Nightime & Dummies

[HollyC255552]

Just wondering...do your DC sleep through the night with a dummy or if not how many wake ups do you have because its popped out?

[Packergator]

We don't have wake ups because it's popped out, but when we do have wake ups (Christ knows why...) the dummy is the only thing that gets him back to sleep. I mean, I'll literally go into his room, plug his dummy in and he'll be asleep again in a second. It may pop out a few minutes later, but once he's asleep, he's asleep. My biggest issue is that he used to sleep 7-7 with a feed at 2ish...now he wakes EVERY HOUR before midnight and then at least once the other side. I'm so sleep deprived I could SCREAM. This has literally come out of nowhere and I have no idea what to do. He's not even teething.

[HollyC255552]

Exactly like my DD she has a dummy, yet she wakes every god dam hour after midnight!! Its exhausting eh?! This has been going on for a good few months now with us.

[Packergator]

He was such a fantastic sleeper until the last couple of weeks. I've given him the benefit of the doubt because he's had a bit of a tummy bug and a nasty case of nappy rash, but they're better now so if things haven't improved come Friday we're starting sleep training!!

[Lovemybubble15]

My lo had a dummy for first few months but when started sleep training was told to not use. Reason being it settles baby at first but as soon as it falls out and they wake they are all where's my dummy I can't sleep. With no dummy they can resettle themselves. He went from waking every 2 hours (for 5 months!!!) to sleeping now between 10 and 12 hours! (Touching wood).

[fruitpastille]

Mine had learned to find her dummy and put it back in herself. But sometimes she will drop it off of the cot on purpose and then cry till we come! She needs the dummy to get to sleep then it falls out and she sleeps without it.

[Packergator]

Lovemybubble Which sleep training techniques did you use and how long did it take? My boy is 6 months and used to be the don of self-settling but now can't do it without the dummy and I can't understand why because he's always had one...no idea what's changed!?

[Dozyoldtwonk]

Watching with interest…my DD is a great sleeper in that she goes down in her cot from 7pm - 7am but she wakes numerous times during this time (usually after midnight) for her dummy. As soon as we pop it back in, she's out like a light again…until next time.

I haven't minded this really up until now as me or DH literally get up, re-insert dummy & go straight back to sleep. But I'd like to nip it in the bud now if possible as I go back to work soon.

[Packergator]

fruitpastille Same here. He 'needs' it to fall asleep but it often drops out immediately after and he stays asleep...I long for the day when he figures out how to put it back in! He's always popping it in/out during the day but at night...I think because he never actually wakes up properly he can't muster the coordination to find it and put it back in!

[Packergator]

Dozyoldtwonk EXACTLY the same situation here! Frustrating, isn't it??

[Lovemybubble15]

Mine could never self settle - not sure if it was cause I bf'd him but I would feed to sleep.
I used a combination of the disappearing chair and also a sort of cc which I know lots of people don't like but it really worked. First few nights I sat next to his cot and patted and comforted him but didn't pick him up, so felt was a much kinder way of doing it.He until that point had slept in my room in a co-sleeper cot. And would sleep for a couple of hours then end up in the bed as he just wouldn't be put down. I had 5 months of that and was literally exhausted and crying all the time from sleep deprivation. He now gets put down around 7 and will cry for a little bit (I go in if over 10 mins and give a little pat/kiss) then leave and eventually he settles. Sometimes it takes 5 mins others 20 but he's like a different baby now.

[FuzzyOwl]

My DC is almost 9 months and rarely wakes for the dummy to be put back in now and if it does happen, it is only once in the night (but usually in the morning when my DH gets up for work, as I think that occasionally disturbs her).

[Lovemybubble15]

Must point out he did used to have a dummy but I was told not to use anything that was a prop. He does have it for naps in the day as I haven't quite cracked them!!

[Packergator]

Fuzzyowl So, there is hope!? Just another 3 months of this!?

Was asking my parents for advice about sleep today. My siblings and I all used dummies and were- by all accounts- great sleepers. I asked them what techniques they used with us to get us to sleep...my dad replied 'we just used to ignore you a bit when you cried at night'. Love how 70s/80s standard parenting has now become 'sleep training'!

[FuzzyOwl]

At six months, I would have to get up two or three times for the dummy. She went into her own room at seven months and straight away tended to sleep without any dummy wake ups.

I got a car seat mirror when she was five months and witnessed her repeatedly taking her dummy out, playing with it and put it back in. So now I wonder whether she sometimes does manage to put it in herself at night (she has a glow in the dark one) although on other occasions she manages to throw it out of her cot!

[HollyC255552]

Thanks everyone - hopefully DD will learn to find her dummy in the night soon then - not entirely sure if its the reason she wakes up throughout the night though, as she does sleep a lot without it i've noticed. I think DD is generally a very restless sleeper.

[5madthings]

For my dd I bought the glow in the dark avent dummies and put a bunch in her bed so she could find them herself. Not sure what age she started finding them.

You can also get a soft cuddly bunny thing you can attach dummies to that makes it easier for them to find them in the.night, a sleepytot? Maybe.

[Packergator]

He woke about 30 mins ago; gave a loud shout but then went quiet again. Watched him on the monitor settle himself back to sleep, no dummy, so he CAN do it...he's just so inconsistent!!

[FATEdestiny]

I have a ribbon sewn onto the chest of all my sleeping bags, with a press stud at the end to attach a dummy to. Works in much the same ways as a dummy clip but without the bulky clip and permanently attached.

It meant when baby was young I could quickly and easily find the dummy to re-insert. From about 7 to 8 months old baby could do a sweeping motion with her hand under her chin to find the ribbon, find the dummy and put it in herself.

From about 8 months old I never had another dummy related wake up (although was still getting occasional disturbed nights with teething, general early-weaning wake ups and basic stuff). From 12 months old I have not been into my daughter at night, ever. She is now 17 months old.

She only has the dummy attached to her sleeping bag, so only ever at sleep time and never when out of the cot.

No need for baby to ever cry to sleep with a dummy.

[SnowWhite26]

I have a 4 and half month old and she has a dummy to sleep and to calm her when she needs comforting. She tends to need it putting back in at least 2-3 times a night as I think when she gets to the end of a sleep cycle it wakes her. She has found her thumb today and I want her to use it to help settle her bk to sleep. I cover her hands with the mitts that attach to baby grows coz other wise wakes herself up. Do u think she would learn rto use her thumb to settle herself to sleep? She is only sucking it randomly atm.