We are trying to use Tracy's suggestion from her first book by using the paci to wean out unnecessary night feeds. DS is 11.5 weeks old and for the past two weeks + he's been waking four times a night and I've (stupidly) been breastfeeding him every time. He would eat (suck) for between 5 - 10 minutes and then zonk out. I've realized now that I've created a monster, and I want to eliminate all but one feeding for now.
He's been getting up for the first time about 3 hours after he goes down. Last night when he woke up at 12:45, DH picked him up and gave him the paci to suck. He sucked for about 10 minutes, maybe less, and then spit the pacifier out and went back to sleep until 3 am. At 3, DH gave him a bottle (we give him formula mixed with BM every night before bed - usually between 8:30 and 9:30 - and then I had DH give him formula when he got up to feed) and he drank 3 oz. DH also changed his diaper mid-feed.
He went back to sleep again after that, and then was pretty restless the rest of the night. He slept until about 5:10, and DH used the paci to try to get him back to sleep. He would pick him up if he was crying, give him the paci to suck, and then put him down. He would fall asleep, but wouldn't spit the paci out. DH would try to take it out after about 10 minutes, and he'd wake up and the process would start all over again.
He eventually fell asleep at 6am and woke up again at 6:30, and the paci wasn't doing it for him anymore. I breastfed him, and he ate for 10 minutes (I thought my boobs were going to explode because I hadn't fed him all night!). I put him back down in the bassinet because he was pretty much sleeping, but he woke right away. DH picked him up and held him in bed and they just got up around 9am.
Tonight, I am hoping he won't even wake for the paci the first time, but if he does DH will give it to him in the bassinet and he'll likely spit it out when he falls back asleep.
I'm not sure what the best thing to do after that is at this point.
Should we be doing this one feed at a time? Or are we on the right track trying to eliminate the extra feeds all at once?
Is it okay to just leave him in his bassinet tonight the first time he wakes?
For the wakings after his feed, should we let him keep the paci in his mouth if he's got a good grip on it or should we continue trying to get it away from him after he's off to dreamland. My fear is he'll wake up on his own when it falls out and we start a pattern of constantly putting it back in.
We tried taking the paci away completely because we were afraid he'd become dependent on it (he would always use it to fall asleep except at night) and I felt cruel because he can't get his thumb in his mouth quite yet, although he's trying hard. I think he'll have it soon, and I can't wait!
He's a decent napper. Until recently, he'd only nap for about 30 minutes several times a day, but now he's been going closer to 40 every time. He'll fall asleep fairly quickly with the paci in his crib. I may have to replace it a time or two when he spits it out and fusses for it, but he's pretty good about holding it in as long as he needs it.
I'm sorry this is so long... we're desperate to make this right, and I just want to make sure we're on the right track with this.
Any advice would be very much appreciated!
