Does your baby wake often for pacifier?

My son is almost 5 months. He goes to bed easily for me between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on most nights. He gets a bath, we put on pajamas, I give him a bottle, lay him down half awake and he closes his eyes and goes to sleep. He doesn't nap well during the day. Cat naps mostly. I'm lucky if he gets one hour nap. Many nights when he wakes I can give him the pacifier back and he closes his eyes and drifts right back to sleep. Many nights recently he doesn't even have a middle of he night bottle anymore, the pacifier is all he seems to want when he wakes and he can hold off for his morning bottle. Problem is, many nights he wakes up several time for his pacifier. Sometimes it's only after a 1/2 hour or so of sleeping. Other nights he sleeps 4 - 6 hours before waking for pacifier. I know he's not hungry, because when he is, the pacifier doesn't soothe him back to sleep, he keeps fussing and then I feed him.

Does anyone elses baby do this? If so, does anyone know how to help them sleep better

Thanks!!

Re: Does your baby wake often for pacifier?

I stopped giving her the pacifier when she woke, and then she had no choice but to put it back in herself. Infact, I stopped giving it to her altogether during the day, too. She had to learn to put it in if she wanted it. Eventually she did, like a couple of days later. That solved that problem.

Re: Does your baby wake often for pacifier?

Re: Does your baby wake often for pacifier?

DD wakes at night for the pacifier but she finds it now and just puts it back in.

Re: Does your baby wake often for pacifier?

THIS IS ME COMPLETELY...I go through the waking every night thing sometimes 10 times, sometimes every 20 minutes, sometimes once. I'm blaming it on teething.


I'm so glad it's not just me!! I'm like what am I doing wrong?? He goes to sleep so easily, but then on some nights he can be up 10 times!!! On a good night, he only wakes 2 or 3 times and only after several hours of straight sleeping... I don't know what to do... I'm happy he's needing his middle of the night less, but I would be SO happy if he actually slept straight through! Maybe it is teething... He'll be 5 months on the 17th, he's drooling like crazy and is constantly chewing on his hands... The doctor said that was because he was getting ready for solids which he started last month... Who knows!!

Re: Does your baby wake often for pacifier?

He's not able to find it and put it back in himself yet... I'm hoping that when he is able too, he will, and this problem will be solved!

Re: Does your baby wake often for pacifier?

Re: Does your baby wake often for pacifier?

DD did that for several months. Now, she's big enough to find them on her own, but she still cries out for a second or two until she finds it... (Just enough of a cry to wake us, but not enough for us to leave our room... )

It was rough for a while, but now it's not bad.

It does get better!!!

Re: Does your baby wake often for pacifier?

when my daughter started doing this at around 4 months I just took the paci away. She never missed it.

Re: Does your baby wake often for pacifier?

Yes, DS does this also. And it's strange b/c most of the time he can fall asleep with the pacifier and even spits it out when he's sleeping, but when he wakes during a nap or at night he wants it. I guess it is a security thing and helps soothe him back to sleep. He can put it in his mouth on his own, the problem is at night he cant find it in his crib, actually i dont think he looks for it.

Re: Does your baby wake often for pacifier?

DS was doing this. I was reading Healthy Sleep habits happy child and it said if the baby doesn't need a change and is not gettting a night bottle, constantly going to him would reinforce his night wakings and his knowing you'd come in to him. So, I stopped going in to him. I found that if I had just given it a couple extra minutes of him babbling or doing his little cry, he would fall asleep on his own again and I had not been giving him the chance. If he was screaming for awhile, I'd run in, pop it in and run back out. After 2 weeks, no more night wakings except for his middle of the night bottle--which was a different kind of awake and I could tell the difference. 5 days ago he cut that out and is now sleeping through 6:30-6 with no wakings and he was just 5 months yesterday.

PS for those that have a child that can put it back in his mouth but can't find it at night, try one of those clips that attach it to his bib or shirt or blanket. I have found that DS now realizes it's attached to the strap and he uses that to get it back in his mouth during the day.

Message edited 9/11/2007 9:03:08 AM.

Re: Does your baby wake often for pacifier?

I took the pacifier away completely at just about 5 months because it seemed to be causing more trouble than it was helping.

Re: Does your baby wake often for pacifier?

Re: Does your baby wake often for pacifier?

DS used to wake up crying for his pacifier when he was around that age also! Once he learned how to put it in his own mouth - no more waking up in the night looking for it.

Re: Does your baby wake often for pacifier?

Taylor does this as well, she is 6 months. She falls asleep with paci in mouth. She doesnt usually have any more bottles in the middle of the night, she just wakes up, sometimes 4 or 5 hours later for the paci, but sometimes, she will wake up 4 or 5 times.

Last night, she went to sleep at 9, she was up at 1:40 for paci, then she was up at 5:00, 5:30 and 5:45.

Last night wasn't too bad, the night before she was up only once at 11:40 and then slept til 7. It seems like there is no rhyme or reason, some nights she is up a million times and sometimes only once.

Re: Does your baby wake often for pacifier?

Thank you so much everyone for responding.

I hope Thomas grows out of this and can soon either fall back asleep on his own or put the pacifier back in his own mouth!

At his four month well visit, I mentioned it to the doctor. I told her I was afraid that I am making him completely dependent on the pacifier to sleep by continuing to give it back to him. She said that at this age, it is OK and that it's actually good because it shows that he doesn't need to eat everytime he wakes up. She said once he's able to put it back in his own mouth, I can throw a bunch of pacis in crib with him a let him fumble around for one. She said when he gets a little older, we can talk about how to wean from paci.

Thanks again for reponding. If anyone else has experience with this, advice or tips, I'd love to hear from you.

Re: Does your baby wake often for pacifier?

I was at a baby shower this weekend and a girl had a pacifier for her daughter and it was attached to a stuffed animal, i think she said it was called fancy pacifier.. it was made by a mother and itcan lie on his/her chest and helps the baby find the pacifier easier. She said you can only order online. She swears by it and her daughter is 7 months old.

Re: Does your baby wake often for pacifier?

My DD is almost 4 months & when she started doing this, I took it away for sleeping. I use it during the day because she drools so much that it is helping her swallow better, but at night & naps, she's on her own. She found her fingers a while ago, so she uses that. P.S. - she has slept 10-12 hours a night since she was 6 weeks old & started to want the paci at night when it fell out at 8 weeks which is when we stopped it for sleeping.

Re: Does your baby wake often for pacifier?

ugh! this is our current issue! DD is 12 weeks and loves to be swaddled and have a paci! until we stop swaddling her i think i am going to have to take it away at night.. it's great to help her fall asleep on her own but not when i am running in multiple times to put it back in! i hope she can do without it

Re: Does your baby wake often for pacifier?

He's at it again...

DS went to bed at 7:45 p.m. like a good but tired baby boy and he just woke for the first time of probably many times tonight for his pacifier...

I tried to let him cry a few minutes to see if he'd fall back asleep, but he just started crying more and more. So I went in and gave him his pacifier. He started sucking furiously and went back to sleep.

I just don't know why he's waking up...