Pacifier Prognosis

laowaigringa · June 2014

I guess this is a STM question. DD has been a paci addict pretty much since birth. She's happy without it for longer periods now that she's a bit older, but I would say 20-30 min is the absolute max that she can go without it without starting to fuss. She definitely needs it to fall asleep. She's a decent sleeper and most nights we only need to get up around three times to put it back in. Other nights can be much worse; sometimes as often as every hour. I've kind of been assuming that as she gets older she'll be better able to sleep through the night (outgrowing reflux, once we start solids, etc.) However, lately I've wondered if those things won't make any difference and I'm worried about it being two years from now and we're still having to get up anywhere from 3 to 12 times a night to stick it back in. So I'm thinking about trying to wean her from the paci sometime in the next month or so because I know that if you're going to do it, then the younger the better. What I'm wondering is; should I wait until we start solids and see if that makes a difference first? Is waking up and wanting the paci something they'll just outgrow on their own? I'm not at all opposed to her having the paci during the day or for naps, just trying to avoid this becoming a problem that disrupts our sleep for years. Any thoughts or advice welcome!

peanutmuse · June 2014

I only have one comment, since I don't have experience with this.

She'll be able to put the paci back in her own mouth eventually. It's not like you'll have to do it for 2-3 years.

That's all. Not helpful, I know. Sorry.

laowaigringa · June 2014

Oh - that's true. I actually hadn't thought of that, which I guess just goes to show the level of my current sleep deprivation! Okay, so given this new information, is it worth going through a potentially painful process of breaking the paci habit now or should we just tough it out until she can do it herself? And at about what age will that be? Could it be, like....tonight? :-* I-)

ac1259 · June 2014

Yeah so my 20 month old now only takes her paci at bedtime and for naps. Typically she only needs it to fall asleep and I can't even find it when she wakes up in the morning, or else she knows it's only for bedtime and when I come in her room in the morning she takes it out and hands it to me. There have been a few times where she will wake up upset and I've had to go in and give her the pacifier, but typically she knows where it is and she'll find it herself or sleep without it.

Long story short, it's really up to you when you want to take away your baby's pacifier. I personally don't have an issue with them having it until they're a little older- my oldest is a great sleeper and I kinda feel like if she wants a pacifier for sleep right now it doesn't really bother me, she's not even 2 and we've gone from being a total addict to only using it at bedtime and for naps. I honestly don't think introducing solids is going to have any impact on whether or not she needs a pacifier at night. My 5 month old takes one to go to bed but spits it out within 10 minutes of falling asleep and sleeps without it. She hasn't started solids yet. I really don't think it has an impact.

SandFHasse · June 2014

DD will be 2 in September and still uses her paci for naps and bedtime. She puts it back in her mouth by herself. We are trying to wean her off it for good.

We will wean DS off sooner. He sleeps pretty good without one, but he hates the car and it calms him down in the car.

teacher0708 · June 2014

DS self weaned at nine months.

DD doesn't use her all the time just at nap times and will spit it out. She will use it occasionally at night to go back to sleep.

