Hi all,
My 2nd daughter is 11 weeks old. She's been on EASY since day 1 pretty much. We were using a combination of paci and shush pat before, and recently have moved more towards shush pat, because she she's never been able to keep the paci in her mouth herself...the only way she keeps it in is if we use the Wubba Nub paci (
http://www.amazon.com/WubbaNub-25581-Infant-Pacifier-Giraffe/dp/B003CK3LDI) and have her laying on her side (because that way it doesn't really fall out). I don't want to continue this though, because as she becomes more mobile, she won't be able to keep the paci in her mouth herself and it would be horrible if she's dependant on it. SO for the past 2 weeks or so, I have been able to sucessfully put her down for naps using just the shush pat method.I shush pat her for 20 mins or so until she's in deep sleep.
My problem is that she many times wakes up early from her nap (still tired), around the 45 min mark. At that time, it's sometimes impossible to spend another 20 mins shush-patting, because I have a 23 month old that's already been waiting patiently for me. So, at that point, I stick the paci in the baby's mouth and she usually gets a full nap in then. But, what do I do? Continuing with the paci is obviously not a smart idea since my daughter can't keep it in her mouth herself (unless we lay her on her side, etc, all which prob won't be possible once she's moving around more). But it's soo hard to spend 20-30 mins shush-patting the first time, all for her to just wake up again 20-30 mins later. What do I do? I guess some of my questions are:
-When will she start connecting her sleep better and not waking at the 45 min mark?
-When do you think my daughter will transition from me actively shush-patting to her sleeping independently? Currently, she falls asleep without me shush-patting once in a while, maybe once a day (and the other naps I actively shush pat bc she's not calm enough). I love when she sleeps without me doing anything, but can't wait till it's for ALL the naps.
-What do you suggest I do about this paci problem? I'm pretty sure my daughter's problem (not being able to keep it in) is what Tracy calls a prop. But getting rid of it completely seems hard since she wakes up mid-nap and I don't always have time to shush-pat all over again.
With my first daughter, we used paci to sleep and it worked pretty well for us. This is all new for me, using shush-pat from the beginning without paci. It's a lot more work than just the paci. And I don't really know what to expect in terms of when all this work will pay off or what that "paying off" will actually look like. Would love some encouragement from you all.
