What is worse? A sleep crutch or very short naps?

[AngeMullan]

 Hi! My 12 W0  started taking shorter and shorter naps. The 45 minute intruder started to become the 30 minute intruder. Because of this I would go in and insert the pacifier and after reinserting it two, three, sometimes four times, she would go back to sleep for another 30 minutes. She would wake up well rested, but I could never leave her during nap times.  It made it impossible to leave her with my mom or mother-in-law as they would not hear her stir and go in and sit in order to even start the pacifier process. They would just get her up. In speaking with a friend, she suggested that I do the same and just get her up.... Saying that a baby this age may need to now show me what her natural cycles are.  I have been doing this for three days now, and while I love that I'm not spending so much time in the nursery trying to get her to fall back asleep, I am dealing with a very overtired baby by the afternoon. It's also throwing off her three hours feeding routine. Can you offer some advice? I don't want to become her sleep crutch, going in all the time (that could reallly hurt me in the long run) but I also hate that she's super cranky by the afternoon, when I also need to care for her 3yo sis.

And sorry but one more thought. I read that inserting the pacifier before she hits that early wake time might help her self sooth through it (kind of like a dream feed). Thoughts on that? My number one goal is to have a kiddo that doesn't rely on me to fall back asleep. She goes down easy (sleepy but awake) so I'm really just trying to make the best decisions for how to best handle these next few months... when she's struggling to go from one sleep cycle to the next during naps.

[lolsyb1982]

I would totally give replugging before the end of the sleep cycle a go. Lots of mums have had great success with it.
At this age it's a developmental thing not being able to transition between cycles and it's usually something that "clicks" for them by about 6 months so helping her out now doesn't mean she won't be able to do it in the future so don't worry yourself too much about causing bad habits.

[AngeMullan]

Thank you for feedback! I don't think replugging the pacifier while she's still sleeping will cause bad habits but what about doing so when she wakes early? Would you get her up or plug the paci back in so she can go back to sleep for the rest of nap time?

Here's a normal 90 min nap: Naps for 30-45 min, wakes and I start paci insertions for 15-20 min (never picking her up) and then she's back down for the rest of the 90 min timeframe. Is that too much of me being a crutch?

Basically....  Once she wakes, do I get her up or use the paci to keep her down?

[creations]

I start paci insertions for 15-20 min

I'm pretty sure Tracy Hogg wouldn't have done this.  Tracy's guidance on paci use was to let LO suck to work off the sucking reflex prior to the nap and to remove it when the sucking reduced and LO was still awake so that LO was not falling to sleep on the paci. Resettling mid nap would be through the sleep training methods of shush/pat or if age appropriate PUPD.
I can see that using a paci when LO is still asleep would be less likely to form a habit as it is a bit like a W2S to get through the transition but I think it is only fair to make you aware that any paci use whilst LO is asleep or mid nap could lead to it being a prop. A normal W2S uses shush/pat which is very easy to wean if or when needed where as a paci is much harder to wean as the soothing it provides needs to be replaced first with shush/pat and then the shush/pat weaned.
I want to add though that many parents seem happy to have the paci as prop, it provides soothing and there are also guides that it can reduce risk of SIDS so there can be benefits. However on the flip side a baby who is reliant on a paci for sleep should not have it taken away or dropped cold turkey prior to 6 months as it can increase the SIDs risk.  Being reliant on the paci may mean middle of the nap/night re-plugs for some time which is something to be aware of when making your decision.
IMO this is a very personal decision to make.  Using the paci for sleep is not BW but there are pros and cons in terms of the SIDS guidance. And no one but you can decide where to go with this.

From a personal perspective, my DS refused a paci so I had no option but to spend those 15-20 mins shush/patting instead of re-plugging - in hindsight this was a much more productive use of my time as I was using a soothing method which was much easier to wean and led to self settling.  The time spent was probably no different but the method was. Hope that makes sense.