Paci Using Mama's

Hi J.,
My baby had similar sleep issues. I read in a book that naps last longer when the baby goes to sleep prior to getting over-tired. The author suggested soothing the baby and putting him down for his first nap no more than one or two hours after he wakes up in the morning. This early nap really helps my baby to sleep longer and deeper during all his naps. (2 or 3 daily) The book then says to keep in mind that the baby might be ready for naps every 2 hours, and that you should pay attention to the signals. Before I started using the book, my baby wasn't getting enough sleep, which stimulated him and made it hard for him to sleep. Seems strange doesn't it? But, that's the way it worked. By the way, we only use a pacifier sometimes, the baby doesn't seem to notice when it falls out because he's in a deep sleep...not overstimulated from being too tired. In case you're interested, the name of the book I read is Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. It's a hard book to follow, but some of the info is great.
Good Luck,
N.

I think you should trust your dear friend Lynn, she is not only wise but beautiful too!

Personally, I would get rid of the pacifier. My 15 mth old is my best sleeper by far & never used a pacifier. They find some way to soothe themselves back to sleep. Give him a little bit of time to try to fall back asleep on his own before you go in. A 30 min nap is too short for a 4mth old.

Personally I think pacifers are one of the worst things ever invented. Yea, they keep the kid quiet while it is IN their mouth but as your story shows it causes a major problem when it isn't. Getting them off of one can be a battle as well. And I am sorry but there is nothing worse than seeing a 3 year old with a nasty pacifer stuck in their mouth!
Give your baby a week to break the habit. That is true for no matter what you are trying to ween them from. You will be tired, you both will be irritable but after a week things should calm down.
I believe in comfort, don't get me wrong, but IMO I think mom patting and rubbing the baby back to sleep is much more preferable than sticking a piece of plastic in their mouths.
Besides, I am innately lazy, the fewer things to break them of the better! This includes bottles and sippy cups as well. =)

Maybe work on weening him from the paci now... there are loads of ways to do that and it sounds like it might help you all get some much needed rest. There may be some times also that you would let him cry a bit... so he can learn to settle himself. I like the 10 minutes of comfort to 10 minutes of allowing the child to work on developing his/her own coping skills... best of both worlds in my experience - baby knows he is loved and not alone, and also is given the chance to grow and develop to his next emotional, independent level.

Best wishes.

Hi there,
We JUST went through this--actually still dealing with it! My daughter is 5.5 months and we had a very similiar issue. We used a paci only for sleep time (she never really had it for other reasons). Well, increasingly, she would wake in the middle of the night, sometimes 6 times-for me to just put the paci back in her mouth and then she would fall right back to sleep. Then I started to notice that she wanted to be nursed more often... and fall asleep. Naps started to shorten-about 30 min.-basically she wanted the paci again. We fell into a bad sleep pattern as a result of the paci in my opinion.
So...last monday we took it for good. OH BOY--was it tough-she cried and cried, I rocked her and sometimes that wouldn't do it. The worst it was-she cried for one hour-rocking and crying-then going into the crib asleep or sleepy then waking seconds after. I just rubbed her back and said "shhhh" and she eventually fall asleep. Days 1 and 2 were tough, then increasingly she learned to self soothe without the paci. Today is day 7 and she has no prob's falling asleep for naps, but wakes up once at night and sometimes still has a hard time falling asleep on own, but does so within 15 min. (FYI-we ALWAYS from day one put her down sleepy not asleep but she only learned to use the paci to self soothe.) It was a rough week but it is totally worth it.
It is time to get rid of the paci--it is either now or later.
Also--she is eating, sleeping better now. The trick--don't give in--those first few days last week I almost caved--I just cried along with her! But now we have no paci and a baby that is on her way to self-soothing wihtout a prop and a mommy who is getting more sleep too!
GOOD LUCK!
(I recommend the Baby Whisperer Book, I love it and it talks about this too.)

Sounds to me like your instincts are already telling you that he's ready to lose the pacifier. I'd wean out the pacifier and try some other things that might help encourage him to sleep. I had good luck with some white noise generated by an air filter in my son's room that helped blot out some of the ambient noise from the house that seemed to keep my son awake. I also had luck with making sure that the head end of the crib was slightly elevated as well, since they are accustomed to that after sleeping in our arms where we cradle them with their heads higher.

Good luck!