Pasifire and Sleeping

They make pacifer clips that attach to the child's clothing. My 9 month old knows her pacifer is attached to her and can find it when she wakes up, and plugs herself back in. We didn't have pacifer clips when my son was born, so we would leave a pacifer in each corner of his crib. When he woke up there was a pacifer close by. I think he was around 6 months old when he was able to retrieve his own pacifers. My daughter could find hers much sooner because it was attached to her. Good luck!

You know your child and yourself best, so you'll know if it's an ok time to get rid of the pacifier now or if he still needs it. Babies have a sucking reflex that is very comforting to them and may need that sucking motion for a long time (up to a year). With my son, I just watched him from the time he was about six months old for signs that he didn't need it for sucking and was just using it for comfort and then substituted a different object (a blanket) as a comfort item. He's almost 3 now and still uses the blanket when he goes to sleep, but we don't have to take it with us everywhere.
Also, if you can't stand to let your child cry it out (I couldn't -- tried Ferber and my son would cry for over an hour!) I highly recommend the "No Cry Sleep Solution" the tactics in that book worked really well for us and I plan on using them with my new daughter (just 1 month old now!) as soon as she's old enough for sleep training. Good luck!

With my binki girl, we had about 5 or 6 binkis that we would place in strategic places all around her crib. When she woke in the middle of the night, there was always one around that she could grab & put back in. I agree that it is nice when you can get them to go to sleep without it - I have 2 other kids that never took to the pacifier & it was easier. But getting rid of the binki later on for my daughter wasn't THAT big of a deal and I just read an article that says that pacifier use has been linked to lower SIDS rates and that using one for the first year is actually a good thing (article was from the American Academy of Pediatrics - so a reliable source). Anyway - there are good & bad things both ways so just decide what works best for you. If you do want to teach your child to sleep on their own, there are methods & again, you need to choose the one that works best for you. He is old enough for sleep training. I used the Ferber method & it worked like a charm on all three of my kids. I love it because I had a really hard time hearing my kids cry, and so it wasn't too difficult for me. I put my child down & left the room. I let them cry for 2 minutes and then go back in and comfort them WITHOUT picking them up - I would sing, pat their back, etc. After a couple of minutes, I leave (even if they're still crying) and stay away for 3 minutes. I repeat the process increasing the interval by 1 minute each time. My kids never got past the 6 minute interval - and it only took that long for the first couple of days. Within a week my kids were not crying at all when I put them in their crib and would put themselves to sleep & sleep all night long. I like this method because every few minutes I can go in & reassure my child that I'm still there & there's nothing to be afraid of. They know I'm coming back, they just decide that it's not worth crying long enough to make it happen. I'm sure this method doesn't work for everyone, but it sure worked wonders for me. Good luck - whatever you decide!

My son did this very same thing. I was to the point of taping the binki to his mouth! Anyway, we ended up trying to get him to fall asleep without the binki. He expects to have it in his mouth when he wakes up, because it was there when he fell asleep. If you can get him to fall asleep without it you will be doing yourself a favor. Other than that you could let him cry for a few minutes, go in and check on him, comfort him and then put him back down without the binki and let him cry. Dont let him cry for too long, at 5 months I wouldn't let him cry for more than 5-8 minutes. Look up the Ferber Method for more information on "crying it out".

It was the worst two nights of my life, but saved me great amounts of sleep in the long run.

Good Luck!

If you are going to get rid of it, do it now before he gets any older and any more attached to it. If you hate listening to him cry, try reading the No Cry Sleep Solution. It may help you.

Give him more time to find it himself or cry himself back to sleep. Otherwise he'll use it as a "get mommy in the room" tactic - even throwing the binky out of his crib when he wants you.

I know the crying is hard to hear, but he'll be working on his muscles and learn to crawl/sit up/roll over sooner. All of these skills will make it easier for him to find his binky. I also used a binky clip until my baby was strong enough to pull it off by herself.

When I get my girl out of her crib in the morning, the first thing she does when I enter the room is point to where she dropped her binky on the floor. I put her down and she gets it and all is well with the world.

Time to try and wean him off of it. It won't be fun but teaching him to get rid of it now will save you A TON of problems later. The more dependent they get on it the older they get the way harder time it is to break that habit. Just ignore him a few times, he needs to figure out a way to get himself back to sleep without it. You can put it in to get him to sleep for now but I say to do yourself a huge favor get rid of them as soon as possible. They are great for infants even up to one year old but after that they are just a dependent, damage teeth growth and can do speech problems.
It won't be easy to ignore him but go in and don't put the pacifier back in, just rub his back or put on a music box. Getting him to soothe himself is the best gift you can give him and yourself.

I don't know the answer to your question, but I can tell you my experience. We took our son's paci away about 5 months for the same reason - hoping that he would learn to sleep without it and not be so dependent on it. That did indeed work - after about a week he slept fine with out the paci (and we stopped swaddling at the same time). However - now that he is older I wish that he still took a pacifier, because he has different sleep issues and now is old enough to put the paci back in himself which I think would help. It's so hard! Good luck to you.

I completely understand and agree with your feelings about not being able to listen to your baby cry. That is how mommies are wired so that we will respond to our babies' cries. I just want to second the recommendation that you try the "No Cry Sleep Solution." It is worth the extra time and effort, and I believe it is superior to the old "let him cry it out" method. Good luck and hang in there! You will do what is best for your baby.

let him sleep with out it,and cry until he learns to fall asleep on his own

At exactly 6 months we threw away the pacifiers for this very reason. Our pediatrician recommended it. We had about 2 difficult days and then everything was fine!

hi there,
does your baby eat solids yet? this may be a need for something more at dinner time . if he goes to bed more satisfied then he will stay asleep longer.

also; take away the paci and it should only take 1-2 days of distracting him . letting him cry and diverting his attention at night
like; christmas chasing musical lights and or a soud machine or a remote control cd player that you could control from the crack in the door so he don't see you.

If you have him on a pretty predictable sleeping schedule (ie. morning nap, afternoon nap and bedtime around the same time) I would suggest to just let him cry. It will totally stink for a couple of days...but then he'll get the hand of it and you will be greatful! Otherwise he will just continue to wake up and become a little too dependent on the binki. My girls are binki girls too. It put it in their mouth when they fall asleep and that is it. Good Luck!

Until he can learn to put it back in his mouth, you might have to continue to putting it in for him. Personally I think 5 months is too young to make him get rid of the binki. It can be a great comfort to them. Yes, it might be more difficult to wean him from later, but for now, enjoy that it can help soothe him even if you have to get up a few times a night just to stick it back in. At least you don't have to get up with him and rock him back to sleep for an hour.

Hope this helps