No sleep for the exhausted?

For the last 5 days LO has been having, shall we say, difficulty sleeping for a decent stretch.  Remember she is 18 months old.  Long ago we stopped having the 45 minute sleeping "stretches."  We have been having many weeks of 4-5 even 6 hours of non-stop sleep in her own bed...it's been lovely for all involved.

I think teeth are to be blamed (vampire teeth to be exact).  They are moving around in her mouth causing pain and lack of sleep.  :(  It's a terrible situation.  Do you: A. medicate the pain at the first twinge?  or B. holdout on medication until the crying is unberable and the baby is obviously in pain?  We do a combo.  I attempt to soothe the pain with distraction, nursing, cold food, chew toy, etc. then as a 4th or 5th option try topical medication and give it 20 minutes, still not "normal" LO? give igested medication. 

Last night we were up from 11:30 to 2:30....it was exhausting, frustrating and created HUGE amounts of self doubt. 

I'm hoping for a better night, but if not, the world will continue to spin and I will continue to drudge on like a good momma.  What other option do I have?

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