Help! Teething or bad settling

[Jo Jo]

From 10 weeks my DD has been sleeping through the nite but since she cut her first 2 teeth at 8 1/2 months, she has been really hard to settle. Some days she goes down fine i put her to bed, close her curtains, give her a comforter ( little blankie) say nite nite shut the door & she goes off to sleep. Other days and nites she starts to scream as soon as i put her down or wakes up crying which turns into screaming about an hour later or at around 1 or 2am. I usually end up rocking her back to sleep or putting her on the boob to settle her otherwise she just keeps crying. I'm sure it is her teeth bothering her as she is constantly shoving her fingers in her mouth & pulling at her teeth & gums & ears. Have been giving panadol, teething tablets & bonjella. Tonite she woke crying about 40mins later her nose really stuffy. I sat on the lounge with her, her head on my chest & patted her until she fell asleep which took about an hour as she kept sitting up her eyes half closed rubbing at her gums & ears. She never usually sits still on my lap, which makes me wonder wether it could be an ear infection??
It was very cute though once i calmed her down she held onto my arm with her head on my shoulder. I think i'll ring the doctors in the morn.
When she wakes up crying i have been picking her up straight away, is this teaching her the wrong thing??
I feel that she really needs the comfort atm & hopefully once her teeth settle down that she does too.
She's going through a bit of seperation anxiety atm too.

What else can i do??
It is getting very tiring and hubby works 13hr shift work so isn't much help!!

[Jo Jo]

Sorry i think maybe i should have put this in the teething section???
Feel free to move if needed

[MantaRay]

Big hugs Jo Jo. It is very hard to know what to do when they suddenly change the rules on us. This could be related to teething, but could also be a developmental milestone. Often as they learn new things, their sleep deteriorates and their patterns change. This could be temporary, or the start of a new phase.

You will hear different advice on picking up a crying baby, but since you have posted in the gentle parenting section, you shouldn't get anyone telling you to let a baby cry. I don't see a problem with you picking her up but can I ask what "straight away" is. If it is just a grizzle or "low level" cry, I would usually give it around a minute or so to see if they self-settle, as in many cases they do. Of course if it is full on crying, I would go in and try and pick them up. Your are not teaching them bad habits by doing that.

If you are concerned about an ear infection, take her to a GP. It is so hard to tell with these bubs - pulling on an ear can be teething or sore ear. How do you know? Well, you will get a feel for it as you go. Generally if they seem well, give it a day and see how it goes, if your instinct tells you they are sick, go to the GP.

GL. You are doing a great job.

[Jo Jo]

Thanks MantaRay, i have always let her have a bit of a grizzle first as most of the time she would just go back to sleep. But lately it has been more of a cry then turns into a scream if i don't get there fast enough, which is why i think it might be her teeth.
Although alot of the time she will stop once i pick her up, which makes me think it might not be her teeth...other days she gets that worked up & keeps crying when i pick her up.
I don't know!!!