Could It Be A Simple Solution?
Maybe we have this all wrong? Maybe Baby MPB’s recent horrible night time screaming isn’t the result of teething pain? Maybe, he’s just thirsty?
After an absolutely horrible scream fest in which Baby MPB was completely inconsolable from 12am-2am, we finally got him back to sleep last night and he slept until 6:45am without any pain relief. We did it with just with a sip of water.
We live in a really dry climate, maybe it’s literally just that he’s thirsty? And just maybe his teeth aren’t the significant source of the problem. He gave up his middle of the night bottle in early December, so maybe maybe he just needs a sip of water?
At what age is it acceptable to leave a straw cup (NOT a bottle) with water (NOT milk) in the crib with him overnight? Could this be our solution? Could it be this simple?
Oh gosh, I have no idea. I know without a doubt that 2 top canine teeth and 2 top molars cutting through has to be very painful, but maybe there is more to this? Or maybe I’m just getting desperate for some sort of solution?
What I do know is that’s soooo hard watching our little guy so upset and it’s getting harder every single night as neither Mr. MPB or I are getting any sleep. It’s been well over a week now, maybe 2? We are pretty desperate, as it’s been almost a week now. So, we are now we are thinking giving him a straw cup with water in his crib and seeing what happens. But I’m worried we may be creating a future potty training issue. Thoughts??
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My Perfect Breakdown 
I love the caption at the top of your page…”surviving, living, hoping”. It’s so true as a parent. As a parent myself, my advice is you do what you need to do to survive at the time. Worrying about how our decisions as a parent today will affect the well being of our children in the future is a needed skill. For example, if I don’t ensure my children eat healthy at a young age, they won’t have the skills necessary to do this when they are older – something in all of our control. However, as a parent, I also had to realize when there are some aspects to parenting I really don’t control, it’s all about when the children are ready to face their next development stage on their own.
Potty training is an entity all itself. Even if you do things “by the book” and I use that term loosely, you do not guarantee any success in the potty training realm. When my kids were at that age, I tried every technique I could find….boy I was working hard to get them to go. It got to the point I just gave up, I just couldn’t handle the frustration and daily failure (I couldn’t imagine what my kids felt). When I gave up, our household became a much happier place to be. Did I beat myself up with every decision and question my every parenting move – you bet. But guess what? Both of them are perfect potty users now (they are 9 and 6 now lol). Every child will eventually get the whole potty thing on their own time, regardless of the decisions you make today. That is why we don’t see teenagers walking around wearing diapers, everyone learns. And just like in education, everyone learns at their own speed in their own ways. Your baby will learn how to use the potty. But only when THEY are ready, it won’t be when you are ready, no matter how hard you try, no matter if you decide to give water at night or not.
The best advice I can give, is to just do what you need to do to survive today. If you want to give your baby water to sleep, then do it. If it happens to add 3 more months to your diapering days, but adds many more hours of sleep and happiness for everyone until that point, it will be worth the trade off.
Happy slumbers!
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During teething of a particulary difficult time, with a child who was getting 6 teeth at one time, i was given the suggestion by the pediatrician to leave a sippy cup of ice water in the crib. The very cold water would soothe her aching gums. It helped a lot.
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We started giving Archer a straw cup at night because he was waking up thirsty too and it worked quite well until he started this new thing where he would spit the water out and soak his bed. Then we were up in the night changing his bedding. He also chews everything still (for us it’s the second molars) and I started to get scared he could chew the straw completely off and choke so we stopped leaving the cup. We just make sure to give him an extra big drink before bed and again if he wakes up in the middle of the night. He doesn’t wake up often anymore but it does still happen. Wait for the nightmares to be the culprit. There’s not much you can do once they start waking up scared but give extra snuggles. 😊
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My son has always wanted water at night. Unlike Baby MPB, mine was always a “bad” sleeper, so diagnosing (or explaining) the problem has always been a . . . problem. After we gave up the night nurse, I somehow discovered he wanted water and put a water bottle (we’ve always used the Camelbak ones) in his crib. That only sort of solved it, though, as he was quite old–maybe 2.5?–before he’d manage to drink it in the middle of the night without help, despite being able to drink out of it without help during the day. It didn’t solve all the nighttime crying, but it did help. He is 6 1/2 now and freaks out if he goes to bed without a water bottle. As for potty training, well, he’s had off-and-on trouble with night wetting, even still, but he also struggles with night terrors and sleep walking, and I think he is peeing when he is in that unaware state. Many other nights he gets up and uses the bathroom just fine. My daughter started getting herself up in the night to use the bathroom on her own and put herself back to bed at 2 1/2. Every kid is very different and there are so many factors involved that I’d just give him the water. Do you like to drink water when you wake in the night? I do! Another thing. . . I notice my son is a mouth breather and so maybe his mouth dries out and that is why he likes the water? Anyway, good luck. I totally think the water is worth a try.
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My son goes to bed with a cup every night, but he typically drinks his water, asks for more, and then never takes another sip. We have a humidifier in his room that we run for every nap and every night, regardless of the weather – I think that helps more than anything.
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We occasionally leave a sippy cup of water in ansel’s bed. I know he’s a bit older, but it seems to help a lot! Also humidifier might be useful if you’re not already using one!
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I have nothing! I think it is ok to do the water thing. I still leave water with my five year old at night. He rarely drinks it but if he is thirsty then he should have something, I believe. I don’t think offering him a sip of water is problematic at all. Good luck!
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Maybe a little of both? It’s desperately dry in our house as well…this morning I even noticed that poor little C’s lips looked dry and I was worried they would crack! I would put a humidifier in his room (I need to get to the store and take my own advice on this one!) and I don’t think it would hurt to put a cup in bed with him. I’m not sure that I would personally do a straw cup, I would probably look for one of those no-spill sippy cups. But of course that’s your call, as I don’t know what he can drink out of! Hopefully that will help ALL of you get a bit more sleep!
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Put the cup in there. All will be fine and if it gets you through this phase, I say go ahead and do it.
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My big question is…why has nobody invented the baby mind reading device yet? Could you imagine how much the stress levels of parents would be if this existed??!! And how rich the inventor would be!
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Yes!!! This is exactly what I need right now!!
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My daughter needs a sippy cup of water at night. She cuddles it like a comfort item, I’m not kidding you. We tried to take it away a few times, including when we started potty training. It would work for a while, but then she would wake up thirsty, and all hell would break loose, so we caved. Now it’s just a part of the routine, and sometimes she wakes up in the middle of the night and asks for more. We’re not night potty training yet, so I’m not too worried. Eventually she will learn to wake up to go to the bathroom.
Seriously, do what you have to do. Personally, I think it’s reasonable to always have water accessible. It could be in an open cup that you give to him when he wakes up, or in a sippy cup in his crib that he can grab for himself. When I think of how thirsty I get at night, I can’t imagine denying my daughter the same relief that I get from a drink in the middle of the night.
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I’m with you! We now have a sippy cup in the crib, we just decided how could we not give our kid water whenever he wants it? I’m not sure he’s had any, but at least he has the choice.
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