Weaning Pacifier on a 7Week Old

He's too young, he needs to suckle, a LOT.
So unless YOU are willing to be his pacifier 24/7 I suggest you rethink this idea.
Plus it just sounds cruel :-(

An infant that young needs to suck so let him keep it for now, this is how they soothe themselves. I would take it away around 6 months or so.

He's too young. He has an instinct to suckle. It's self soothing.
Get a pacifier clip.

Continue to run & quickly put it back in his mouth. This will soothe him and keep your sanity.

I remember this phase and you just have to deal with it :) He will eventually be able to put it back into his mouth on his own. At 7 weeks he can be napping in the living room with you so you can stick it back in. For nighttime have him in a bassinet next to your bed and with a tiny nightlight just reach over and put it back in and go back to sleep. Your supposed to be INSANELY tired right now with a baby this age :) Hang in there it gets easier.

We had to do this with both of our babies. I was not going to use a pacifier at all, but the babies were so cranky in the hospital that the NURSE gave it to them. Both times.

Babies need to suck, and a binky is the way to go. if you get a binky clip from the store, it makes it so much easier because then you know where to start looking for it. As the baby gets older, he will learn to put it back in himself. And, both of my kiddos had given them up by the time they were 12 months. They did it on their own, so weaning wasn't an issue for us. But, if he needs it to sleep and feel secure, then that is what he needs. I'm sorry. I think that you will have bigger problems if you try and take it away at this age. Sorry! But, it will only be for a few more months, and with a newborn, which is what you have, you should be feeding every 1.5 to 3 hours anyway, so you have to get all the time and sleep is a luxury, I remember!

Heck, I have a 2.5 year old and sleep is still a luxury with him. Good luck, but know that this will go away in time. You have my sympathy because I have been there oh so many times.

You may be stuck with this for a while, M.. Not to burst your bubble, but when our son was four months old we were practically begging him to use a paci because he just wanted to suckle. It's a comfort thing (but my boobs were getting burnt out on that). One month is so wee little... the urge to suckle is a survival urge for him. He doesn't relate 'empty/paci' suckling to not getting any nutrition-- he just knows that it feels good and secure.

By the way, we had no problem with weaning him off the paci when he was ready and this was before he was two.

He is seven weeks and obviously needs to suck. Let him keep it. Please!

pacifiers are not evil! It satisfies a need inherent in infants.

but I'll take a pacifier-free baby any day!

& I think you're stuck with it for a while. :)

Update: one more thought....use a swing, a bouncy seat....& swaddle. Anything to soothe your baby. Don't let him cry it out....he's a newborn still!

He's ONLY seven weeks old and clearly he needs it. It helps him to self-soothe. Do you know how many babies are unable to self-soothe? But he has a way and you want to take it away from him. You would have to teach him a whole new self-soothing method, and at this age it would be much harder than if he were older or if he weaned himself from it.

You need to simply deal with the fact that it sometimes falls out. Make sure that he's fed before you put him down to sleep at night... it's called Dream Feeding. It should lessen the urge to cry for the pacifier if it falls out of his mouth.

There's another very good reason to let him keep it. It keeps his airways open with the sucking and breathing while sucking. Babies that suck their thumbs and/or pacifiers are much, much less likely to succumb to SIDS.

EDIT: I was on my phone earlier, so I didn't post this part. There's another reason to let him suck the pacifier and not wean him. It's helping to strengthen his mouth muscles, his tongue, and his throat. These things all help combat against the risks of SIDS as well. It helps with the feeding process too. He has no teeth for you to worry about and won't for several months.

The pacifier has nothing to do with your convenience, but your baby's needs.

He is far too young to go without it. Sucking is a natural reflex babies have and is the only way they can sooth and comfort themselves. He will need that pacifier for a long time, though he should not have it past 12 months.

Don't do it.

Get a binky clip and clip it to him. He will learn how to find it an put it back in his mouth in a few months.

