breaking sleep associations?

[csemum]

My 4 month old daughter is a delight in many ways. However, the only way that she gets to sleep is by sucking my thumb. Recently, I have been told by a baby sleep expert that unless she learns to sleep on her own, she will NEVER sleep through the night...eeekkkk!

I have just tried leaving her without my thumb and she has screamed (those scary screams which make your instincts twang dangerously as a mother) for the last 20 minutes. I am so overwhelmed by all the conflicting advice and methods (Pantley pull off? shhh and patt? spaced soothing? controlled crying?). Does anyone out there have any advice about what I should do.

BTW my mother in law seems to think that she will just grow out of this habit but don't want to risk it!

Thanks in advance!

Can you try to substitute your thumb for a dummy? Then you can wean her off that later when you feel comfortable to. Otherwise its gradual withdraw or cold turkey.

Be prepared to stick to your guns if you go cold turkey, and its hard. Otherwise, can you start taking your thumb out as soon as she goes to sleep, then start taking it out just before she is ready to drop off, then start taking it out sooner and sooner and after a few weeks aim to not giver her your thumb at all?

My advice is to leave her to suck her thumb

She's a tiny baby

My DD fed to sleep/co slept etc and she sleeps through the night

Is thumb sucking a problem? And yes, she will grow out of it

Self soothing is a skill but most babies take a while to get it and in the meantime, if your DD is soothed by her thumb then leave it be - at leats you don't have to get up in the night to keep putting it back in like a dummy

Ruby The OP says the baby is sucking mummy's thumb, not baby's thumb IYSWIM.

yes sadly Ruby it's my thumb not hers. She's utterly uninterested in her own :(

Oh I see - in that case a dummy is a good idea if she'll take one

You can try bum patting, face stroking etc

You can adapt the pantley pull off for a thumb I would have thought

So, remove the thumb, and then follow the instructions as per the book - I used it fhor weaning DD off feeding to sleep - was nice and gentle

Hi there

We weaned DS off his dummy at 5.5 months, using a mixture of CC and PUPD. It worked really well, so you could try the same for your daughter's thumb sucking? Although I would leave it until at least 5 months.

This is what we did (starting with night time sleep and continued for naps the next day) and DS was sleeping through by the second night...

Put DS down in cot awake, no dummy.
Wait for crying to start (proper crying, not just whinging).
Wait for 30 secs.
Go in, pick DS up, comfort him until calm.
Pop back in cot, leave the room straight away.
Wait for crying to start.
Wait one minute.
Go in, pick up, comfort...

...etc...

Leaving it for slightly longer intervals each time - 1 min, 2 mins, 3 mins etc up to 10 mins, then repeating every 10 mins if necessary. DS never got past the 5 minute interval.

I preferred this method to PUPD as it worked more quickly, and I preferred it to CC as I could pick DS up and comfort him (which we both needed I think!)

If you want to PM me I can send you more detailed instructions. A couple of my friends have used this technique really successfully too.

"Recently, I have been told by a baby sleep expert that unless she learns to sleep on her own, she will NEVER sleep through the night...eeekkkk!"

You do know that this is rubbish, don't you?