his crib the third. This mama was TIRED. I spent my time rocking, nursing, cuddling and trying to stay sane. There was some crying involved, I do admit it. I don’t mean from Aiden alone, either.
We had rough times when Aiden was a colicky newborn, but I don’t think I ever went an entire night without sleep. Perhaps I gave up more quickly then, to sleeping in a chair. But a toddler is a lot more fidgety than a newborn!
During the day, Aiden was tired and fussy, as you can expect. We let him take 2 naps or a really long nap instead. But it’s hard to give everything you have to a clingy toddler when you’re not getting rest. Thankfully, Ianiv was around to help from time to time during the day and my mother has helped several times, including providing us with meals all week.
Aiden seems to be on the mend. Though he’s not sleeping as well yet, he’s not sleeping as badly. And he took a 3 hour nap yesterday – which meant that *I* took a 3 hour nap. Today his day was nearly back to normal.
Aiden’s teeth at 16 months (green for new):
About 2 weeks ago, we noticed that Aiden was popping his first molar. It was unexpected, given the rest of his front teeth have not come in. But, during tickle time, I could see a corner exposed already. And wow, did it explain a lot!
It’s often hard to tell when a quickly developing toddler is changing his behaviour or when something is amiss. For example, when he would push me away after breastfeeding, I assumed it was just a new ‘thing’, not that it was teething. When he woke up several times a night, I assumed it was just a phase. He has those.
Not this time. The application of Advil before bed solved a LOT of issues. He immediately went to just waking up at midnight for another dose. Some of his behavioural issues went away.
Once most of one side of the tooth was out, he’s seemed to have improved a lot. His teeth come out VERY slowly, so the teething process is always very protracted. Not looking forward to the rest of the little buggers coming out!
7 teeth down – 13 to go!
Little known fact: did you know that baby teeth are supposed to fall out in the same order they came in??
Here is photo evidence of my vamp baby. I named him that because he got his lateral incisors before his central incisors. I thought they were eye teeth at first, but it was incorrect. Sadly, one of his central incisors has also erupted since then. The second is still MIA.
Funny smile ;)
