Nightwakings and the paci?

[kate's mom]

I was curious how anyone handles the pacifier when their child wakes in the middle of the night?
Do you go in and give it to them everytime they wake up?
Do you let them fuss a bit and then give it to them?


My daughter is 3.5 months old. She uses the paci to sooth herself to sleep. (I know probably a bad idea)
She usually drops it when she is in deep sleep, but will sometime wake up at night and I am not sure how to handle it.
Should we go right in and give it to her, let her fuss?

Thanks!

[Txfish]

I used to let dd fuss for a few minutes, and if she got to actual crying I'd go in and find it for her. I would not wait until she got really fully awake, just light real crying. Until she was old enough to have more mobility and could fend for herself a little, I would get it any time she needed it.

Once she got that little bit older (maybe 5-6 months?) she would wake up and want to party if I went in, so I started leaving her to self-soothe as much as possible, only going in if she got real heavy crying. Since she was probably 7 months old I rarely go into her room at night for any reason. And from what I can tell, now she uses the paci to fall asleep, it falls out, and when she wakes up she picks it up and sticks it back in, but is not sleeping with it in her mouth all night. And then we take it out of her mouth and leave it in the crib so it's for sleep time only -- I don't think we'll have any real problems with breaking her of the paci.

Your dd is young; I'd keep getting it for her (after a few minutes) until she gets big enough to start using her hands more or can fumble around and find it for herself.

[jh124]

My daughter is 3.5 months old. She uses the paci to sooth herself to sleep. (I know probably a bad idea)


Stop listening to your MIL, friends, many books and so-called experts. I'm of the opinion that anything that helps a 3.5 month old sleep is not a bad idea. If your child were 3.5 years old, then I might have some helpful suggestions, but 3.5 months? Nothing you are doing now is setting her up for bad habits later. Habits/routines don't start until about 6 months old.

At 3.5 months old, DS was still in a PNP next to my bed. When he'd start to cry - not hungry cries - I would put the paci in and lightly hold it there with my finger until he went back to sleep.

[PinkBeary]

Do you go in and give it to them everytime they wake up?

Yes. At that age, I would go immediately into DD's room and give her the pacifier. DD woke up really fast if I didn't help her right away. It is much quicker than having to go in and rock your baby to sleep... and your baby is able to get rest.

I agree with Txfish. When they are around 5-6 months, wait a little longer before going in. You might want to read the baby sleep training books. Weisbluth and Ferber were great references.

My DD was able to put the pacifier back in her mouth at 5 months, but if she couldn't find it, she'd cry for help.

Something interesting is that I think that DD is better with her hands because of her pacifier. She plays with it when she is about to go to sleep. I only let her use it when she sleeps and when we go out of the house. The pacifier stays in her crib.

[jh124]

My DD was able to put the pacifier back in her mouth at 5 months, but if she couldn't find it, she'd cry for help. Something interesting is that I think that DD is better with her hands because of her pacifier.


Yes, I was amazed at how quickly DS learned this. And to turn it right side up if it were upside down.

[jbenny75]

Stop listening to your MIL, friends, many books and so-called experts. I'm of the opinion that anything that helps a 3.5 month old sleep is not a bad idea. If your child were 3.5 years old, then I might have some helpful suggestions, but 3.5 months? Nothing you are doing now is setting her up for bad habits later. Habits/routines don't start until about 6 months old.


I agree. She's still tiny and a pacifier is so soothing for a baby. Also, IMO, she's too young to let her fuss or CIO. She still needs your help. Another plus is that if you get that paci back in quickly enough, she probably won't completely wake up.

I spent a lot of days running to DS's room constantly to put the paci back in. He grew out of that. He still uses it to go to sleep, but doesn't wake up if it falls out.

[kate's mom]

Thank you so much for all of your responses!

My older daughter didn't take the paci this young, so by the time she wanted one, she was able to find it.
I want her to be able to soothe herself back to sleep, I guess that will come as she gets a little older.

Thanks again!

[kate's mom]

One more quick paci question.
If she wakes from a short nap 30-45 minutes is it ok to give it to her to extend her nap?

[mmisabel]

One more quick paci question.
If she wakes from a short nap 30-45 minutes is it ok to give it to her to extend her nap?


Definitely!! I was a big "paci popper" with DS at this age. Somtimes with naps he'd go back to sleep, other times not but it's worth a try. He now only falls asleep with it if he's overtired and rarely wakes up looking for it. It helps soothe them and is not a big deal at such a young age.

[jh124]

One more quick paci question.
If she wakes from a short nap 30-45 minutes is it ok to give it to her to extend her nap?


Yes, I'd give it back and see if you can extend her nap a bit. If she's sleepy, hopefully she will go back down. If she's not, she'll let you know.

[kate's mom]

bumping this up for myself.

At what age could your DC find their own paci in their crib?
My DD is now 6 months old and can put it in her mouth, but
can't find it in the crib. I am hoping it happens soon or
I may be reading the "how to wean from the paci" thread soon.

Thanks

[Winter Biscuit]

kate's mom - my friend would put several pacifiers in her son's crib so if he lost his original one, he was sure to find at least one other one. Not sure if that is a good idea or something you want to consider, but thought I'd throw that out there.

I'm glad I found this thread...my 11 week old is a paci addict and it's a totally new world for us since our first DD never took one at ALL. I have been popping the paci back in if/when she wakes up at night, but only if I know it's not time to eat. I cannot wait until we can stop playing this "pop the paci back in" game :p

[maybebaby]

At 7 months, my DD was able to find her own paci in the crib and pop it back in most of the time. At nine months, she's even more proficient. (Though now I have a new problem: she's standing and will toss it out of the crib...I know I will be reading the how to wean from the pacifier thread in a couple of months!).

I too leave an extra in the crib to make it easier for her to find it at night...though sometimes this produces amusing antics where she finds the other paci and switches between the two, to see if one tastes better.

[mommydearest]

My DD is a paci addict as well. This week I have been trying when she wakes up before midnight to rock her to sleep starting with the paci in her mouth and then taking it out as she gets drowsy. She doesn't seem to notice and has started falling asleep without it. So...she hasn't dropped it and missed it because it wasn't there to begin with. But after I go to bed, it is definitely the paci in mouth game.

[kate's mom]

Thanks for the replies. We actually have several paci's in her crib now, she is just starting to play with them, but doesn't seem to be able to find them to put them back in her mouth to go to sleep. Hopefully the 7th month mark will be it!

Thanks!

[solongtogo]

kates mom...my DD couldn't get the paci in her mouth until she was a good 7 months old I don't think...

[jesseybell]

DD is 8 months old - in the past month she's definitely gotten better at putting it in her mouth when she's in her crib (she can now find it when it is hidden behind her ear), but like a PP, she's now started throwing it out (we don't have a bumper) so every night we make sure we have an extra or 2 in her room so we aren't having to crawl under the crib in the middle of the night (though luckily we aren't having to get up every night)

For a while we were surprised she still had it in in the morning, until we realized she was putting it back in herself.

[kate's mom]

The Easter Bunny brought a few extra paci's so we have them lined all around her crib! We have actually noticed that they are moved around so she must be somewhat finding them, just not making the connection.

Part of me is seriously thinking of getting rid of it soon, but she seems to love it and if it makes her happy, who am I to take it away from her.:)