Pacifier hell

victoriawaimon

I recently posted "Pacifier or thumb" trying to figure out the pros and cons of each. My main issue with the paci is that we were up at night every time it fell out of DS's mouth. Last night was ridiculous. There was one 5 minute period when I replaced it 13 times. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to wean an 11 week old from the pacifier?

Sawyerplus1

Does your LO need it to sleep? Were you putting LO to sleep? Does LO scream without it? If I replaced it 13 times in 5 minutes I would either: 1. assume LO didnt actually want it; 2. hold it in LOs mouth if they did want it, just until they fell asleep enough to not notice if it fell out; or 3. try something else to soothe LO. 

caeraRose

Do you breastfeed? If so, could you try offering him a breast for a few days while he adjusts to not having a pacifier? I didn't intend to wean DD off of her paci, but I started letting her comfort nurse more often when she gets grouchy or sleepy in the evenings, and she hardly ever even takes her paci anymore.

unaveragejane

I have found that paci's shaped like the Nuk (not just a plain cylindrical nipple) stay in DS's mouth better than the gumdrop soothers they gave us in the hospital. DS will hang onto it much longer in his sleep, and he is almost always so deeply asleep by the time he lets go if it, he doesn't wake up or care that it is gone. However, I also am working on getting him to go back to sleep without the paci if he wakes up, by shushing and patting him.

Also, I don't know if this is the case for your LO or not, but if I put mine down and he is extremely restless and spitting out the paci a lot, he usually needs to burp or toot. A little bouncing on my shoulder usually solves the problem and he's ready to lay back down and go to sleep.

victoriawaimon

Thank you for all your feedback.  You all gave me so many different perspectives and helpful suggestions.  We decided to take it away cold turkey 3 days ago.  He is sleeping and napping so much better, which is one of the main reasons to take the paci away.  DS will give us no more than 10 minutes of ridiculous crying and then fall asleep.  He is sleeping longer too!  We are keeping the pacifier for public meltdowns or long car rides.  It is definitely difficult to watch your LO cry and carry on knowing that a pacifier would ease his discomfort.  Last night was especially difficult for me, but he is so much more content and just happier from getting quality sleep.