Pacifier and extending naps! Desperate!!

[Dreaming of the Ocean!]

Hi,

My 5 month old DD has been using a Pacifier for some time now. I am finding that her naps are never 1.5 hours in length and as such her feeds are less than 4 hours apart since she needs to nurse as soon as she wakes up.

For naps, I put her down with swaddle, pacifier and shh patting her in crib. Her longest nap is 55 minutes, and some are 30 or 45 mins. I try to extend her nap by reinstating the pacifier and shh patting but it hardly works:( I try to stay in there until the 90 min mark but wonder if it's counter productive since i have to keep putting in the pacifier and shh patting.

At the beginning of her night sleep we give her the pacifier while shh patting her and she falls asleep although many times while crying and we keep putting it back in and shh patting til she falls asleep. She used to wake up every 3 hours and we would first try giving her the paci and if that did not work then nursing her. I have not been able to get a single long stretch of sleep from her though (4-5 hours) for very long. Even when that happened, it was very rare.

A time is 2 hours

My questions:

Can shh pat work with the pacifier? (to get the required 1.5 - 2 hour naps during the day if the baby is waking before the 90 minute mark on her own and not able to make herself sleep).

If so, how do we extend her naps using shh pat with the pacifier?

Is it best to just forgo the pacifier and just shh pat? If so, would we do that for both naps and night sleep?


How long will it likely take for the shh pat method with or without the pacifier to work? Weeks? Days? until she can sleep with minimal assistance? Thank you!! 

[Scottishmummy]

I'm so sorry your post has been missed, there has been a lot on with family stuff and holidays .

Your questions are tricky to answer definitively. My understanding is that sh-pat can be used with a pacifier as pacifier use is suggested for first 6months. However sh-pat is often less effective as a sleep training approach in older babies and many parents find they need to use PU/PD with older LOs, especially LOs who are prop dependant and paci use isn't recommended with PU/PD.

Here are some links to look at:
Pick Up/Put Down (PU/PD) - Everything you ever needed to know!
PU/PD and Paci Use. Why they don't mix.

[Dreaming of the Ocean!]

Thank you. She seems to be teething heavily at the moment. While we've started with Shh pat for about a week now, we are facing hurdles due to the teething. Should we continue to sleep train while she's teething or wait? Do you have any information on how to use the paci with shh pat? I guess if she's prop dependant than we need to remove the paci all together while shh patting?

The thing is that with the heavy teething, she seems to need it to suck on. The cry is different than it was when we first began sleep training - more of a pain cry now. So we are unsure how to proceed.

Also - any thoughts on whether we should be doing the shh pat or the PU/PD for both naps and sleep time all at once? Or can we one first, master it then the other?

Thanks for your time - appreciate it.

[Scottishmummy]

You could wait until teething has passed if you want to. Or give pain relief shortly before nap and bedtime?

Sorry I don't have any info on sh-pat with paci. I think after/around 6mo, suggestion is to try to stop using as it can become a prop and cause hassle for you if you need to keep replacibgbit. That said, both of mine liked to suck to sleep and both still have a comfort blanket they suck on. I gave DD a muslin as a lovey and she still uses it now to sleep but can find & replace it herself in the middle if naps & nights.

With my DS I found it easier to ST nights first then naps. My DD did naps first then nights. So which you try first is up to you and your baby. Choose the one you think your LO settles most easily for now.
Some people go for everything at once. It's personal choice.

I just read back over your original post and note that your LO's A times are on the short side for her age  Average A times- BOOKMARK ME! . This could be contributing to short naps. Have you tried pushing her A times? It might help if you could post your typical day in EASY format.

[deb]

If she can replug the paci herself, you can try putting her to sleep with one plus several spares for her to grope around and find. This worked for us for quite a while, except for the ones that fell out.

[Dreaming of the Ocean!]

Thank you both. How long does Shh pat take to work? We've been at it for naps without Paci for almost 2 weeks and it's still a struggle. Cries for 10-15 minutes at times hysterically. Is this normal? The regression in time it takes for her to settle for a nap? If so, how long does it last. Feeling discouraged and wondering if we should just go back to using the paci for naps. For bedtimes, we haven't started training her - feeling too exhausted since naps are so hard...

A times - 2.5 hours (She was born July 29th so she is early 5 months)

Please advise - I dread each nap

[deb]

DD#2 never did take to Pat-Shh. I had to give it up for my own sanity and that of DD#1.

In the end we bought a dozen pacis and scattered them in her bed and she groped and replugged.

[Scottishmummy]

Is it possible that sh-pat isn't working for her? It often doesn't suit babies after 6mo and your LO is close to that: Can a baby be too old for sh-pat?

Have you considered sleep training with PU/PD instead?
Pick Up/Put Down (PU/PD) - Everything you ever needed to know!

Also, could she be in need for a routine change? It might be that the 2 hr Atime is too short now as A times increase quite rapidly between 4-6mo so the nap resistance could be because she's not ready to sleep. Is it worth trying extending A times as well as PU/PD?