Pacifier for a 7 week old

[AngeMullan]

My LO is 7 weeks old and has been on the EASY routine since day one. We've had great success with night time sleep (going down at 7pm and having two feedings before 7am) but I'm definitely doing some accidental parenting by giving her the pacifier at 5am when she starts to stir, just so we can sleep a little longer before the day begins. It works beautifully but am I setting us up for a bigger battle down the road or is this okay since it's working so well and she's only 7 weeks? She doesn't sleep with the pacifier but it certainly soothes her back to sleep and she then drops it once she's out.

My next concern is that I don't know if it's okay to use this same crutch to deal with the 45 minute intruder. It helps her get back to sleep immediately, which feels key to getting her to take a full 90 minute nap, but it requires me putting it back in for her. So that makes me think I shouldn't. I just don't know when to work through what could be an issue and when to let it go and recognize how well she sleeps at this age with just a little help. Thoughts??? Looking forward to feedback!

[creations]

Hello and welcome to BW forums

Honestly it does sound like a prop forming.
Tracy's guide on use of the paci was to use it during the wind down for the rapid sucking to let LO get comfort and to ease the sucking reflex, but to remove it when the sucking reduced so that it does not become a prop for sleep but instead LO is still fully awake and is soothed to sleep using shush/pat instead.  I believe this way the idea is that LO gets some comfort but without becoming reliant.
Re-plugging the paci during sleep whether nap or night is a form of prop, it is building dependency on the paci for sleep.  That doesn't necessarily mean it is "wrong".  Very many BW parents choose to use the paci and to replug until LO can replug independently.  SIDS guidance indicates there may be a benefit to using a paci in reducing the risk of SIDS.  The SIDS guidance also suggests a paci should not be dropped cold turkey from a baby under 6 months who is reliant on it for sleep as there may be increased risk.
I would think now is the right time for you to read around the subject a little, and make your decision before the reliance is fully established.

sorry, no simple answer!

[Lindsay27]

Re-plugging the paci during sleep whether nap or night is a form of prop, it is building dependency on the paci for sleep.  That doesn't necessarily mean it is "wrong".  Very many BW parents choose to use the paci and to replug until LO can replug independently.

This is kind of what I was going to say, I always re-plugged both my LOs if they needed it at the 45min mark...my kind of thought it if it works then why not? But eventually both mine learned to sleep past the 45min point on their own (DD was around 4/4.5 months) and both learned to re-plug the paci on their own as well, sometime around 5 months.  If they didn't learn this then I would probably have re-visited the paci use.  It's a little early to say right now whether it's a prop, 45min naps can happen for a host of reasons that do eventually resolve with time/age and routine work.  I'd say keep doing what you are for now, give it another month and if you are still finding you have to replug every 45mins then relook at it again

[AngeMullan]

Thank you ladies! Both yesterday and today I let my sweet girl suck on a pacifier as she was winding down but took it out before she went down. It's working! We've had 4 great naps (two yesterday and two today) where she's self soothed at the 45 min mark. The only time I gave her the pacifier was at 5am this morning as I didn't have the energy to shush pat or do PUPD. With the paci, she then slept til 7am. And I agree (since I had a 3yo that did this), she'll soon sleep longer hours at night and the 5am thing will (fingers crossed) be a thing of the past. Thank you again for your feedback!!!

[creations]

You are very welcome.
Glad to read a lovely update too