last14real · June 2014

I'm going to be that mom with the different opinion, but oh well here it is. I do think that you should stick it out at least until she is on solids bc maybe she will start sleeping better. My thought pattern being that maybe she is wanting the paci constantly due to the acid reflux making it difficult for her to sleep. My nephew (Ben) had these issues and began growing out of it around 7 or 8 months. When your DD starts solids she may tolerate certain foods better than your BM or formula (whatever she is on). Or she may just grow out of her stomach issues in which case I would think she would need her paci less. From what I read when Ben had the issues baby's LES muscle will sometimes weaken more with certain foods than others causing the reflux. Also the older she gets the muscle strengthens resolving the issue (unless it is so severe surgical intervention is needed). So hopefully with finding solids that work for her and/or time she will outgrow the reflux therefore not needing her paci as much. Not saying that will wean her off of it bc it won't but she should not wake up just bc it falls out. I would guess it's the reflux that wakes her up that often (possibly teething discomfort as well) that's causing her to seek her paci for comfort. I personally don't think that she just has a paci obsession. On paci weaning note we started at about a year and slowly reduced the amount of time he was allowed to have it. He was done with it by probably 18-20 months. We took it away during the day first but let him have it in the car if he was upset, naps, and during the night. Then took it away in the car about a month later. When the paci was restricted to sleeping only we started making him leave it in his crib before we would pick him up out of the crib. He liked to put it under his pillow, I guess he thought no one would take it that way. Then we stopped giving it at nap time and there was about a week of rough times, but he was tired for nap so passed out within 15 mins. Lastly we bought him a new stuffed animal that sang and exchanged the animal for the paci. It was rough for a few nights and then he was fine. Good Luck!!

blue_elle · June 2014

I don't have experience myself, but a coworker has an almost 3 year old that she has to still throw a handful of pacies in his bed at night cause he freaks out if he wakes and can't find one in a couple seconds. That story made us decide to start putting him down as often as possible without to break the sleep association.

ac1259 · June 2014

Xan84 said:

I haven't quite decided what to do about the pacifier with my LO, but I've seen a couple of examples of late weaning of the pacifier - some kids just do not outgrow them on their own. It can either be easy or extremely difficult - it totally depends on the kid and you just won't know what their personality will be till you get there.

Last year DH and I visited a daycare, and there was one little boy about 18 months old just standing quietly in the middle of the room, looking at the teachers with the most mournful look on his face. The other kids were playing happily, but he just stood there in the same spot the whole time we were there, looking sad. I asked the teachers what was wrong with him, and the teachers said his mom had told them not to give him the pacifier anymore. Poor little guy, I felt so sad for him.

Meanwhile, you have me. I was still using a pacifier at age 3 - yikes. My mom told me she collected all my pacifiers and tossed them in secret, while telling me that she had given them away to a little boy who didn't have any. Luckily I accepted that explanation without a fuss!

@Xan84- a friend of mine said that she was going to wait until her LO was old enough to "mail her paci to a baby in need" ....I think I may consider doing that. DH really wants me to just take the paci from my 20 month old at night but I really don't want to risk good sleep right now:(

SandFHasse · June 2014

@Xan84‌ @ac1259 DD had a ton of pacifiers and had to bring one with everywhere. I started telling her if she dropped them while we were out then she lost them. Well she lost them all and now only needs one to sleep at home. That's the Wubbanub. The pediatrician suggested cutting the tip away bit by bit so that once its gone its gone. We will start that soon.

ashleywiz · June 2014

I have no experience yet- but DD is also a thumb sucker supreme. She'll take her paci still, but she'll spit it out and jam her fist in her mouth instead. I'm both happy and not about this because I genuinely think breaking a paci habit is way easier than a thumb sucking habit. You can take away the paci, but the thumb is attached. At this point, though, I'm just thanking the good Lord she can self soothe, and keeping positive that she'll just magically one day not need her paci or thumb (yeah, yeah, I know- keep dreaming).

Sakura16 · June 2014

@ashleywiz‌ same with my DD. Finally learned to self soothe at 3 months using her thumb after refusing every paci brand imaginable. For the first few months she was eating so often she was using me as a paci so her pedi was trying to get us to give her a paci but it wouldn't take. She said we don't have to worry about weaning until around 9 months. For now, it's the only way she'll STTN.

sehudson821 · June 2014

We started having issues with DS wanting his constantly during sleep. We went from STTN to 5-6 wake ups just for paci. We just went cold turkey. It takes a little more effort to get him calmed down, but he has slept all night 3 days in a row so I feel like this was a good decision for us. As far as the solids go, the paci issue started around the same time that we started some solids so I personally do not think the two were related. You are the momma though...go with your gut!

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