4m falling asleep with pacifier - should i worry?

[irinaandjacob]

hi
my baby boy is 4m1w old. we are doing EASY since he's born, but instead of putting him to sleep by shush-pat, i gave him the pacifier. routine was: curtains,  swaddle (at 2.5m wrap him loosely in his favorite blanket), give pacifier, leave the room. at BT, he would go to sleep even without the pacifier because i was breastfeeding him just before putting him in the crib.

as he's 4m now, i am changing the schedule, and also started to apply the pu/pd method about a week ago, to get rig of the pacifier.

there is a lot of crying. for me as well. last night i spend 2 hours  to get him to sleep, and today, we both were  so tired, and at 18.30 i put him to sleep with the pacifier. he woke at 19.10 for his meal, then quickly went off to sleep, again with the pacifier.

my question is, how much should i worry about this pacifier? my thoughts behind getting rid of it is that i don't want to be at a point where the pacifier is a tool to get mom or dad to come to him... however, now, he only takes it when he wants to sleep, and i can't see him asking it during activity time.

what was your experience. should i continue to get rid of the pacifier, or it is not such a bug harm?

[Skadiver13]

Hello, recheck the pickup/put down posts but it is my understanding you can not mix PU/PD with a pacifier as it confused the LO and the pacifier becomes a prop?

[creations]

I do not have personal experience with using a paci as my DS would not take one.

I would hold off from trying to drop it for now.  PUPD is really a last resort method and crying is to be expected. You could try a gradual removal instead, much gentler and you may feel more comfortable with it.
Or you could just leave the paci for sleeping for now and return to it in a few months when LO is older.  I would not offer it during A time if it was me. If he is fine without it for A time then there is no point reinforcing it's comfort throughout the day, instead perhaps introduce a lovie which is not required to be dropped later (mine uses a muslin square).  Attaching to a lovey now could help with paci dropping in a couple of months as LO would have something else to hold on to for sleep comfort.

There is some guidance on SIDS information which says when a LO is dependent on a paci for sleep it is not advised to cold turkey drop it until LO is over 6 months old.  PUPD is effectively dropping cold turkey.
Perhaps that will make you feel more comfortable to keep it a while instead of worrying you have to drop it right now?

It also sounds like you are not ready for this yourself. It is very confusing for LO to go through PUPD and then to give the paci at the end of it so I would suggest not continuing with this plan for now but instead to reconsider the options and begin something you are comfortable with and ready to do.

hope this helps

[irinaandjacob]

@creations, thx

during A time, he is always "talking" and is busy playing and sucking on his hands, never takes the paci...but for sleeping... it's exhausting
i find it very difficult to do PU/PD indeed... yesterday, was one of my records, he slept for 1h20mins in the morning...today i did pu/pd for 45 mins in the morning and he slept only 30 mins. time between feeds is 3.45-4 hours, gently increasing it to 4.

and perhaps will go back to the paci...

[Lindsay27]

There is nothing wrong with falling asleep with a paci, it only becomes a prop if LO wakes every time it falls out/they constantly need it to be replaced for them to stay asleep.  My DD has fallen asleep with it since she's was around 3 weeks old, once it falls out she stays asleep and she's now learned to out it back in herself so if she has a NW often she will find a paci in her crib and out it back in and fall back off to sleep.

[irinaandjacob]

@Lindsay27, thx. how old is your baby now?

yesterday, i had one of the best days in the past weeks. I returned to the paci.
baby ate in the night, so he woke up at 8.30, he slept more than 2 hours in the morning - 10.30 - 12.45, then 14.30-15.30, he was so calm and happy all day. Around 5 we went to eat out at a terrace near by - my first time going somewhere since baby was born... he played by himself in the stroller. BT was 19.00. then he ate at 22.30, and woke at 5, but i calmed him and gave the paci.

today, he woke up close to 7, at 7 he ate, then slept from 8.10 to 11, with a brake around 9.30.
at 12.30 he was sleepy again, so, i swaddled loosely, darkened the room, put in the crib, give the paci...it;s 13.30 my time now, he s still sleeping... i am very thankful for these moments of calm.

so, looking at all this happening, i think the paci is not a prop for the moment