Having to Put Pacifier in Baby's Mouth During Naps/nights

I have a friend who has invented a "paci pet". It worked for her twin granddaughters. Send me an email and I will link you. ____@____.com

I'm a little torn on this too. I realized early on that getting up to stick the pacifier in took less time than all the other things to get my baby back to sleep. I was going to wake up anyway, so I saved myself some trouble. It wasn't long before she was able to find it herself and didn't cry out to me any more.
We only used the pacifier in the crib, though. I don't allow it during awake times. Somewhere along the line, she quit using it at naps and only uses it at night.
Now to the bad part. She's almost 2 and still uses it at bedtime. Once she's asleep, it falls out and she doesn't wake up or put it back in during the night. But I don't like the idea of a child being able to ask for their binkie. I've broken my own rules, but it sure does make my life easier.

My daughter did that until she turned 1, she finaly puts it back in her own mouth. She never uses the pacifier during the day (her choice) but at night hunts it down when she knows it's time for bed. It's a great comfort to her so I let her keep it. In a few months she will prob only wake once or twice and if you give her the paci she should fall right back to sleep. My husband and I took turns but found this was much better for all of us than letting her cry and try to figure it out at 2am. Good luck. A few more months and I think things get sooo much easier at bedtime.

When our now 13 month old son was about 4 months, my husband and I realized that the pacifier was doing more harm than good. We were having to run in mid-nap and put the paci back in. It is normal for babies to wake up mid-nap, but we realized that our son was needing the paci to fall back asleep versus developing the skills to do it on his own. We decided to quit the paci cold turkey and it was so hard to hear him cry for his naps (I mean, so hard!)....However, it only lasted a couple of days and was totally worth it!! He found his thumb and still sucks that today. I know we will eventually have to break that habit but at least we don't need to always run around putting the paci back in his mouth AND he has developed better sleep habits. So, based on our story, I would recommend stopping the paci cold turkey- but you have to do what is best for you as the mom, and when you are ready. Your baby is still really little so be patient with yourself!!

my baby girl did this as well, if you can stand it the first few nights, you could let her cry it out, My husband was gone when she was born so i was sleep deprived, alone and could handle the crying a bit more knowing that I was setting a routine for myself in the long run. She is starting to now not even take a pacifier at nap/bedtimes but a wooby blanket and still sleeps through the night. The important thing is that they have something that makes them feel safe in they're crib, maybe your shirt or a blanket with your scent would help.

I had this problem with my daughter. She wanted it during naptimes & bedtime & sometimes during the day. When she was about 6-7 months I started to change the way I put her to sleep without the pacifier. I started to rock her to sleep and sang to her and held her till she was in a DEEP sleep! Deep sleep, for me, would be about 30 mins. Then I place her in the crib. Yes she awoke in the middle of the night, but I didn't give her the paci, I just rocked her back to sleep and placed her back in the crib. As long as you're commented to getting rid of the paci, it'll happen. Because at the same time I was also trying to get her to sleep in her crib and not in my bed! Before she was even 7.5 months, she was paci free! I lost some sleep, but caught up when she slept through the night! Good luck because I feel your pain!

Hi, I read a great book -Sleeping Through the Night by Jodi Mendell. I taught my 2nd child to put herself to sleep (didn't with my first until he was 8 months!). I only used the paci for the first 3 months when she was inconsoluble otherwise. She was sleeping through the night by 3 months. Your child is young and will adapt quickly. Good luck. N.

My 7 month old baby girl took a pacy until she was about 3 months old. I kept havign to get up as well and put it back in her mouth. So, I just took it away and I put a fe toys in with her (nothing she could choke on) adns he hasn't had a pacy since. At first she cried, but within a few days she had forgotten about her pacy and she good now! Just take it away and she will cry at first, but she will be ok! I don't agree with kids being 2 and 3 years old with pacys, ecspecially if they have teeth. If you take it away at an early age, she won't want it. Thats what I did and i works great. She sleeps all night 10 -12 hours and without waking up!

D.,

It may be that she is hungry in the night, or even in her nap. I remember you posting before that you were concerned about bringing up your milk supply after it had lessened. Babies who take pacifiers often don't nurse as much as they need to, WHEN they need to, as they are sucking on something else. You may want to try bringing her to bed with you. That way, she can nurse when she wants and you can get more sleep.

Babies will help their moms make more milk if they are allowed to sip, sip, sip, throughout the day. More frequent nursing actually helps mom produce lots more milk than the same amount of nursing but done less frequently.

Just something to consider.
D. S (mom to 5 and a granny now)

My baby also sleeps w/ a Pacifier (only the one from Northside)...she wakes up crying for it and I just get up and put it back in her mouth then she falls back asleep. She tends to spit it out once she's in a deep sleep and if it's close to her mouth (since 12 wks old, she'll be 16 wks on 06/26/08) she'll scoot her head over to it and suck it back up, should she be unsuccessful in her several attempts then she cries. It's a sight to see. I spoke with a dentist who said it's perfectly fine for a child to have a pacifier up until age 3 without damaging their teeth but be sure to wash it often and never let your child eat and put it in his/her mouth in between chewing as this causes germs. Also you should check it often for wear and tear then replace it if there are any. I hope this helps.

You could keeping doing it for her till she figures out that she has hands and fingers she can suck on as well. Or you can help her learn about fingers when she is awake to get her to suck on them. This will help her put her slef back to sleep when she can simply pop a thumb into her mouth instead of waiting for you to come.

Good luck
S.

My little one did the same thing when he was that age, but he woke up less and less frequently as he got older. By eight months he didn't use a pacifier at all, and probably by four months or so he didn't wake at all during the night.

You should get away from putting it back in her mouth for her. That just leads to you being sleep deprived. Whatever way a baby falls asleep is generally how the baby wants to be during periods of lighter sleep during the night. Try to get her to fall asleep without the pacifier so she doesn't look for it during the night. We all wake up (or become a bit more conscious) during the night without knowing it. If during those times we sense that something is wrong/different, we wake up fully. Otherwise, we never realize we were sleeping more lightly during those periods. That's why babies that fall asleep in someone's arms want to be held/rocked back to sleep during the night and those that fall asleep nursing want to be nursed every time they even slightly wake up (been there, done that). I personally don't like to let my babies fuss. I would probably wean her from the pacifier gradually at sleep time. If it helps her when she's not about to fall asleep, that's fine. I personally think babies should be off the pacifier by 14 months, although my fifth child is 13 months and still uses it sometimes. Good luck.

1)At three months if she requires her pacifier and you waking up to give it to her, than by all means do so.She is much to young and will not understand.

2)The weaning process should be a mutual agreement with you and your daughter. With my now 5 yr old twin boys; at the age of 18mths we had a ceremony at the trash can and agreed that the pacifier should go, replacing that space with more mature things for them. Give it time. You will learn that the pacifier can also be your good friend. LOL!!