Baby wakes for dummy 4x + per night!! Tired mum - help! | ExpatWoman.com
 

Baby wakes for dummy 4x + per night!! Tired mum - help!

2782
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 25 June 2013 - 11:19
It does sound like a dummy dependancy. You have a couple of choices. You can take the dummy away cold turkey and let her CIO, you can use a no-cry approach to take the dummy away; the pantly pull put method or you can ride it out and work on teaching her to put it back in. I don't really agree with Meagle that at 6 months if she "needs" it she will put it back in herself (they don't really ever "need" t, its pretty much always a crutch, but a very helpful sleep cue none the less), it really depends on their level of arousal, ability to find it in the bed and level of fine motor skills in putting it back in. My son went through exactly this (was sleeping through nicely and then from 5 months woke multiple times for his dummy, we rode it out (we're not CIO parents and the no cry approach was too time consuming!) and he was able to replace it in the night from around 9 months. If you take this approach you can attach the dummy to a soft rag/mini comfort blanket so that it is easier for your baby to find and when she wakes instead of putting it in her mouth, put it in her hand and guide her hand to her mouth. It helps to put several dummies in the cot to up the odds of her finding one. Also it is entirely possibly she is actually hungry in the night, many babies do still need night feeds at that age, if she seems dissatisfied and quickly spits out the dummy that would indicate to me she may well be hungry, maybe bring back a dream feed?.
849
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 25 June 2013 - 10:47
Drop the dummy "cold turkey" and move her into her own room. It may make for a couple nights with less sleep, but will probably end up with everyone sleeping better long term. It sounds like she's not fulling awake when she's "moaning" and you probably wouldn't hear her or change anything if she wasn't sleeping in close proximity to her. At 6 months if she really *needs* the dummy, she should be able to wake up and find it herself to put back in. It sounds like it's just become a crutch.
5
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 25 June 2013 - 10:16
Hi My daughter is also 6.5 months and I have been having the same problem. Added to that she would only bounce to sleep with her dummy and her "puku", it's a comforter toy we got for her. I have read many books all of which didn't help much. She is also on solids, 3 meals a day plus snacks and her bottles. Before I followed Tizzie Hall's Save Our Sleep, she would wake 3 times a night for a 60ml bottle, plus each sleep cycle for her dummy. I started 2 nights ago and on the first night she only woke at 12 and then at 4 and her day started at 7am. Then last night she only woke once at 1am.... It definately is a great book to try. Hope it gets better :)
5452
Posts
EW MASTER
Latest post on 25 June 2013 - 09:32
I empathize with you. My DS is 12 months and wakes up several times a night. I will be curious to read the responses here. My DD did not sleep through until she was 24 months and I was hoping that my third child would not give me so much trouble...
 
 

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