Sleep and a Pacifier

Lots of different advice! We used the pacifier with my son, and yeah, I remember going through that phase (putting the paci back in at night), but it didn't last that long, and it seemed we only had to do that occasionally (so I agree with making sure she is not waking due to hunger). I don't regret using it--and we got rid of it around 18months to 2 years and it wasn't a big deal (it took maybe 3 days for my son to adjust to not having it). We are using one now with my 2nd child, although he is not as dependent on it as my 1st son.

For all three of our kids we used the "sprinkle" technique, where I spread a whole bunch of pacifiers around the crib each night so the baby can find one when he or she wakes up. However, this may not work until your baby is more mobile, like maybe closer to 6 or 7 months old.

I would also read the book, "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems" by Richard Ferber. Your daughter is about the age when you should really think about training her to fall back to sleep on her own. The best thing would probably be to teach her how to fall asleep without the paci, but I know how hard that is.

I pretty much suffered through our babies' sleep problems until they were 6 or 7 months old. I felt like that was the age when they could roll over back to tummy and vice versa and crawl around, so I felt that maybe it was easier for them to re-adust their sleeping positions and get themselves back to sleep.

My daughter, who is now 12 months old, went through this same situation. We decided to just continue getting up and giving her pacifier back to her, since she instantly fell right back to sleep when we did so. By about 6-7 months old, she learned to put her pacifier back in herself. Ever since, she has been sleeping 10-12 hours straight every night. I think she sleeps better and is more rested, therefore happier during the day. I have no regrets about this decision. I plan to ween her from the pacifier around 18 months. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Aaah the pacifer some mothers swear by them so that they don't have to deal with a crying baby. I never gave either one of my children a pacifer simply because I didn't want to have to go thru the getting rid of it stage. But every mom is different and we all work for what works best for us. Since she is waking up every two hours at 5 months she could be a bit hungry, have you tried giving her a bit of rice cereal and fruit before she goes to bed? That will make her full and less tempted to get up in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, to get rid of the pacifer is a long and struggling fight. I would get rid of it as soon as possible. You might have a few rough nights but I would suggest it before she get too hold and too dependent on them

Hi Linda,
My suggestions would be to ditch the pacifier all together. We went through this with my daughter. Even when she could put it back in herself, she was still up constantly looking for it during the night when it got lost in blankets or down the side of the crib. Then we dealt with her looking for it all day and hunting for it throughout the house.
We finally got rid of it at 2, but I wish I had never used one.

Good luck,
K.

nah, just do what you've got to do. there is NOTHING wrong with a pacifier, and there is also nothing wrong with nursing her at night either (if you are nursing....) or feeding her... she might be growing right now, and she NEEDS to eat. there is nothign wrong with that, EVER. :D

www.askdrsears.com

We did the same thing for a while but then we decided to turn the monitor down and let him cry it out for a little before we went in. Eventually he may wake up and cry for it but then go right to sleep on his own without it.

I know that most dentists recommend that you not use a pacifier, and people constantly told us when we were using a pacifier that we were doing the wrong thing - but as a teacher, I have to tell you that I'd rather have pacifier kids than kids who have learned to soothe themselves by sucking on their fingers or thumbs. Babies need to suck and I have no problem with a baby sucking on her thumb. HOWEVER - the thumb CANNOT be taken away, and 7, 8, 9, 12 year olds still have a thumb that they can use when they're stressed. Hence, germs being spread everywhere, not to mention the germs that go into your child from the million places s/he touches at age 8. Ick.

My daughter used a pacifier until she was 3, and then stopped using it on her own. We slept with her, so it was less of an issue to pop it back in for her when she was little, and by the time she was 8 months old, she would put it in on her own if it fell out in the middle of the night.

I have no regrets about using a pacifier. :)

Good luck!

Don't regret using the pacifier...we are going through the same thing with my almost 5 month old. We have to give him his paci a couple times a night, but it helps him sleep better (and us, too, because we just can't do the cry-it-out thing!) The more sleep a baby gets, the more sleep he/she will crave, and the less crabby he/she will be. My 3-year-old daughter also went through this, and then was eventually old enough to put the pacifier back in herself. We later had to take the pacifier away (at 2.5 years!) and she still sleeps almost 11 hours at night because she was 'trained' so well as an infant.

Are you sure she's not hungry? You might want to try feeding her during one of those fussy moments. She might need just a little bit of milk to soothe her belly, and she could possibly sleep longer, too!

Linda,
We had the exact problem with our twin boys (now 6 months) when they were 4 months old. I did end up taking away the pacifiers and it was less painful than I expected. I started during the day not using the pacifier for soothing unless they were inconsolable, then tried naps without, and finally night time. By the time we tried nights they were experts at soothing themselves by sucking on their two fingers. Good Luck.

At about 6 months, our son woke up every hour or so and wanted us to put the paci back in. I got so tired of it that I decided to get rid of it altogether. The first two days/nights were the worst. It took about a week before he was pretty much past wanting it. If you decide to go this route then you'll have to remain strong through the really tough times at 3:00 am when it is just way easier to give in and get the paci...either toss them out or put them somewhere that is really difficult to get to so the option is pretty much removed...that'll help you stay strong. I never regretted getting rid of the paci that early. I never had to deal with a tempermental 2 or 3 year old screaming for it or going to find it for themselves. It was gone before he really had any control over it. He learned to self soothe. I had many people warn me that he would suck his thumb or finger for years to come but that never happened for us. Best of luck whatever you decide to do.