2 weeks ago we took the pacifier away from my son, who will be 2 in a few weeks He has always been a very good sleeper, and for the last 4 months has only been using his pacifier in bed at night. Prior to taking away the pacifier, he would usually sleep from 8pm to 6:30 or 7, with a 2 hr nap. He never cried or asked for the pacifier after the 2nd night, but he is not getting nearly as much sleep as before. He stalls and has an almost-tantrum every night, so he's not actually going to sleep until after 9. And he never sleeps past 5:30am. If he wakes up in the middle of the night, I've had some success getting him back to sleep rocking. But if he wakes up around 5, it's all over. There's no getting him back to sleep. I know he needs more sleep, but he's been much slower to develop new self-soothing mechanisms than I expected. He has 2 stuffed animals he's very attached to, and he sleep with them. We let him cry at bedtime but when he wakes in the night (or early morning) allowing him to CIO just gets him more worked up. Any hints on how to teach a former pacifier user new self-soothing methods?
A. I'm a mother for over thirty years and a daycare provider. I must tell you this will pass. You must go through that maybe by a week or so he will forget about it. Just do a little something to distract him like giving him a hug and change the subject or most times don't say anything at all, but all and all in time he will sleep again.
Hi A.,
First off, I applaud you for getting rid of the paci! My son is almost 29 months and still uses his. I'm soooo ready to get rid of it but I know that it will rock his world, so I've been taking my precious time which is awful.
Anyway, it may not have anything to do with the paci. When my son turned 2, he went thru a difficult sleeping pattern. He just wasn't sleeping well, falling asleep way too late and getting up too early. I was exhausted! I think they're bodies are changing so much that when they hit a growth spurt, they're just too wound up sometimes to sleep.
Just my thoughts! Hope he's back to his good sleeping schedule soon and congrats on expecting!
Lynsey
It's a long, hard process. We were so ready to give in after just a few hours, but then it does get easier. My cousin was expecting a baby so we took all of my daughter's nuks & put them away (in the garbage when she wasn't looking) for the baby. When we went shopping we bought a pkg for the baby & she told me she could show him how to use them! Have you tried a small blanket w/a satin type of ribbon? sometimes the feel of that may be soothing. Good luck!
You know after reading what everyone here went through, I'm not sure which is worse....sucking thumbs and the later consequenses, or taking away a paci. My child is a thumb sucker, never took to a paci. So, I really don't have much advice for you, I think I'm the one who needs it! lol....but one thing that worked for me when she had trouble sleeping was giving her a blankie. Not just any blankie though. I took one of her blankies and slept with it for like a month so it had my smell on it....it's been her favorite blanie ever since!
How about putting a cd player in his room and playing soft lullaby's or "soundscape" type music when he wakes or other "white noise" throughout the night.
We took my son's on his 2-1/2 "birthday". He had no trouble giving it up, but did have trouble falling asleep. At first, I gave him later naps (instead of 1-3, I put him down at 2 and woke him at 3:30. Then I put him to bed at 8:30 instead of 8 and layed with him until he was either sleeping or close to sleeping. I would tell him that I was only staying for 2 minutes, but would stay until he didn't need me anymore (up to 5 or sometimes even 10 minutes). It took a couple of months for him to learn to self-soothe, but it did happen. It's a tough transition - for the whole family :) Good luck.
How about a "safe pacy" substitute such as a lovey? It can be storebought or you can make one using an old t-shirt of yours or dad's. You can get him involved in the process, perhaps having him pick out his new "blankie" at a store or making one up at home using a t-shirt he picked out.
If this works, make sure that you make (or buy) identical loveys (2-3 more) ASAP - to make up for ones that get lost or to have a substitute for when the original needs laundering.
