Baby Suspends Sleep & Eating for New Teeth
Even after two major trips in a row, Maddie’s schedule at home was really coming together nicely. Full nights of sleep and a fairly regimented eating schedule had the entire household living the dream.
But things swerved a bit off kilter yesterday and today all that consistency went up in smoke. Maddie spent the day boycotting any feeding or nap attempts. This caused me great concern because my parents were coming in to babysit Maddie.
Once they arrived, I was nervous about leaving them alone with the Mad Madster who was smack dab in the middle of her simultaneous hunger and sleep strike. However, the baby was full of smiles and squeaks and showing no signs of criminal mischief. After some urging from the grandparents, I decided to let Maddie be free of me for a couple of hours.
I gave my mom the scoop on Maddie’s odd behavior and finally left with a heavy cloud of guilt over my head. At this point, I still did not know the origin of the baby’s stranger-than-normal behavior.
Finally I broke down and called my parents for the scoop. They said that Maddie had taken a decent nap and was playing on the floor with my mom. Maddie’s grandfather told me to take my time, but I know that the baby’s mood can turn on a dime. I hurried home and when I walked in, I asked my dad how things were going.
When Maddie heard my voice, she let out a powerful screech. According to my parents, she had slowly started to come undone about 15 minutes before I got home. The baby didn’t need anything in particular, she just wondered why I wasn’t waiting on her hand and foot.
My wife had arrived home about the same time I did and informed me that Maddie has a pair of top teeth that have begun to break through the gums. That’s why the happy baby has been suddenly out of sorts. Maddie is fighting the good fight against this most recent invasion of the teeth, but we will have to see how tonight goes for all us.
Stay Home PaPa 
April 13, 2012 at 1:28 pm
A little baby tylenol or motrin and she will be right as rain! Good luck, teething can be harder on us then them.
April 13, 2012 at 2:01 pm
It seems that most trials and tribulations are always tougher on us than them.
April 13, 2012 at 8:00 pm
I’m going through the same thing with my baby; she already had 4 teeth, but as 4 more are coming in simultaneously she is not sleeping well, refusing to eat, and is generally clingy and fussy. I’ll be glad when this stage has passed. I usually don’t like to say that since time already goes by so fast…but the teething thing really is hard on everyone.