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?
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.
Your life is an occasion.... rise to it. --Mr. Magorium
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Nightwakings and the paci?
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Originally Posted by PinkBeary
