Hello,
I have a 4 week old baby boy. He loves to suck on his hands, so I have been giving him a binky to suck on instead. He seems to have developed a habit of relying on the binky to fall asleep. I do not know what to do. I don't want to just take it away because he likes to soothe himself with it.
I have no problem with the binky. I also want to say that I do not want to sleep train him at this age. I am just looking for ideas to help him get to sleep without it or rely on it as much. I feel like I am replacing the binky in his mouth every time it falls out...for naps and at night. No matter how tired he is, once his eyes shut and the binky falls out of his mouth, his eyes pop open and he fusses and cries.
Thanks :)
Let him have his binky. He's still just a new baby.
Barely out of the womb.
It's comforting to him.
He will outgrow it soon enough. Trust me.
My son came home w/the binky the hospital gave him.
He used it for a few months, stopped then never had one again.
He was onto other things (phases), his blankie, his favorite car etc.
I am on the opposite spectrum. I think if its soothing to him, let him keep it. Babies like the sucking motion when they sleep and the binky is better than having to give him a bottle or nurse him each time he starts to wake up. My cousin is very diligent that when the kids are 1 there is no bottles or binkys. He daughter just turned one, she took it all away & now her daughter is up 5 times a nite. Maybe I am too lax but your little one wont' go to school with the binky, IMO let him keep it. - Just my opinion
Let him have it. He is only 4 weeks old, he is going to cry a lot while sleeping, whether he has the binky as the soothing mechanism or not. He has the reflex to suck to calm him, so it is a good thing he has it. Or, you can guide his finger to his mouth, but at this age, he doesn't have arm and hand control yet to do that himself. Also, both my boys used the binky for about 4 months or so then they stopped. It's not going to turn into a 3 year old still using the paci, well... unless you let it!
Dr. Sears has some good sleep advice for infants:
http://askdrsears.com/topics/parenting/sleep-problems
If you don't let him have the binky he may go to his thumb which is much harder to break. Babies need to suck and it is not going to hurt him at all.
I agree with Tiffany wholeheartedly. I let both of my girls have their binkies and no problems.
Do what works for you. Especially if you aren't breastfeeding. I know newborns have a sucking reflex and are soothed by sucking. The trick is knowing when to "pull the plug." When it's no longer an infantile reflex and just a way to self soothe.
I breastfed. I was the binky. I never had to break them from it. I didn't have to be on constant binky patrol. In my experience, it's more of a hassle than it's worth.
Be glad you have found something to sooth him. If he needs it and it works for him.. great.
Come back when he is older and you think it is time for him to stop.. The moms on here can give you lots of advice.
Welcome to the love/hate relationship with the pacifier! I would wait a little longer to take it away. Sucking on a paci is thought to help reduce SIDS. I know how frustrating it is to constantly put it back in his mouth, but it will pass soon enough.
being he is so young.... per a Binky, I would make sure that you know his hunger cues.
"Sucking" on hands/fingers, can be a cue that he needs to feed.
He is only 4 weeks old.
And newborns feed a lot. At 3 weeks, it was a growth-spurt, for example. Newborns have growth-spurts every 3 weeks, then at 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and every 3 months.
A binky, can sometimes be confused with a baby's need to feed.
And babies need to feed on-demand. Which can be every 1 hour or 2 hours or 3 hours or so. They also cluster-feed. Which means they will need to feed even every hour. And this is normal.
He is also too young to sleep train.
Babies, also "suck" on fingers etc., while in the womb. It is an instinct.
At this developmental stage it is totally normal for him to use it to soothe himself to sleep. Be grateful he uses it. If he's not swaddled, you could put several binkys in the crib for him to find when he wakes up, although he's probably too young for that trick.
He should be waking up every couple of hours still. If it's every 20 minutes because his binky falls out, that's one thing. If it's every 2-3 hours, that's normal and he probably needs feeding.
If he is sucking on his fingers it means he's hungry and wants to nurse and at 4 weeks it's normal for him to want to nurse most of the day...at least every 2 hours and babies his age will sleep for 4 hours once a day. Congratulations on your baby!
The binky is comforting to him and helps him sleep. That's a good thing.
To make it easier on you you can help him learn to keep it in his mouth by teaching him to "suck it back in" when it starts to fall out. When you're holding him and he's awake with the binky in his mouth, gently tug on it without pulling it clear out, and he will suck a little bit harder to get it back where he wants it. After doing this a few times while securely in mommy's arms he will naturally do this while he's in his crib (or swing, or bassinett...wherever he sleeps).
Believe it or not, binkies are a good way for babies to learn some healthy self soothing techniques, and are great for mommies soothing!