Some babies really need a binky, and you will be harming him and yourself if you try to take it away. Yes, it's a hassle until they learn how to put it back in themselves, but it's still worth it.

If he needs to suck and you take away his source, he'll find his thumb. That may get YOU more sleep but its WAY worse for him and takes much longer to wean.

Too early for this, mom. He needs the comfort and you need the sleep. What needs to happen is that he might need a little help through the next few weeks until he can get a bit more mobile and learn to identify the pacifier that he loves so much and "look" for it if it falls out. During the day, you can help him by attaching his beloved pacifier with a pacifier leash. Just make sure the attachment is short and placed properly on him. Once he learns to reach for it and find it, he will grab it himself and place it back into his mouth. This happens sooner than you'd think. I also used to keep three pacifiers in my daughters crib at night so she could find one if the one she had tumbled away or fell out. Worked like a charm! Wean him off this around the time he gives up the bottle. Do it all at once. Otherwise, give him a few more weeks and he will amaze you with his ability to use the pacifier to soothe himself and also reach for it when it falls out.

No advice on how to wean, but my first born did this too. I just want to point out that this is not a long term problem as they are soon able to put their own pacifier back in their mouth. They can search for it and manage their pacifier I think around month 6 or so. I hear you though. Its one of the reasons I have not cared to give into the pacifier with my second and third child. It does feel like a very unnecessary waking when there are so many wakings that can't be avoided for feeding. Wanting to protect your sleep is totally valid M.. not sure why you are getting the flack you are getting on here for this. That said, taking paci away is probably going to be more problematic for your sleep in the end.
Now I'm not recommending sleeping in a swing, but for my first the waking after losing the paci happened when she slept in her bassinet. Unrelated to the paci we gave into putting baby to sleep at night in her swing. In that cradled position her head did not drift to one side and losing the paci was a thing of the past. At the end of 5 mo we moved her to her crib and i want to say that she was able to find her own paci at this age.

For a 7 week old, it is all about finding what comforts him. So whatever makes him happy is good.

Moms sure get tired though. Your best solution is to get some relief so you can sleep.

If it's OK with you for him to use his fingers or thumb (personally I believe if you can find a way kiddo, go for it!) make sure he can get to them. You might need to roll up the sleeves on long sleeved jammies or shirts.

M

I think a baby is supposed to eat every few hours at this age. I also think that a binky is the lesser issue when a child is older and still wants it.

The issue is that you're not able to fall asleep. I suggest you hold him in a rocking chair in the crook of your arm with the binky in his mouth and let him sleep as long as he will. You can also doze off during this time.

Obviously you need your rest too. The thing is, you had a baby. Baby's do not sleep all night or for very long at a time until they're much older. I think that baby's that sleep all night or that take long naps during the day are very uncommon.

If you have a friend or mother or mother in law have them come over for the night and help out so you can get some deep solid sleep. This is why traditionally they came in the past, so they could tend the baby while the new mom slept.

He is young and will adapt easily, just take it and when he cries at bed time sit with him and sing or talk softly and rub his tummy until he is close to sleep. But, don't be surprised that if, shortly after taking away his paci, he then finds his fingers or thumb. The comfort of sucking is natural to babies.

He needs to suck for comfort at this age. This is a natural response and need. For most babies, it's either the pacifier or the thumb. The thumb he can always find, but you can't take it away. The pacifier you can take away later but you have to keep putting it back in. There are no other choices. If you don't want him to have a pacifier, you just can't introduce it at birth. So either you start helping him maneuver his thumb into his mouth and just deal with it when he's 2 or 4 or 6, or you do the pacifier now. I don't think you can, or should, wean a 7 week old. Mine didn't go for a pacifier after the first time, but he found his thumb on his own. At first I like it because I hated the pacifier "look" and I'd heard so many complaints from our friends about doing what you're doing. Mine did it for comfort while awake until about age 1, and pretty regularly during sleep or when really drowsy until about age 7 - and yes, he needed braces. So there's no one way that's perfect, believe me.