I have a 4 1/2 month old little man and he has always been a really good sleeper. He has been sleeping in his own bed, going down still awake, and 9.9 times out of 10, he sleeps through the night without waking for a bottle or to be picked up or anything. What he does do is wakes up periodically throughout the night (most of the time only once around 3am) and talks in his sleep. He makes noises so loudly that I go in and most of the time, his eyes are closed, but all he needs is a pacifier and he is out for another couple hours.
I just want to know if I should continue to go in there to give the pacifier to him, since he doesn't even really know that I am there most of the time? I was going to continue doing it until he is a little older and can put his pacifier in his mouth himself. Right now he knows what it is and where it goes, but can't always get it into his mouth the right way.
I just don't want to start a sleep association or a pattern that he won't be able to live without. But at the same time, I don't want him to start screaming and completely wake himself up so that he can't go back to bed without a bottle etc...
I wouldn't worry about long term bad habits at this point. If he is sleeping through the night at this age, even with a bink, let him go! I would say that I would try waiting to go in there at night for a couple of nights just to see if he will wake himself up for it or not. If he doesn't fully wake up, I wouldn't go in.
I'll be the dissenting voice, so you can get both sides :-)
We decided to wean from the paci at 6 months and are so happy to have done it. We were like you, where we would be going in throughout the night to replace the paci, and at some point I just thought exactly what you are thinking: that we were helping create a bad habit and that his sleep was suffering. Now, no doubt if we'd let him keep it, eventually he would have learned to find it and put it in his mouth himself, but we couldn't think of a good reason to do that. (It's not like sucking on a paci is a crucial life skill to learn.)
Anyway, around 6 months, we just stopped cold turkey. It was hard for a couple days and nights, but then, like magic, he started sleeping MUCH better. At this time we gave him a little lovie (we love the Angel Dear animal series) and he chews on the corner of that. He was still taking a little 30 min nap in the evening and we discovered it was totally linked to the paci. Without the paci, he went down to two nice naps and longer stretches at night.
Whatever works best for you, and there are much worse things than having to wean a kid from a paci at one or two years, but the process at 6 months was very simple for us. Best of luck!
if he's still asleep and not scared or anything, I'd leave it alone. If he's really awake and the paci is what helps him sleep, I'd give it to him. Good luck!
I have a 7 month old baby girl who started doing that around the same time and still does. Just like yours she is a great sleeper. I have had her Pediatrician tell me, have read as well seen it in my own daughter, that babies are very active sleepers. Once in a while I will hear her briefly scream, I go in her room and she is fast asleep. More than likely dreaming. They are processing a lot in those little brains each night :-) Mostly I will hear her talking. I usually wait to see how long it lasts or if it turns into a cry before I go into her room. She also moves around a lot in her crib while she sleeps. I will put her down to sleep one way at night and in the morning she is in the totally oposite direction :-) It sounds pretty normal to me with your son. But talk to to his Pediatrician as well. Hope this helps.
Just keep doin' what you're doin'. Don't worry about a so-called bad habit. Did someone tell you that or are you youself just worried? Babies need mamas (and dads too) in all different ways even if it is just plugging a paci back in in the middle of the night.
I agree with the moms that say he is likely just being a noisy sleeper. I also think the pacifier is about the grossest thing ever and you should do away with it while he's young enough to. Those things harbor all kinds of nasty germs. I've seen kids drop them around the house, pick them back up and put them in, God knows where it's been or who else had it if you have kids or pets around. One of the WORST things I've seen is moms that pick them up off the floor and put them in their own mouths to clean them WTH???? I have seen way too many kids develop that constant bumpy mouth where all around the edges they have little red bumps that just never completely heal and often turn into nasty yeast infections. If it goes on long enough the kid ends up with 10-20 of them in every car, truck, and nook and cranny of the house and most parents just stand back and think it's okay that they put that in their mouth when it was just pulled out from under some peice of furniture.
Trust me, you want to get rid of that thing. My grandson is 8 weeks and my mother and daughter kept trying one. He didn't want it. He would only take if if they held their hand in front of it or put it in over and over. I have to ask everyone...what's the point? If you have to force them to like it, then they will love it and one day you will hate it, then BAM....we see how can we lose this thing posts?? Why? Our little guy is doing just fine without it and so did all 3 of my last 3 children. I did it with my first because it was the thing to do. But eventually I just threw them all away when I realized how gross they were.
Hi Jen, first off, have you tried to see if he will go back to sleep without the binky? I had one that would do just like yours, kind of wake up, but not really, make some noises and then go back to sleep. You may give it a try once just to see if he'd fall back into that deeper sleep on his own with out the binky and if he doesn't then go in and pop that sucker in! If he dosen't know that you are there I don't see anything wrong with it. Once he gets older and he can put the binky in then you don't have to go in anymore. And congrates on the good sleeper - both of mine were good sleepers and I am thankful for that to this day! They are 6 & 8 and I still have no troubles with them at bed time. Good luck and God Bless!
Jen, WOW, my kiddos never slept that great!! I'd keep giving him the binky, he's probably saying "where'd that thing go, I had it when I fell asleep and I really like it!".
Congratulations on your little bundle.
M.
if it was me i'd wait until it was a real cry before going in. you never know, it might not be about the binky at all - you might listen one night and not go in, and he might just go back to sleep for the rest of the night. it almost seems like you're encouraging him to have the paci all night long whether he really needs it or not...but i don't really think it matters too much one way or another at this age...mine is three and i still go check on him during the night ;)
