Baby Waking and Crying for Pacifier! HELP!

Maybe the little one is teething. I would just put a couple of the binkies in the crib and let it go. Good luck. My son ditched the binkie at 10 months and my daughter loves it...she is 18 months and uses it to sooth her. Fine with me and the doc, he said only to worry about it if it is interfering with her speaking.

Hey D.~ I personally would put two or three of them in there so she could find them easier! LOL! My daughter won't take a binky, she sucks on her hand so I guess one good thing is that she can always find it - but later on, I can't throw away her hand you know...I didn't take my other 2 kids binky's away til' they were over a year old. But it is a personal decision, and I think that whatever you choose there is no right or wrong, it is just a preference. Oh - I should tell you this, my Dr. told me that generally around 9 to 12 months, babies stop needing the sucking for consolation....so you might want to wait til' at least then to take it away? I only know this cause I was concerned about the sucking on the hand thing and he said most babies just stop around that time on their own, and not to worry....Good Luck!

Get her one of those pacis that have the little clip on it so you can clip it to her pjs.

Can it really hurt that badly to have a paci? I say go for it and put several in her crib. She is learning to take sooth herself by finding what she needs then getting back to sleep. Our daughter was 2 when we did away with hers. We told her the babys needed them and we should sent them away. It only took one night ( two seperate jags of 1 hour crying) but after that we were a "big girl".

Hi my daughter is 2 and still uses a pacifier for her nap and bedtime. I figure I would take it away when she gets older. When she was little I would put like 4 or 5 in her crib so she could find them. It really helped!

My (now) 13-year old was the binky queen! She had a whole team of pacifiers, not only for her crib, but for the car, the living room, and wherever else she frequented. Some of them were for sucking on and some were for rubbing on her cheek.

I just wanted to say, give your daughter enough pacifiers so she can find them in her crib. My daughter was definitely addicted, but was able to give up all pacifiers when she was 3 with the help of a visit from the "binky fairy."

Good luck!

My daughter is almost 7 months now. I weaned her off her pacifier when she was about 5 1/2 to 6 months. I was in the same situation. I was tired of getting up and putting the pacifier back on. I also figured if I could wean her off, both of us could get some sleep. Initially she was crying during her naps and that night, she cried for 1/2 hour or so. I was amazed that by the second night she was crying probably 10 minutes or so. In just a couple of days, she just goes to bed when I put her in the crib. I also got her a security blanket and I used that to associate with sleeping. I would suggest you trying to wean her off completely. I hope you find a solution that works for you and your baby.

I had the same issue, but because we swaddle, she wasn't able to find it when it fell out...which meant we had to replace it. When we decided to move her from the side-car crib to her own room crib, we decided to cut her off...cold turkey. Expecting at least hours of crying, to our delight she went to sleep within 10 minutes. You may be surprised at how adaptable your baby is. I recommend the Sleep Sense program...ours sleeps from 7 to 7 most nights with 1 or 2 feedings. The paci is used occasionally during the day, but never at night or when falling asleep. Good luck!

My daughter did the same thing and in a couple of months or even earlier she will be able to find it herself and won't wake you up. I wouldn't take it away for awhile, because it is helping soothe her back to sleep. She could be starting to teethe and the pacifier may help her feel better. I would definitely try throwing a bunch of pacifiers in the crib to help her be able to find one.

We went through this with our 1st (2nd never took a paci). We just ended up throwing a bunch in the crib, so he could always find one. We called it the "binky buffet"... When he got older, he would pick one out before bed. He was a champion sleeper (still is). We broke the binky habit cold turkey at 2.5yrs (he only used it for sleeping). It was 2-3 nights of getting out of bed and some tears, then done. The Easter Bunny brought him a basketball hoop in exchange for the binkies. :) It brought us 2.5 years of sound sleep, so I'm frustrated that the 8.5 mo old refuses to take one. I'm still getting woken in the middle of the night and have no tool for quick soothing... so I am most definitely a binky advocate! Good luck!

No, don't take it away! She loves it and it soothes her. Isn't that the point of them? She will grow up and develop and change and not want it. Don't worry.

Hi D.,
My dd is now 21 months old and she did the same thing about that time. I just helped her learn to find it for herself. But now she is quite dependent on it. I only let her have it when she is sleeping, but she would prefer to use it all the time. I think now I have to wait to break her habit until she's older and I can reason with her more.
I think you need to decide if you want her to continue to use that as a comfort or if its time for her to use another method. Choose your battles, but remember it's probably easier to break the habit at 5 1/2 months than at 2 or 3 years old.

NO! Don't take it away! It gives her comfort and allows you to sleep. What possible reason is there to take it away? Get one of those clip things and clip it on her. You can wean her from it when she's in her twos.

My daughter used to walk around with a pacifier clipped to her and one in each hand. She's now 16 and wonderful. We weaned her around 3.

D.,

My little one does the same- I put two or three in the crib with her- this has worked well for us.

M.

