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How to Help a Teething Puppy Sleep at Night

Being a new puppy owner can be exhausting! What’s even more exhausting is when your puppy is up at night crying, whining, or barking because it’s in pain from teething.

A teething puppy may wake up in the middle of the night because of teething pain and then have difficulty going back to sleep. Keeping your puppy on a schedule during the day as well as giving your puppy plenty of opportunities to chew can help it sleep better through the night.

Luckily the teething puppy stage doesn’t last too long. I know it does feel like it’s going on forever when you are in the thick of it, but it usually gets much better around the time your puppy is 6 months old.

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Even though it may be short it can be hard to make it through the puppy teething stage. Having a puppy is a lot of work and it’s best to be as proactive as possible when teaching your puppy and helping them adjust to a new life with your family.

How to know if your puppy is waking up because of teething

Puppies wake up in the middle of the night for a lot of different reasons. Puppies go through different sleep regressions at different ages.

Chess Dog 300 x 600

All puppies are different and may start sleeping through the night at different ages.

If your puppy is around 3-5 months old and is waking up a lot at night it could be due to teething pain.

You will know your puppy is teething if:

  • It is a lot mouthier than normal (wants to chew on everything)
  • You may notice small rice-sized teeth around your home. (This is normal as a puppy will loose all 28 of its puppy teeth around 2-3 months old then grow all 42 of its adult teeth in the following months.)
  • You may see small spots of blood on its toys (again normal for a teething puppy, as long as it is small and not too much)
  • An increased amount of drool
  • Whinier or more restless than normal
  • Sudden and startled waking

If you are worried that there may be something more going on with your puppy to prevent it from sleeping it’s always best to check in with a vet. Luckily we live in a time when we have access to vets at any hour of the day or night!!

Pro Tip: If you are not able to get a hold of a vet near you, or you want to avoid an unnecessary ER trip, there are online resources that you can turn to. Here is our best recommendation:
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Solutions for Helping a Teething Puppy Sleep

Helping your teething puppy sleep at night starts with giving them what they need during the day. Having your puppy on a schedule or routine that gets them used to knowing what to expect can help their little puppy bodies settle down at night.

Night Time Solutions

  • Having your puppy sleep somewhere close to you can help to make sure you are able to get your puppy settled quickly if it wakes up from teething. Sometimes all your puppy needs from you when waking up at night is reassurance that you are there.
  • Having a Snuggle puppy like this one has helped thousands of owners through the puppy teething stage. Mimicking a mother’s heartbeat as well as having a heating pad this plush helps your puppy feel comfort from a maternal source which is something we all want when we are in pain right!?
  • Having a safe chew toy easily accessible can give you the opportunity to quickly give your pup a chance to chew and calm itself before it completely wakes out of its sleep cycle.
  • Make sure you have your puppy in a place that has some dull white noise. Using a white noise machine like this can help to get your puppy to sleep more soundly during the night.
Two brown and white Corgis lying on a bunch of red heart pillows.

Note: When using a white noise machine be sure to only use it a night and not during the day at nap time. You want your puppy to associate the soothing sounds with being calm and sleeping through the night.

During the day

  • The best thing you can do is to offer your puppy a variety of puppy teething toys. Toys that offer different textures, different pressures, or different tastes will help your puppy have variety.

    This can keep your puppy from getting bored and wanting to chew on things that they shouldn’t (like your brand-new shoes)
  • Offering your pup something cold or frozen can help to numb and dull the teething pain they feel. An easy way to do this is to get a clean cloth a little wet and freeze it. A rope toy could also work well for this.
  • Give your puppy the proper amount of exercise and play time for its age and breed during the day. Opportunities to play outside and socialize when it is safe to do so will help tire the puppy out and increase its chances of wanting to get a good night’s rest.
  • Make sure your puppy has time to rest and nap during the day. It may seem counterintuitive to let your dog sleep during the day if you want it to also sleep at night, but puppies especially need a lot of sleep. More than most people realize.

Safety Tip: Puppy teeth are super sharp! Be sure to monitor your puppy when chewing and take away any toys or items that start to become shredded or break apart. It would be dangerous for your puppy to swallow any small pieces.

Our favorite toys for teething puppies

There is a reason that Kong toys are so popular! Not only are they are super versatile as far as the things that you can put inside the middle, but they are the perfect blend of hard/soft and chewy for a teething puppy.

Try putting a mixture of peanut butter and soft puppy food in the middle and freezing it. Your puppy will love it!

This toy is great for teething. Puppies love the texture of the little rubber nubs against their gums (affiliate link).

My dog’s absolute favorite thing to chew on is bully sticks! He really loves these! They saved me when he was a puppy wanting to chew on everything, and he still loves them even now when he’s 2 years old.

You want to make sure that they do it safely, so be sure to have something to hold the end so that when it gets small they don’t accidentally swallow it and choke on it.

While we strive to give the most accurate and helpful information about your pet’s health that we can, this article is meant to be informational only and not medical advice. Never disregard, avoid or delay in obtaining medical advice from your veterinarian or other qualified veterinary health care provider regardless of what you have read on this site or elsewhere.

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