6 week old nap pacifier problems

[gwendolyn]

we have an almost 6 week old son who has been on EASY since he was one-week-old, who sleeps great at night (4-5 hrs the first shift, then 3 hours the next two shifts and has done this since birth) and doesn't need the pacifier or anything else to fall asleep. while i am very grateful for this, the problem is naptime- he used to put himself to sleep but now that he's older and more aware he wants the pacifier (roots around) to fall asleep after his activity time and as soon as it falls out he wakes up- i am constantly putting it into his mouth and it is wiping me out plus he can't be getting good sleep. i have heard of people "propping" pacifiers but i don't know how you would do this without it being a suffocation risk and i don't know that this would be the answer anyway? some other complications- S/P and gentle removal of the pacifier (he fusses until he gets it back) aren't working but it's hard to commit to the whole amount of time it probably needs to be effective while simulatenously caring for our almost 3 year old (which also makes it difficult to let him cry at all when he's sleeping- to see if he's really waking up or not) because i don't want him to wake her. sometimes he falls asleep after nursing during the day or in the car/stroller without the pacifier but even when that happens he's waking earlier than he used to. i'm afraid the pacifier is turning into a prop and i know the nursing/car/stroller are (which is really stressing me out because i don't want to start bad habits) but i am desperate. i have spent hours reading online and in books and talking to friends about this- any help would be appreciated!

[travis's mum]

I too have a six week old, he sleeps like yours at night and also had the same problem during the day recently (would not rest during the day without the dummy). I was really against giving in but couldn't find a way around it because he would get upset without it. After reading different mails about the subject and seeing that others were using dummy during the day but not at night i decided to give in. It does fall out some times (in the early stages of his nap) but when he has a sleep of more than one hour (which is only sometimes during the day) doesn't look for it when it drops out. I would be interested to here what others have to say. I don't mind if he uses it to wind down (napping) as long as when he has a good sleep it doesn't interfere. So far thats how it is. :?:

[Matthew's Mommy]

I had the same issue with Brendan.  When he was little, he would start to fall asleep on the soother.. and would be lying with his eyes closed for well over 20 mins. but as soon as the soother fell out, his eyes would pop open.  Or, the soother would fall out and he would get upset, and it would interrupt the flow of falling asleep.

To be honest with you.. and my apologies if this isn't helpful.. I ended up having to ditch the soother, and helped him to fall asleep with out it. It wasn't easy, I did a lot of pat-shush, but he would fall asleep for a longer period. There was a lot of tears.

If this isn't the way you want to go.. you might want to look at getting a different type of soother. Some nipples fit the mouth better. 

Sorry if this isn't helpful.  :oops:

[gwendolyn]

both of those replies are helpful- it's always nice to know you aren't the only one with a problem 
what i have done the last few days is to have him nap in his vibrating chair (without his pacifier)- which i know is a prop i will have to wean him off of later- but at least it isn't a prop i have to re-insert every 5 min. right now i am operating by the "do whatever it takes to get through these early months" principle.