My 11.5 dd has always had an EW. We were trying to tackle it in different ways with success sometimes but often back to step one due to bad/short naps. Her Ew was often around 5 and I would do everything possible to settle her without much success. If I did not manage to settle her, I would try to leave her in her crib, in the dark and kept it quiet until 6. She was often ready to start the day and was ready to play, but still, I would try to wait until 6 before giving her the morning milk.
A couple of months ago, my mother was visiting and was giving us a hand. I told her to keep everything quiet and in the dark but I forgot to tell her to wait until 6 to give her the bottle, so she did everything I said except that she gave her the milk as soon as she woke up. The result was that she went straight back to sleep and woke up again at 7!!
So the first time it was an accident, but we kept the APOP since it was doing the trick. Unfortunately, as time passed, the EW started moving backwards and getting earlier and earlier. She would get the bottle and go back to sleep. But we now found ourselves in a situation in which she is waking up between 3 and 4 getting the APOP and then waking up to start the day at 5-5.30 anyway. We ended up creating a NF!!!
My mother is now gone so we are trying to get back on track. For a couple of nights she has woken up and we have patted and shhhed her back to sleep. I am pretty sure she is not hungry as she eats plenty of solids for dinner and gets a good bottle before BT. I suspect that she wants to suckle but she never sucked her finger. I have been thinking about introducing a paci as she is now old enough to control it (and get it back if she needs it). I was hoping to hear your opinions on the paci and if it is actually possible to introduce it at this stage and if there are any tips to do so.
Thank you very much in advance.
