Fearing baby's sleep association with his long sleeves

[Foop]

Hi all,
I hope I am not the only mother in this world with this problem: my little boy who just turned 6 months self-soothes by sucking on cloth, be it a muslin / blanket / pillow case / neck area of sleeping bag / you name it. At sleep/nap times, his best option is the long sleeves of either his vests (naps) or babygros (bedtime). His fingers and thumbs are of no interest to him! This means that he struggles to sleep when he is in short-sleeved clothes, and summer is coming... you know what I mean! I can't open the windows in his room cos (1) too noisy and (2) too bright. I have been recommended to give him either a security blanket or a pacifier, but I don't want to encourage any more wrong sleep associations! He only just started to manage to go back to sleep on his own and I would hate to have to relive the horrid days of having to tend to him almost every other hour to help him fall asleep by taking his only self-soothing way away without a good replacement! Help!!!!

Why dont you give him a soother? Like a cuski? He needs something so I see no harm in giving it.

Thanks Iggly. I have been told that by giving him something to help him fall asleep, it is encouraging a wrong sleep association? As he would cry when he wakes and can't find it? What is your experience on that? Thanks again!

Definitely give him a comforter. Buy 2 (or 3) so that you are never at risk of losing it! My DS2 has had one since tiny (a bear's head with a blanket attached), and still sucks it to get to sleep. There has never been a problem with sleep associations - it's quite big so I think he just finds it himself if he wakes. He only seems to need it in his cot - falls asleep without it if he's in the buggy or car (even if stationary).

I would let him have something. He's so little and if it makes him feel safe and secure where's the harm. Even adults sleep hugging cars/dogs/duvets/pillows etc no harm in a little cloth to pull at suck sleep on or whatever :)

Cats not cars

yes give him something he can hold, he may just like a muslin cloth, lots of babies do, its easy for him to hold/cuddle/suck and you can leave a few in his cot so he can be sure to find one, plus if you have a bunch they will hopefully be interchangable, no worried like we have with dd who has ONE cuddly lamb that she HAS to have at bedtime!

the cuski comforters are lovely as well, again get spares.

my ds4 has blanets and sucks his thumb whilst twiddling with them in a specific way, he has 3 blankets, they are tatty and falling apart but at age 4 (just) he loves them, he had them from about your sons ages actually and they really helped his sleep, its good for them to have a sleep associations actually and be able to self soothe/comfort, its a great skill fora baby to learn, many take much longer!

I used to suck the sleeve of my babygrow as a baby and was known to stuff as much of it in my mouth as possible. I grew out of it . DD2 loves her muslin cloth - she doesn't suck it but likes to cuddle it or drape it over her face whilst sucking her thumb. Give him something if he needs it (muslin would be my choice as you're always going to be able to get a replacement - not so easy if it is a specific teddy or blanket). I've taken to tying one muslin to a cot bar so she can always get one if the other has fallen/been chucked out of the cot.

Thank you all. This is good advice. I have been told off by a maternity nurse for encouraging sleep association if I give him something as it is very similar to a dummy!!! Any suggestions as to blankies or comforters to get apart from muslin cloths and cuskis? Thanks! x

He's six months old he's allowed to snuggle with a cloth/ toy etc depriving them of comfort leads to more problems than it solves silly nurse :( . Can be anything really a blanket or muslin ( cheap pack of six from boots kind) doesn't need to be fancy or expensive. I can understand not feeding to sleep but a blanket is easily restricted to home and bed time if they still have it when older :)

Thank you so much. I have been so torn between letting the baby guide me to fulfil his needs and trying to do the "right" thing. Now feel more relieved as I am about to give in and hand him a muslin cloth to bed! What do babies do otherwise to self-soothe I wonder???

foop I would venture to say that letting the baby "guide you to fulfil his needs" is the "right" thing!
Let him have his comforter, he's only little.

Is the maternity nurse going to be involved in his care?

It's very normal for young children to breastfeed to sleep, so the sucking (of cloth in his case, thumbs or dummies in others) is probably a replacement for that. Ignore all the (misguided) rule books, follow your child :)