Dummy issue

[dibley30]

Hi there
My ds is lying in the buggy next to me supposedly having a nap (he's 6 weeks old) - he appeared to be tired (yawning, eye rubbing and then crying whinging etc) so I whipped him in there and popped his dummy in. Unfortunately we have not yet been able to get him to sleep unaided yet by any means (other than going in the car seat, pushing buggy round the block ) - please don't suggest a sling - I am not physically capable of carrying another 10lbs around with me all day.... !
With the dummy route - this is fine, save that until he is actually in a deeper sleep and spits it out himself, he sucks and sucks but sometimes it comes before this time whereupon he spits it out and then (this bit can take up to a minute) he realises it's not there anymore and screams - it can take up to 45 mins to an hour for him to get to that stage of spitting it out himself and not wanting it back.....so for every nap he takes and sleeping, we are on "dummy duty"...are we mad doing this ? As I've said, i've tried the other routes but without success....I am slightly at my wits end really with this - but if I'm not alone it might feel slightly more manageable !!
Thanks

I know you said don't suggest a sling, but have you tried any of the ones that aren't just the baby carriers (Tomy or Baby Bjorn)? They don't mean the baby's weightless, but they're MUCH lighter in a wrap, for instance.

Can't help on the dummy thing - sorry. Will he sleep feeding? Don't worry too much about "making a rod for your back" at six weeks - whatever works at this age (or any age, actually!).

Really feel for you. I don't really have any advice except if the dummy is creating as many problems as that is it worth it? Maybe it will be better to grit your teeth without it, so your ds can learn to take himself off to sleep.

In the short term it will be awful, but in the long term much better for your sanity.

We tried a dummy with ds, and he kept spitting it out so we gave up in the end and he learned the hard way to take himself off to sleep.

Dear Dibley
As far as I have learnt it is very hard for a young baby to hold onto a dummy for very long and they obviously are unable to pick it up and replace it themselves. We used a dummy on our ds from 4 weeks or so as we felt we needed something to sooth him, normally at bed time we would give it to him, stroke his head and leave. We would most times have to replace it 3 or 4 times before he would finally fall into a deep sleep. He's 12 weeks now and we rarely use the dummy at night to get him to sleep any more so I don't think that you are building a rod for your own back at all - they can't learn bad habits at his young age!! One thing we also learnt over time is that if he's even a little bit hungry he won't sleep and will continue to suckle without falling into sleep deeply - it may be worth checking he's totally full before sleeping??

Hope this helps!

Thanks, that's really encouraging. I am more than happy to keep at it, if (a) he won't need it forever and (b) if after 30 mins of getting him off, I get 3 hours of sleep out of him. ....
It's pretty clear when he doesn't want it. I think he's fed enough - but will check(he's bottle fed and has had all the allotted feeds today and rejected the teat when I tried to give him more) but he may be having a bit of a growth spurt, so thanks for that advice. It's always difficult with a sucky baby who also gets terrible wind - don't want to overfeed him and then add more problem to the existing problem (his wind bothers him and generally wakes him in light sleep !!)

Dibley
Ds also a windy baby, used to grunt and groan all night trying to get the wind out!! We took him to a cranial osteopath and things got a bit better, but have a couple of weeks ago taken him to a cranial sacral therapist who has worked wonders! He basically said that as a quick birth ds did not complete birth twist, so pelvis twisted, causing digestive system to be twisted too hence sucking harder to get food and taking in more wind! Makes sense, but also ds much happier and sleeps much more quietly and less fitfully - might be worth a thought?

Thanks, I'll take a look for one in my area- the constant farting between 2 and 6 last night kept me awake (didn't seem to wake him) which was irritating given that he slept from 10,30 til 4am and I could have got a decent sleep in !! He's in his own room, but it's so loud you can't fail to hear him !
maybe that will help !