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GinaD 
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Joined: 26 April 2010
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 Topic: Weaning off a pacifier
Posted: 26 April 2010 at 2:20pm |
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I have a 4 month old son Liam, he is my 1st. He had very bad colic when he was a newbie and we gave him a pacifier as we were told that it made his colic less painful for him. I'm wondering now if its time to wean him off it or if we should carry on with it, the reason is some nights we are up constantly putting it back in his mouth. Liam is wrapped when he sleeps also. Please any suggestions would be appreciated :)
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lisa85
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Location: Christchurch
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Posted: 26 April 2010 at 2:37pm |
I guess you just have to go with your gut.
We had twins and we gave them pacifiers but took them away when they turned one. I have always thought it's more about when the parent is ready to let go of them more than if or when the child is. Because really it's you that has to do all the hard work lol. Who knows you may get lucky and your son may not even notice you've taken it away. I think if you decided to do it your best to get rid of it all together. We threw ours in the trash so we wouldn't be tempted to revert back to them if we had a rough night. I know some ladies that have cut the tip of the dummy off so that they don't want it anymore but I think thats really more for toddlers. I say if your going to do it best just to go cold turkey.
Best of luck if and when you decide to do it  I hope you don't get too many sleepless nights 
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MissAngel
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Posted: 26 April 2010 at 5:05pm |
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Thomas is nearly 2 and he still has one at night time. I wouldnt dream of taking it away from him at the moment with the impending birth of #2, its his comfort thing and I'm not worried.
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Alex, Thomas and Lily 
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crafty1
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Posted: 26 April 2010 at 5:48pm |
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if you are having to get up and replug then it's prob worth weaning as it'll be a long time before he can find it and plug himself. It should be easier the sooner you do it. Just go cold turkey, but do it over the weekend or when your hubby/partner can assist with sleeps. He may surprise you and be ok with just a little bit of crying. If you don't want too much crying then use every other way of soothing but vary it, so maybe walk in pram, drive in car, rock in your arms etc. That way you're not creating another issue.
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wellygirl
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Posted: 26 April 2010 at 8:43pm |
My DD had a dummy till 6 months, when she learned how to pull it out and hold it up, but not reinsert it! We went cold turkey, and it was fine - I think maybe we were more attached to it than she was 
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ElfsMum
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Posted: 26 April 2010 at 8:58pm |
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if i were you i would go cold turkey..we had this problem many many many times a night till he was 7 months.. !!:( and i should have taken ti away then..as he did eventually learn to put it back in but we had phases of nights he needed us to help and now he is 2 and a bit and no way is it leaving him lol.. though he only has it at night and has done for 18 months i still would like to get rid of it but it's not happening:(
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Raspberryjam
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Posted: 26 April 2010 at 9:18pm |
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I was reading the other day about that (could have even been in the OB mag) from 5 or so months babies wake every 2 hours or so and resettle and go back to sleep - unless they have a sleep association like a dummy - and as they are too little to put it back in themselves they will yell out for you to do it for them
WIsh I had of known that back when... no I have an almost 2 year old who looves her 'binky'
Seems your Lad is at the pertect age to loose the dummy if thats a concern to you
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http://lilypie.com] 
http://lilypie.com] 
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CarrieMum
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Posted: 26 April 2010 at 11:06pm |
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I went through this exact dilemma when my DS was about 4 months old. I was so sick of replacing the dummy during the night. We tried to go cold turkey but he just cried so much that it broke my heart.
The crying out for lost dummy turned out to only be a phase which he stopped a few weeks later. And by 5 months old he'd learned how to replace the dummy himself and we weaned the wrap at that point and had him in a grobag instead.
So my DS still has the dummy but only for cot sleeps. I find it a great sleep association tool and he sleeps very well with it. He has two 2 hour naps a day and then sleeps 12 hours overnight too. No more wake ups to replace the dummy so if its too hard to take it off him since he's so used to it then maybe just leave it and the waking to replace should stop soon.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
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kaybee
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Posted: 27 April 2010 at 12:04pm |
we found the dummy great for the first few months, but ds started needing it put back in at night from about 3 1/2 months, so we decided to go cold turkey. It involved a wee bit of crying and seemed hard at the time but in retrospect wasn't too difficult at all! I'm glad we did it early on, and I have actually found it easier now with no dummy at all, he has learned to get off to sleep without crying (I put a cosy sheepskin under his fitted sheet and this seemed to help too). I found that i was using the dummy more and more out and about but now I find that there are very few occasions when I still wish we had a dummy.
We tried the Sleep Sense approach, but basically it's just going cold turkey and deciding whether or not to stay with him while he cries. At first i stayed with him but I soon realised it made no difference whether I was there or not and was much easier for me if I wasn't! It helped that i knew that he was crying because he wanted the dummy and not for any other, more serious, reason.
Good luck!
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kaybee
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Posted: 27 April 2010 at 12:10pm |
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oh and I also stopped wrapping Kaze at about the same time, as I thought he might find his thumb to suck instead, but in hindsight it may have been a bit much all at once - perhaps try wrapping him with one arm out for a couple of nights and if that works OK, take away the dummy and let him have an arm free? Kaze likes to play with the blanket over the side of his cot to get off to sleep, so it may have been more difficult if he hadn't been able to develop this new sleep association straight away.
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mummymonster
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Posted: 27 April 2010 at 7:05pm |
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Personal choice. Do what works for you and your baby. You'll find plenty of advice on how to ditch the dummy. And you'll find just as many mums/babies who decided to keep it.
I find it hard to remember dates exactly.
DS is now 9mths, and has dummies attached to a bunny for sleeps. He won't go to sleep without the dummy bunny, but as many times as not I just find the bunny next to him (dummy out) once he's asleep. (There are actually 3 identical bunnies for washing & daycare purposes)
I have a vague plan to remove the dummies after a bit and see if the bunny will do.
Under 4mths I was up 'all the time' with him, not just the dummy.
About 4-5mths, he was wrapped, sleeping better but often waking to have me put the dummy back in.
About 5-6 mths I started - if he wakes me up I do nothing for about a minute (I was told 10min but I never even last 2) then go put it back it. More times than not he's back to sleep (or at least silent) before the minute is up. I have no idea if he's putting the dummy back in himself or not though it was about 6mths he could reliably put it back in himself.
Now he wakes us less and less - I see no reason to ditch it, he likes it.
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Weaning off a pacifier
