So my DD will turn 7 months in a few days and she is on 2 naps a day. She dropped her 3rd nap about 5 weeks ago (basically refused it every day for 10 days, at which point we gave up trying), and since then, she hasn't recovered the ability to self soothe without her dummy.
Backstory:
- at 10 weeks, we had problems with naps (crying / rocking her to sleep), put her on the 3 hour easy schedule
- at 3 months, we managed to get her to fall asleep in her crib without crying, using pat/shh and dummy as needed
- at 4 months, we managed to get rid of her reliance on dummy and she self settled for 90% of her naps/bedtime without a dummy (we weaned her the dummy by systematically removing dummy once asleep or almost asleep)
- I went back to work at 4 1/2 months, so we got a nanny, we had a couple of bad weeks for her naps, went back to dummy
- at 5 months, she had kind of gotten back the ability to self settle, without a dummy, for about 50% of her naps/bedtime (we weaned her the dummy by systematically removing dummy once asleep or almost asleep but process wasn't finished)
- at 5 months 1/2, she started refusing her 3rd nap, and so she was overtired a lot. We stopped trying to wean her off her dummy as our main concern was overtiredness and helping her get as much sleep as possible.
- now, at almost 7 months, we often start her wind down about 2 hr 45 minutes after wake up, but no matter how good or bad the wind down is, she always needs her dummy. She will be super calm and happy during the wind down, including when we put her in her crib, but as soon as we close curtains and leave room, she starts fussing and it escalates to crying within a minute. She seems to have "forgotten" about her thumb/fingers as a way to self soothe.
As I've got 2 weeks off for the holidays, I'd like to try weaning her off her dummy again, and sort any other issues in her schedule.
What would your advice be for weaning her off her dummy? At 4 months, I did it by going back in and taking it out once she was asleep, or almost asleep. Also, this is what I did at 5 months. Is this the correct way to do it for a 7 months old? Any other advice?
Additional information:
- we moved her to her own bedroom a few days ago so we're really conscious about not breaking the trust she has in us (she has taken to her new bedroom very well so far)
- we dropped her dreamfeed, which she had been awake for for for many weeks and which we had slowly decreased and brought forward, a few days ago too --> she woke up for it first night but not second night, she doesn't seem hungrier in morning, she wakes up at her usual time
- she's currently being weaned: she's taking really well to various purees (she has had many things such as fish, beef, chicken, as well as loads of veggies and fruits), but she's not doing so well with blw (she plays with the food but doesn't attempt to eat it)
- she has been teething for 2 months now but it's not disturbing her sleep (yet)
Her schedule, on a typical day:
E: awake about 6.30, milk (240 ml) at about 6.45
(she sometimes sleeps in but unfortunately, this is rare! If she wakes up before 5am, I normally don't need to intervene, she settles herself back to sleep, but if she wakes up after 5am, I normally need to give her a dummy, and she usually falls back asleep)
A: until 8
E: 8: breakfast (solids)
A: until 9.15, start wind down, in crib about 9.25, asleep about 9.30 with dummy (so total awake time 3 hours)
S: 9.30 until 11
E: milk (180ml) at about 11.15
A: until 12.30
E: 12.30: lunch (solids)
A: until 1.45, start wind down, in crib about 1.55, asleep about 2.00 with dummy (so total awake time 3 hours)
S: 2.00 until 3.30
E: milk (180ml) at about 3.45
A: until 5
E: dinner (solids)
A: until 6
Start bedtime routine at 6, in crib by 6.20-6.30, asleep by 6.45 (with dummy) (so total awake time 3 hours 15 minutes)