Weaning 6mo off dummy at night

[suffolkblonde29]

Please help!

My 6 month old who was sleeping fine (just needing one feed around 4am) is now waking up around 8-10 times a night wanting her dummy. Sometimes I just put it back in and she goes back to sleep, other times she seems wide awake and I either have to pick her up and rock her back to sleep or if she really won't go back to sleep I feed her.

It's a nightmare and I'm exhausted! Really need to move her into her own room as she has outgrown her side cot but I can't face getting up and walking into the other room that many times a night. Not sure if wanting the dummy is the reason she is waking up or if she is just naturally waking up more.

If you have been in this situation and have any tips please let me know - or if you have managed to wean a 6 month old off the dummy please tell me how!

Thanks x

[LittleBearPad]

Not quite the solution you might want but I chucked lots into the cot so there was a chance they'd find it themselves.

[FATEdestiny]

When the baby goes to sleep the jaw muscles natually relax and so the dummy drops. Dummy is only meant to be in baby's mouth as they go to sleep, not whilst asleep.

So dummy not being in baby's mouth is not a cause of waking up. It is a means to go to sleep. Something else is causing light and restless sleep, this is what you need to tackle. It's not likely to be the dummy.

I'm terms of dummy re-insertion, babies don't have the manual dexterity to re-insert their own dummy until around 8m old. So until then you may well be needed to do it for them at any wake up.

[reallyanotherone]

Just to add there is research that shows if a baby is given a dummy, removing it before the age of 1 year old can lead to in increase in SIDS risk.

I did as pp said- chucked loads in the cot. The ease of shoving the dummy in and them going off straight back to sleep far outweighed removing it and having to find another way to settle them.

[Redkite10a]

We weaned my son off his dummy at about 10 months. We did it because it while he couldn't fall asleep without it initially, giving it to him wasn't enough to get him back to sleep when he woke up repeatedly during the night so it didn't feel like it was helping. We'd never let him have it while awake. We got him a substitute cuddle toy and used both for a few weeks, and then started not giving the dummy to him for daytime naps. A few weeks later we stopped using it at night time.

We'd expected to find it difficult, but actually it wasn't a problem so I think we were right he just wasn't that attached to it. He was still breastfed though, and had always preferred that to the dummy which probably helped! If he'd been more attached to it, we'd have tried the dummy scattering trick.

[suffolkblonde29]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I agree it must be something else waking her up - perhaps she was cold last night as she has outgrown her sleeping bag and was kicking the blankets off so I have ordered her another sleeping bag.

Unfortunately she isn't able to put the dummy back in herself yet but I will try weaning her off it in the day first - a gradual approach sounds like a better idea as I think if I tried to go cold turkey she would just get really upset and wake herself up more...

Hoping for a better night tonight!

[KatyN]

I would get her to try putting the dummy in during the day first. Hand it to her rather than put it in. Once she has grasped that she'/ more likely to get it in the night.
My 10 month old is a pro now (although I appreciate you don'5 want to be doing it for the next 4 months)

[1Potato2]

We have just weaned ds off dummies. He was 8 months. Never had to do it with dd as she rejected the larger sized 6 month plus ones.

Ds had them for naps and night only. He also had a muslin to hold which we have kept. Went cold turkey. Started in the morning and went out in the buggy for first nap as I knew he had fallen asleep without the dummy that way sometimes. Afternoon nap in his cot was ok. First night he cried for 15 minutes with us going in regularly. I felt so guilty. Next night 10 minutes. Night after that a little whimper. The trick is to throw away the dummies and remind yourselves why you are doing it and stay strong. Babies have a much shorter memory than a 2 year old. My friend had months of problems AFTER the dummy fairy took her son's dummies.

Within 5 days tops he was fine for all naps and night. No more random wakings.

[HappyInL0nd0n]

Another suggestion to add to the pot - you may find your baby sleeps better in her own room. Our little girl was waking 2/3/4 times a night for her dummy when she was sleeping in our room, when we put her in her own, she left through on the first night and has done pretty much every night since barring when she's been poorly.

I know we're lucky, but I also know we were waking her up with our movements in the night. I took her back into our room for one night when my husband was away, and she woke up every couple of hours. Back in her own room the next night, again, she slept through.

Might be worth a try. You can always bring her back into your room during the night if it isn't working.