Tonight was the third night in a row she’s cried herself to sleep. She kept hitting at her jaw with her fist. Is it teething woes? She had her fingers in her mouth most of today and drool down to her elbow at mass this morning. Or could it be an ear ache? Would that be tugging the ear, or could the jaw hitting be a traveling pain?
I gave her Tylenol and Benadryl for the remnants of her cough. I read her book again and again until she started to complain at every page I turned and nothing I did seemed to satisfy her. I tried to put her down then picked her up again and rocked her almost to sleep; but she started crying again when I put her down in the crib and she was hitting at her jaw. And so I put Ora-gel on her gums. And she hates that, sputtering and complaining and grabbing for her sippy cup. But after that she did lie down and let me rub her shoulder while she sobbed. Finally the sobs got quieter and after one last gasp and quieter, the eyelids heavier and heavier and after one last sob she subsided into sleep. Maybe the Ora-gel did work after all, despite the foul taste.
On one hand it was heartbreaking. I didn’t know for sure what was wrong and felt so helpless. On the other hand it was something of a success. She didn’t ever ask to nurse and this was the first time she’s fallen asleep in the crib while I rubbed her back, one of those tricks I kept hearing about from other moms that never worked with her.
I’m going to keep my eye on her, see if the ear might be the culprit. Otherwise, maybe it’s just a combination of teething pain/weaning anxiety, in which case it won’t last too much longer, I hope.
