Pacifier hell

pmkmp

I hope someone has some great advice for me, because I'm this close to losing my mind!  DD doesn't want/need a pacifier much at all.  That is until bedtime.  It never used to be this way, it's a recent development that is progressively getting worse.  The problem is that as soon as she dozes off and the paci falls out, she starts crying.  Not just fussing that can be let go, she all out whales.  We played the pacifier game for 3 hours last night.  Finally it was time for her to eat and that zonked her out... without a pacifier.  That's her routine.  The first few hours she NEEDS that paci, but the rest of the night she's fine.  We can't keep doing this paci game of running in there every 10 minutes to put it back in for her.  She needs sleep and we need sleep.  I can get her to fall asleep without it and get her into her crib, but no fail, about 20 minutes after I initially lay her down she'll wake up wanting that darn paci.  She's 4 months, 1 month adjusted.  Do we keep going along with this and hope it passes or do we try to ween her of the paci at bedtime?  I don't know what is appropriate at this age.  I've tried giving her an extra feeding in the evening, music, swaddling, and rocking. Any tips, tricks, or plain ol' sympathy?!

LUCKY41010

Have you looked into a wubbanub it is a paci with a animal attached so the baby can hold on to it. hope this helps

ijack

No Cry Sleep Solution offers a pretty good method, I thought. Basically you get her to fall asleep (w/ the paci if need be) and then once her sucking goes from a frantic suck to a more calming suck (or no suck at all) you take the paci out. If she wakes up when you take it out you do it over and over again until she stays asleep when you take it out.

We had a HUGE paci addiction, that would last all.night.long, but she seemed to get over it when we stopped letting her fall asleep eating. We used to bathe her and then feed her and when we switched the 2 she started sleeping SO much better (I don't know if that is an option for you).

My other recommendation is a wubbanub

GL!

RubyRed7

I think at this adjusted age it's probably just a phase that she's going through, needing the soothing to stay asleep. If she was older I might have different advice. For now, I say wabbanub, or even cosleeping. Mama needs some sleep!

BrainySmurfette

Our DD had the same pacifier issue at night--she would wake up when it fell out and cry.  I only have sympathy because she is almost 2 and hasn't grown out of it completely.  This is part of the reason that she slept in our bedroom until she was 7 months old.  It was easier to put it back in when she was within arm's reach of the bed.  We were totally thrilled the day she learned to put it in herself.  We usually put her to bed with 3 of them so that she can find one easily when it falls out.  She did go through a period where she would get mad at being put to bed, and she would throw all of them out of the crib and scream, and scream.

I'm sorry, and good luck!

SBMBride406

The Wabbanub saved our life for a few months when we had this issue. B/c it has weight, we can just lay it on his belly and he can't knock it out as easily. Now he can put it back in his mouth himself b/c it is bigger and easier to manipulate.