Pantley's Gentle removal plan -dummy-success stories ?!

[lauraims]

Hi everyone! Wow back here for dd number 2!! My dd1 never had a dummy (pacifier) and we taught her to self settle at around 3 months old.  Although, she could settle, it didn't mean she always did !

Anyone, Dd2 is 4.5 months old and has had a dummy since about 3 weeks old, is ebf'd and swaddled still as otherwise knocks out her dummy. She still has really short waketimes of 1.5 hours as her night time sleep is so bad at the moment. She was doing 6-7 hours, then 4 hours from 2-3 months, then 3-4.5 months things got progressively worse and now she's asking every hour for her dummy and her naps are only cat naps now. Usually 1 is 1.5 hours  still. I tried to take the dummy away cold turkey, but she is really really distressed to the point of almost being sick even when I'm there doing shh/pat.

My only other option is the gentle removal plan, which I started lastnight but it didn't make any difference so far.
Basically looking for success stories to give me the stamina to keep trying!!!I'm soooo tired!

[Lindsay27]

Hi hun!  I think possibly your daytime routine may be contributing to the short naps/wakings more so than the paci.  It is generally not recommended to wean the paci cold-turkey before 6 months as it is believed to be a SIDS risk.  I think if you bump her A times you are going to see a world of difference   I'll put some links below, but generally at 4.5 months the average A time would be about 2.15hr.  What's probably happening is a UT/OT loop situation where she is UT for the first nap, so takes a short nap, and then continues to take short naps through the day, so is OT by the end of the day which is likely causing the NW.  I think I would allow her to have the paci and start by bumping the A times to see if the naps extend and go from there.  Sometimes they will seem tired earlier, however tired cues become more and more unreliable as they get older, and things like yawning and fussiness can simply be because they want a change in stimulation.  She could also be tired from the NW, but you kind of have to push through to a higher A time to stop the cycle, yk?

Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!
Sample EASY Routines from 0 - 13mths+

[lauraims]

Thanks Hun! Tried today to aim for first a time of 2 hours, she almost made it at 1hr55mins! Took a 1hr50min nap. Second a time I got to the same before she got sooo miserably tired.  I guess I keep at this wake time to start with and increase to 2.15 in a few days ?

Looking forward to seeing how night times start going. She can resettle herself in the night without the dummy as I heard her a few times last night. Fingers crossed !!! As I would like her to keep the dummy. ☺️ It's a very helpful settler. Especially when things can get very busy for her with having a two year old sister to watch!

[Lindsay27]

Sounds like a great start and a fab first nap!  You can hold this A time for a few days and then try to bump again by 10mins, the idea simply being that you move forward.  But it looks like you got a great nap with a 2hr A time so stick with that for a bit and if you notice it is taking a long time to settle, or the nap starts to shorten (1.20hr and 45min naps are typically signs of UT) then that's usually the sign that A time need a push.  By all means keep the paci if it helps, it only becomes a prop if you are constantly having to re-insert it for her to be able to get to sleep, and it sounds like she is self settling at night so it doesn't sound like it's a problem

[lauraims]

Thanks! She proceeded to do 35 min naps for the rest of the day and still had a rough night. First nap of day today, only 45 mins, after 2 hour awake time. Question, after a short nap, what sort of awake time do you advise? Thank you😊

[Lindsay27]

If the first nap today was 45mins then I would probably go ahead and try to stretch that A time a bit more, even just 10mins if you can.  These naps tend to be either UT, or she is simply unable to connect sleep cycles.  If a nap is short we normally scale back the next A time by 15/20mins to try to not let the OT build up too much.

[deb]

Are you able to get in there just before she wakes and help her extend her nap before she wakes? If she stirs at 45 minutes and the dummy is out, gently re-insert before she even opens her eyes if you can. That was key for us, getting that cycle broken.