Confused: 15wks- pacifier, PUPD, or shh-pat?

[cabingirl159]

Hello everyone,
It's my first day on the forum and I've only looked around for an hour or so, apologies if this is already covered elsewhere!
We introduced a pacifier with my son after a week and it was a godsend. He was a great sleeper until starting the 4 month regression (a little early) - he's actually still a pretty good night sleeper (2 night wakings, about 11 hours sleep), but the short naps are super frustrating!  I'm really keen to start EASY (going to start logging tomorrow to see what kind of routine, if any, we're on) but I'm unsure what strategy to start with for sleep.  It seems like he's right in the transition between shh-pat and PUPD. Also wondering if it's absolutely necessary to wean the pacifier BEFORE starting this, or can I do it at the same time, or should I wean it after he's sleeping better?  He definitely needs it to fall asleep for naps and nighttime.  If it has fallen out, he'll wake for the first transition and that's the end of sleeping if it's a nap, but I can get him back down fairly easily at night.  After replacing it at night, he'll sleep again until it's time to eat.
Do I have a pacifier problem or can I keep things as they are while working on shh-pat and/or PUPD?

I think I asked a lot of questions in there...thanks for any help!

[jessmum46]

Hi and welcome!

Lovely nights you have there   But I know how frustrating short naps are!  Could you post your routine for us?  There are lots of reasons for short naps - dependence on paci or other props for settling is certainly one reason, but over/undertiredness or simple developmental reasons are also common. 

Shh pat is fine to start with, and you can use a paci alongside if you wish.  PUPD and the paci don't really mix as the whole point of PUPD is to break dependence on props, so if you are needing to put the paci in for him then he's not really learning independent sleep.  I would stick with shh pat if you are undecided at present about weaning

[cabingirl159]

Thanks for your reply!  We don't really have a routine, although it's not for lack of trying! The short naps just mess everything up...  Here's my log from today:

E 7:07 wake and breastfeed
A 7:30 activity
S 9:15 sleep (put down at 9:00 with shh pat)
    9:45 awake (tried to put him back to sleep for 30 mins)
E 10:15 breastfeed
A 10:35 activity
S 12:00 sleep
    12:35 awake
E 12:55 breastfeed
A 1:10 activity (didn't intend for this to be so long, but we had furniture get delivered)
S 3:20 sleep (put down at 3:18!)
   4:05 awake
E 4:15 breastfeed
A 4:35 activity
    5:20 DH thought he would like a go at putting baby down for a nap. -_- Didn't work.
    6:20 bedtime routine
E  6:40 bottle
S  7:05 sleep

Shh pat really does seem to be working for us, almost all the time.  I just really need help extending those naps!

[jessmum46]

Just on the basis of today (though it's hard to say from just one day) I think perhaps you got started on the wrong foot with nap 1 and that just made the rest of the day more difficult.  I notice you put him down for that nap at nearly 2h A time and perhaps that was a bit much (2h is average A time at maybe 4-4.5mo), so he took a little while to settle and ended up with an overtired 30 mins nap.  Could you try putting him down by 1h30-40ish, aiming asleep for 1h45 max for a bit and see what happens?  He may get a longer and more restful nap if he is a little less tired going down   After a short nap again you may need to shorten up the A time just a small touch further to say aiming asleep for 1h30. 

What do you think to having a go at that?

[cabingirl159]

We can definitely try that. Just to clarify - the time he spends eating does not count towards A time right? A time is just the span between finishing eating and going to sleep?

[jessmum46]

Ah, that may be where the confusion lies.  A time is everything eyes open to eyes closed, so including eating time.  Literally the time spent awake