We are going through the same exact thing right now. my daughter is 6 months old and will wake for her paci and cry if she cant find it, we now have 2 in there that seems to help i asked the dr at her checkup and she thinks that maybe it is becuase they are starting to teeth and they like the massage it gives on their gums. our daugther only uses it in bed and sometimes in the carseat too good luck

My daugther who turned 2 yesterday still uses a binky as well. She is only allowed to have it at bed time. Her binky used to fall through the slats in her crib which would cause her to cry in the middle of the night. We bought those clips and clipped them to the corner of her blanket. That way she always knew where it was. We would watch her on her monitor at night grab her blanket and drag her hand along the edge to find it. We tried clipping it to her PJs, but she didn't like laying on the clip. Good Luck!

My son is 17 months old and had the same problem although I didn't find a solution until he was about a yr old. Then debated whether to take it away, but he started sleeping through the night so I decided my sleep was way worth the pain later on. But they always say its easier to break the habit earlier than later. But just in case you choose later, I also put about 2-3 pacifiers in the crib, but I also found the soothie Wubbanub pacifier. It was a life saver. It has a stuff animal attached too it so he was able to locate it in the crib and if she still sleeps on her back it'll sit right on her tummy!! I plan on just cutting the pacifier off once I do wean him from it. We have two of those one he use as a paci the other he keeps in his hand to fiddle with...It worked wonders for us...Don't know what type of paci she uses but if she takes the soothie its worth the shot. Only downside is cleaning it but I just throw the whole thing in the washer.....

Sorry for being long winded but hope this helps!!

No, don't take it away. The American Academy of Pediatrics now RECOMMENDS that you give pacifiers to babies because it reduces the risk of SIDS! You can try putting a few in there and see if she'll find them on her own.

I say give it to her - there's good evidence showing benefits, and it soothes her - isn't that what we want? She'll let it go when she's ready.

Blessings,

B. C., CR, EFT-CC
Natural Health Coach
Certified Newborn Massage Instructor
Certified Applied Aromatherapy Instructor
NSP Herb Specialist

I agree with most people on here--let her have it! She will, of course, become quite addicted to it, and it will be harder to wean her from it as she gets older. Still, it's worth the years of good sleep! At age two, we made the rule that the paci stayed in the bed (or the car for long trips) at all times. And at three, we took it away cold-turkey. My younger one is 14 months now and needs her paci. I don't put more than one in the crib at a time, because then she becomes obsessed with switching them out (first one, then another, or both at once), and doesn't sleep. But at six months, yes, several at once is a good idea.
Good luck!

Dear D. - I'm curious what you mean by "or is that just putting a band-aid on it?" A band-aid on what specifically? If it's comfort your baby wants, then I'd say no. Also, I know there's a lot of talk out there about the evilness of pacifiers, but if we think back, there were some major thumb suckers among us, and most of us turned out ok (myself included :)). Some articles now even say that a pacifier now may help reduce the thumb sucking later. (Can't remember the article I was reading, sorry.) Anyway... If your baby only uses it at sleep time, is there really that much harm? (I'm sure I'll get some responses that question! But please, if folks could understand that it's a rhetorical question. And please bear in mind that, yes, I have done my own reading. It's just my conclusion that we worry about things as much as our mothers did, but ironically we worry about some completely different things... It's just every generation's job to do the best they know how in my opinion!)

Dear D.:

Hello. I know the feeling of despair!!! My daughter is 20 months old now. We had the same situation. Well, I slapped the bandaid method on it. I had a bear that was holding a gift box, so i stuck that in her crib and put a few binky's at a time. She doesnt use the binky's during the day, they're only for nite-nite time... and it worked WONDERFULLY. UNTIL== yes,.. the big but! .. until we took off the bumper off her crib and now the damn things fall every night. Every single one of the damn binky's! I've resorted in putting a thin blanket at the top of her crib so they wont slip out so easily, but.. still just the bandaid... my advise.. after you've read my whole story (sorry) would be to take it away and let her self soothe if you can get away with it. It will be MUCH-MUCH harder as she gets older. we are determined to wean her off binky's by 2. wishing you luck!!

B.

Well, I don't know if this is the RIGHT thing to do, but I used to do exactly what you said! I put approx 4-5 "paci's" in my daughters crib and when she would normally wake up around 4 a.m.ish, she would find one (usually) and put it in her mouth. Sometimes, I would have to get up to give it to her. It only lasted a couple months and then she didn't need her paci to go back to sleep, so just hang in there- I am sure your daughter will outgrow this and be able to soothe herself back to sleep!

hey D. -
do what works for you, here is what we did:
got a few of those paci-clips that clip the paci onto your baby's clothes, then the baby can always find it!!!!!!
we didn't worry about her attachment to it, although when she turned two we told her that two year olds only used the paci in bed or in the car (places we wanted her to sleep!) and the night before she turned three we had the "binky fairy" come and get ALLLLL her binkies and left her with a fabulous presant (a spring-loaded rocking horse) plus she had her fabulous birthday party!!!! we had talked for weeks about the excitement of the binky fairy coming, that she was a big girl and the fairy was taking them to the little babies who needed them, and believe it or not we've NEVER EVER heard one bit of complaint from her regarding the taken binkies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so, good luck and don't feel bad for wanting to utilize the pacifier - that's what it's there for!!! they don't call it a pacifier for nothin'!!!!!!!
lots of love and support,
with a smile,
S.