Dummy dependence

[Staceym83]

I have a 18week old baby who has never been amazing at sleep. We have a great routine at night with bath, feed, bed and he used to then wake at 12,3and 6
Now with the dreaded 4 month regression, a virus, a holiday abroad and some hot weather he now wakes every 2 hours and will feed if I let him. I am not sure he needs this much and have started to give some baby rice to see if this helps, (although the books say not).
He doesn't nap well only max 40mins but longer in the pushchair (likely one sleep cycle).
I have spoken to so many people and have spent so much money on various books.
I think he is using the dummy as a prop so he cannot settle himself again but am not sure what to do. Do I ditch it and cry it out- have tried getting rid and shushing and patting but doesn't settle and just escalates to crying (a lot)
I tried pick up and put down but have to say not sure I get it as felt like he was a bit of a yoyo as as soon as I put him down he screamed?
Or do I do controlled crying?
The dummy is only ever used for naps and sleep and never inbetween. I know dummy's can be good but think it is a prop?
Any suggestions???

I wouldn't ditch the dummy, it is your sons source of comfort to get to sleep.

The point of a dummy is as a sleep prop, that is exactly what it is for. Babies cannot self settle, they do not have the emotional capacity.

18 weeks is way, way too young for controlled crying. Your baby cries because he wants to sleep. The dummy helps him get to sleep - which is a good thing not a bad thing.

Baby rice at this age will not be good for your baby's digestion and is unlikely to make any difference to sleep. Milk has far more calories and more milk is much better than giving other, less calorific fillers.

40 minute naps at this age are perfectly normal. The key is to have frequent 40 minute naps.

Aim for 40 minutes sleep in every 90-120 hours through the daytime. So start trying to get baby back to sleep an hour after waking up.

Everything FATE just said.

A dummy is a sleep prop. So what? Babies need something to help them sleep. For some it's a bottle/boob, for some it's motion- my ds napped on me until he was 7 months. A dummy is a great tool in your arsenal!

At 17 weeks I'm not sure you can't be sure he's not hungry so I'd feed him as a first resort then dummy. Baby rice won't help-it isn't as nutritious as milk.

CC will not work with an 18 week old baby. It's not advised with good reason.

40 minutes sleep is a normal sleep cycle for an 18 week old- they just need lots of them and not too long between naps.

If I were you I'd stick with the bedtime routine your have. When your ds wakes I'd try feeding first, then dummy and shush pat. I'd also try and find ways to cope with the lack of sleep- early to bed, nap when he naps, get extra sleep if someone else can take him.

Sorry op I know it's hard. Ds woke every 90minutes-2 hours from around 7 months to 11 months and it's knackering but early weaning, removing dummy and cc aren't the way to go.