Paci or Not?

Updated on March 27, 2009
C.F. asks from South Jordan, UT
10 answers

My second son is 3.5 months old and is sleeping 9-10 hours at night. When he wakes up during the night he will go right back to sleep if we go in and put his paci in. The problem is he is not very good at holding it in and we have to put a blanket resting against it to keep it in. My first son loved his paci and had it until he was one and he could keep it in perfectly by now. So my question is so I try a different pacifier? Do I get rid of it all together and have him cry himself to sleep? Is there a way to teach him to keep it in better? Thanks in advance for your advice!

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J.S.

answers from Salt Lake City on

I had one kid that loved her pacifier. We had some similar issues when she was about 3 months old. We ended up putting several pacifiers in her crib - one in her mouth and a couple more on each side of her - toward the edge of the crib or in the corners. That way she had a greater chance of finding one if she lost hers in the middle of the night. Worked like a charm!

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L.H.

answers from Boise on

Well if you have decided to give it to him, here is one way of helping him learn to keep it in.
Whenever you give it to him when he is awake...pull back on it slightly...he will suck harder to keep it in and this with strengthen the muscles he uses to hold it. After a few times, he'll get it!

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K.T.

answers from Provo on

My son would not really take a pacifier at all until we introduced one called a WubbaNub. We just happened to bring it with us for our plane-ride home over Christmas, and he got addicted to it in like 2 hours! Its different than other pacifiers because it is a Soothie pacifier, but its attached to a little stuffed animal. Ours was a frog, but they have ponies, dogs, cats, as well. The stuffed animal has weighted feet that keep it from slipping off of his tummy if he is on his back, and also, it is GREAT for yournger babies who don't have too much controll of their hands because they can grab the stuffed animal part and hold onto it, which hold it into their mouth. My baby LOVED it that he could control it! He was the same age as yours (about 3.5 months) when we introdced it, and its still his favorite pacifier. They are a little pricy ($11-$15 each, plus shipping if they don't sell them in a store near you) but in my opinion it was highly worth it! The WubbaNub website is www.wubbanub.com and you can also search for them on google too. Hope this helps!

Oh and PS: There were nights when we gave him the wubbanub when we put him to bed, and the the morning when we woke up it was STILL in his mouth! We were amazed!

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C.C.

answers from Salt Lake City on

I'm so happy for you that at 3.5 months your baby is already sleeping 9-10 hours at night. I would wonder if he isn't hungry and that is what is waking him up. My dd still was eating every 4 hours at that age. Not sure what to tell you on the do the pacifier or not, most kids let you know if they want it, if he is responding to it then great. Around 4 months we were able to put the clip on for my dd because the cord was too short for her to get tangled in and she would reach and find the cord herself and pop it back in. That was a happy day. lol. Hang in there--hope you find what works for all of you!

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A.F.

answers from Salt Lake City on

Even though your older son could hold it in and put it back at that age, I don't think it's typical. At 3.5 months, all my kids (who were all passie kids) still needed help getting it back. He'll learn to find it and put it back in his mouth eventually. He's probably just not coordinated enough to do it on his own yet. So decide if you want him to develop a bigger attachment to it or not, and if you don't care that he has it a while (not that big a deal, in my opinion) then just continue to give it back to him for a little longer. Watch him during the day to see when he can start finding it and successfully getting it back in his mouth himself. Once he can do that, the nighttime passie hunt should be mastered right around the corner. Good luck!

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D.K.

answers from Denver on

It is a double edge sword. Babies suck for soothing, it is normal however do you want to create a bad habit that will get harder to break? Having a blanket in the crib with a 3.5 isn't safe either. My suggestion if he can get himself back to sleep without it, maybe it is best he doesn't have it. Sleeping 9 to 10 hours is GREAT, however it is very likely he is hungry and would go back to sleep if fed at night. My kids needed night feedings until 9 and 10 mos old. So every child is different. If he cannot keep the pacifier in, I would take it away now. I stocked up on pacifiers big time for both of mine when I was pregnant, neither really cared for them or kept them in for long. My son would fuss when his fell out or ended up rolling over on it and gettin gmad so I just took them out of the equation. Now I am so thankful I didn't have them as toddler walking around with one or depending on one. They learned very early to self soothe or not need one. I never did crying it out until well after the 6 mos mark, but if a baby wakes that young, he needs something, not necessarily his pacifier. Feed him, change him and put him back in his crib after some snuggles.
Just my two cents. Count your blessing BIG time your baby is sleeping that well at night! :)

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J.L.

answers from Denver on

Not one to ask. My 3 suck their thumbs. I would be afraid to prop it with a blanket. I leave the least amount of blankets etc. out of the crib. Deathly afraid of SIDS. Not to scare you, thats me. You may just try not to give it to him at all. My5 month old either sucks his thumb or just goes back to sleep. Try it. Good luck..

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C.P.

answers from Provo on

My youngest son was the only one of my children who would take a pacifier. I am so glad that he did. He would only want it at night and never got really attached to it. I guess you would have to decide whether you want to break the attachment now or later. You can take the pacifier away and see how he reacts. Does he use it during the day? They make lots of different shaped pacifiers. He might be able to hold on to another better. Personally, my sleep is so important to me and I can not imagine dealing with two young children on half a nights rest. I would experiment with different shapes. I would think that a softer one would be easier for him to hang on to.

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E.C.

answers from Pueblo on

First, congrats on your new addition! That's great that he can go back to sleep so quickly after using the paci. Just wanted to let you know that I read at the doctor's office once that using a pacifier can actually help prevent SIDS. For this reason I let my son use it for a long time. I would try another kind of pacifier, and just try to hold it there for him for awhile till he gets a good grip, I'm sure he'll get the hang of it and learn to hold it a little better. Good luck!

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K.D.

answers from Denver on

We take the paci away from our daughter once she's asleep. We found she was rolling over on it and then crying from pain. We've gotten down to an art, and I don't remember what age we started it at. If we do that before we go to bed, she goes 8-9 hours. If we forget, we're up 2-3 times to put the paci back in. We could never lay her down without it, but once she's asleep, she doesn't miss it. We take it out of the crib entirely. It makes for our best nights. Sometimes she's not in the right kind of sleep and so it doesn't work, but we can manage it most nights. Congratulations on your little one!

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