W2S and pacifiers

[grahamsmama]

Dd is 2 months old.  She has been doing very short naps (if we ever got to 45 minutes it would be fantastic).  And, of course, as a result she is overtired by the end of the day.  Her nighttime sleep is awesome so I want to make sure I don't screw that up, but I would like for her to get at least one decent nap a day.  Right now I've been working on the first nap of the day, which ideally should be 9:30-11.  She is still on a 3 hour EASY. 

My question is about W2S.  She goes to sleep on her own, in her crib, with her pacifier.  After about 5 minutes I sneak in there and remove the pacifier.  After about 20 minutes I go in and wait for her to stir, give her back the pacifier and hold her while she moves around and spits out the pacifier, until she goes back to sleep.  This takes about 20 minutes.  Does this sound like I'm doing it right?  Will W2S work to help extend naps (without my assistance) if I'm using the pacifier to help her get calmed back down?  Will she be able to eventually get past this on her own or should I be trying to wean the pacifier for naps?

TIA!

[malialeanne]

Hello there,

There are different methods/timing for w2s and different things work well, just depends on your lo. However, Tracy's method of w2s involves just the slightest stir--just enough to restart the sleep cycle, but ideally not enough to wake the lo or that they will need assistance going back down after doing w2s.

I do use a paci and am not against them. Using it for nap extension MAY be fine. However, in the event that the paci becomes a prop and you need to wean, you might get some regression with naps. I personally would work on nap extension techniques (pat/shhh or w2s) that do not involve a paci. That way you know that whatever happens with the paci, whether you continue with it or stop using it, you won't mess up naps.

We had success extending naps by going in and patting just before she stirred to get her into the next sleep cycle. At first it often did take up to 20 minutes, but the time patting got shorter and shorter, then we got lazy and didn't go into her room until we heard her, then we stopped needing to go in at all. It takes awhile but it does work as long as A times are right.

HTH!