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Baby Sleep (0-12 months) icon

Baby Sleep (0-12 months)


  • Does your baby wake excessively at night because of bedsharing?
  • How quickly should you respond to your baby in the night?
  • Does it help with baby's sleep to delay or space out breastfeeding in the night?
  • Would night weaning help your breastfed baby sleep better?
  • When is it time to stop offering your baby a bottle in the night (if you've been bottle feeding)?
  • Is your baby waking a lot at night because of a developmental leap?
  • Do babies have a four month sleep regression?
  • Is your baby's snoring a problem?
  • Is your baby waking a lot at night because of teething?
  • What to do about night-time sleep when you have multiple babies of the same age – twins, triplets or more?
  • Does a humidifier help your baby or toddler sleep better?

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  • Baby Sleep (0-12 months)
  • S4: Night-times
  • CH 3: FAQs

Is your baby waking a lot at night because of teething?

Dr Pamela Douglas20th of Aug 202321st of May 2024

baby sitting on mother's lap in chair

Once your baby is more than a few months old, you might notice that people are very quick to blame any dialled up baby behaviour, or a respiratory tract infection or gastroenteritis, on teething! But there's no reason to think that teething causes pain, and no reason to think that teething results in a pattern of unusually fragmented sleep at night.

If she has developed excessive night waking, it is most likely because her body clock settings are disrupted. If she is dialling up a lot during the day, it is likely that her need for rich and changing sensory motor nourishment, outside the home, is increasing.

Here is what the research does tell us about teething.

  • Teething doesn't cause fevers. Teeth erupt intermittently over quite a long period of time, during which infants are likely to be randomly exposed to viruses!

  • Teething gels are potentially harmful and shouldn't be used.

    • Bonjela teething gel contains salicylate, which is potentially harmful.

    • Other teething products and gels can contain sucrose, alcohol or lidocaine, which are potentially harmful.

  • Paracetamol or ibuprofen shouldn't be used for teething, since teething doesn't cause significant pain. (If your baby has a fever, this is due to an upper respiratory tract infection or some other infection. Even so, we need to use paracetamol or ibuprofen sparingly, most often at bedtime and in the night, because fever is the way your baby's immune system activates, to deal with the virus or infection. If you're concerned, please see your GP.)

If you are worried about your baby's teething, you might offer her a cold, non-toxic ring or other product to chew on.

Selected references

Monaghan N. Teeting products may be harmful to health. British Dentistry Journal. 2019;227(6):485-487.

Nemezio MA, De Oliveira C, Romualdo PC. Association between fever and primary tooth eruption: a systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry. 2017;10(3):293-298.

Teoh L, Moses GM. Are teething gels safe or even necessary for our children? A review of the safety, efficacy and use of topical lidocaine teething gels. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health. 2020;56(4):502-505.

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Next up in FAQs

What to do about night-time sleep when you have multiple babies of the same age – twins, triplets or more?

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Having more than one baby is exhausting but sleep training isn't the answer

Having more than one baby is exhausting! And even more so if you, or you and a partner, find yourself with limited support from other loving adults.

Often families who have given birth to multiples get the impression that the best way to manage their babies’ sleep challenges is to use sleep training. However, there is no research to suggest this is actually the case.

If having a baby is about workability rather than perfection, that’s even more the case with having multiple babies of the same age! You'll experiment to see what works in your own unique and especially demanding situation.

You will…

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