We unfortunately introduced her pacifier as a newborn. Now at 7 months old she needs it to go to sleep. She wakes up in the middle of the night and cries for it. I go in, put it in her mouth, and she goes back to sleep - UNTIL it falls out again. Shes having some major sleep issues as it is, and Im just now starting to give her some "tough love"! I dont get her out of her crib anymore and comfort her every 10 minutes or so (on advice from my pediatrition). Anyway, we figure that since we are training her to not rely on mommy to go to sleep that we might as well take the pacifier away as well. Its going to be terrible though. Any advice to make this transistion go more smoothly?? I would LOVE any advice. Its going to be a hard few weeks and I need some sleep!
2007-03-12 04:29:30 · 9 answers · asked by kml_06 1 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
Good for you! Don't let any wimps tell you your mean or anything either! Just replace her pacifier with something like a nice soft teddybear or blanket and she will have no choice but to get used to it. Your doing the right thing! I did the same things as a young mother. Go with your instincts because it's your baby! Yes, she will cry for it but don't cave no matter what or how "guilty" you might feel or some people might try try to make you feel. Stick to it even if the first few weeks is hard to get through. It's teaching your daughter how to adjust to changes! And that's a GOOD thing!
Whatever you do, don't get her addicted to "thumb sucking" That's just giving her another bad habit to break her of later on! NO!!!
And cutting the rubber off slowly doesn't work. Tried that. Cold turkey!
YES! Take it away right NOW! Don't hesitate! It isn't going to leave any "emotional scars" Thats just nonsense!
2007-03-12 04:37:38 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
From my own experience I would say let her use the pacifier until she's about a year old. I have twins and one sucked her thumb and the other used a pacifier. I broke the one with the pacifier at 14 months when I was told it would start to affect her teeth. She only used it at night like yours and I had to do the same thing with going in and putting it back in her mouth for a while. At 14 months my husband and I threw all of her pacifiers away and it was pretty tough for a couple days. She also has a special blanket that she sleeps with that helped. After those couple of hard days she knew she wasn't going to get the pacifier and she went to sleep on her own. I think 7 months is a little young to be taking the pacifier away but you do what you think is right. For those suggesting you give her her thumb I would advice against this. My other twin who sucks her thumb still does and I have no idea how or when I'm going to be able to break her of this. They are almost 2 now by the way. Good luck!
2007-03-12 05:17:53 · answer #2 · answered by Rae 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The best thing to do is have the child go "cold turkey". I know it sounds terrible, but honestly, it is the best way. If you keep subsituting with other things, she will just become "addicted" to the substitution.
(I'm not comparing your child to a drug addict, I'm just using this as an example. Heroin addicts are addicted to heroin, so they are given methadone to help with the addiction. 90% of these addicts become addicted to the meth.)
The torture will only last 2-3 days, but once it is over, you will be happy you did it. It won't be the end of the world, and your child will make it through:)
I had the same problem with my child. I didn't want to take the pacifier away cold turkey, so my husband hid all of the pacifiers in the house and didn't tell me. My child was very winy at first, but after two days went by, my child did not even think about the "binky" anymore.
Do it now before you end up like the parents who's children are walking and talking with a binky in their mouth.
2007-03-12 04:50:27 · answer #3 · answered by CJ 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your baby is fine with it. I didn't ween my son off it till he was 2. They actually say that they can have it till they are 3 or 4. But I didn't, I think that's way too long. I think that It would be way too tramatic on your baby if you took it away now. Wait a little bit longer and then take it away. What I did was when my son turned one we only let him have it at bed. But he would always sneak it durning the day and I would just take it away. But when he turned 2, I just threw them all away and he never asked about them or cried for them. My advice is, let your baby be a baby. She will grow up fast and you would have wished that she was still little. it's just a binki, pick your battles. Good Luck!
2007-03-12 04:57:04 · answer #4 · answered by I love my kids! 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sucking is important to infants . It teaches them to comfort themselves.
If you are over-tired or upset , you may watch tv, have a snack,talk to friends on the phone to comfort you.
Your baby's only way to comfort herself is to suck.
It's good that you are not going into her room every ten minutes anymore.
You can teach her to suck her thumb.That way she can get it back to her mouth, when needed.
No, she won't continue this at age 15. She will stop when she has other ways to comfort herself.
You both sound like great parents.
2007-03-12 04:43:39 · answer #5 · answered by Cammie 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it IS going to be terrible,and the sad part is,you've gotta face it :-( maybe you can try substituting the pacifier with a carrot stick first and then gradually make her stop using that too.one thing's for sure : do NOT take it away from her immediately.good luck!
2007-03-12 04:39:44 · answer #6 · answered by shrijaliciousme 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well if you want to wean her now, youll just have to do it cold turkey and give her something else to comfort her, like a blankie or something. she will cry the first couple nights but you will have to just rough it out. but if you wait a little bit it will be much easier, you can make up something like the binkie fairy and you an her can leave them under her pillow for a treat something fun like that, she will most likely be more up for giving it up then. well good luck!
2007-03-12 05:06:23 · answer #7 · answered by baileysmommy06 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
7 months is not a big deal. I wouldn't take away something that comforts her. I have three boys and my third son used a pacificer, we weaned him off right around one year old 14 months or so, and he's fine.
2007-03-12 05:01:55 · answer #8 · answered by Lisa D 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How about stuffing her thumb in her mouth instead of the passi? It will take some work but pretty soon she'll figure out that she can do it herself.
2007-03-12 04:37:55 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
start cutting the rubber off slowly , so then there will be nothing left of it
or
have a paifier fairy that takes it away
2007-03-12 04:37:53 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