Sleep 'crutches' - when to think about breaking them?

[Mycutiemarkisrubbish]

7mo currently sleeps really well, touch wood. However to get to sleep he needs a dummy, a muslin over his face (or hat pulled down over his eyes) and most times needs one or both of his arms tucked in to his sleeping bag to stop him flailing around or pulling his dummy out.

Now none of these are time consuming or difficult. However I'm wondering about the future, especially when he starts rolling (lazy boy doesn't roll yet), and whether there will be problems then.

Is it easier to try and gently wean him off something now while he is young, or is it a case of if it ain't broke, don't fix it?

He'll probably grow out of all except the dummy when he's ready. I wouldn't push any of them, let him do what he needs. Eventually he'll probably need some help letting go of the dummy but plenty of kids have dummies a lot longer than 7mo :)

My DS is 2.8 and we was swaddled until he was almost 7months and had a dummy until really recently.

Trait your instincts, you'll know when he's ready to give these things up :)

I posted something similar a couple of months ago about my now 9 MO son. The advice I was given was the dummy is there to send him to sleep not keep him asleep he should be able to do it alone. My son was an incredibly poor sleeper waking between 7-27 times a night I thought this was all down to the dummy. ( he also has a muslin for comfort)
He has however in the last month started sleeping through the night. I would like to take the dummy away by a year he only has it to sleep so hoping it won't be too hard. I want him to get more attached to the muslin so it makes taking the dummy away easier as all of his comforts are not gone at once. They say most children need some sort of comforter till they are about 4 to get to sleep so try not to worry to much and do what you think is right

Aside from arms inside the sleeping bag, all of the others are sustainable so I can't see an issue.

We had a thread a couple of days ago about a 7 month old still swaddled and not rolling yet - so you are not alone.

Fate my son was like that! Couldn't roll until after he could crawl (he's strange like that!) and was swaddled until around 7.5 months. He had a really really strong startle reflex. We knew he was ready to be unswaddled when he starting pushing his way out and choosing to free the odd arm or leg, whereas before he'd have found that distressing.

OP I would honestly be led by what works for him, none of the things you have mentioned are unusual and I am sure he'll give you signs when things need to change.

Thanks! I keep going in two minds about breaking any of the habits. The dummy drives me nuts as he pulls it out but then can't manage to get it back in again. I'd be happier I suppose if he just chewed on a muslin like his sister did, that's much harder for him to lose!

At least he's not the only 7mo who still needs swaddling sometimes...

My DS is 7 months and also has a dummy and a snuggly toy over his face. He often takes out the dummy, waves it around a little and then puts it back in. He also uses it in the day time when he is upset.

Mine could do their own dummy inserts by 7-8 months old. But he's not going to be able to learn to do that if he cannot use his arms. I would working on getting arms free for the single benefit of baby learning to do his own dummy.

That's what I can't make my mind up about He gets the dummy out, but then can't get it in because he's turned it the wrong way, and he only likes a specific dummy that doesn't have a little handle for him to hold. Most of the time if his arms are swaddled then he keeps his dummy in and sleeps well. He can get his arms out of the sleeping bag quite easily really.

So do I just hold on another month or so until he learns to get the dummy in properly? I assume he will at some point. And then I can put it on a dummy clip and let his arms lose, as knocking his dummy out is probably his biggest stress.

But he does sleep really well once asleep, so I suppose I shouldn't really complain!

You can do some practising with the dummy, during the day. For example:

• don't put dummy in for baby anymore. Always place dummy in his hand so he has to do the hand to mouth movement.

• next start holding dummy in his eyeline rather than in his hands, so he has to reach for it first, then put it in

• then hold the dummy out to him the wrong way around (so he has to grab hold of the teat). Then he has to get the dummy, Turn it around and over, then put it in.

• then start placing dummy in floor in eye line but out of reach, so he has to move/reach for it.

• then put dummy somewhere obvious but not in his eye line (for example placed by his feet when he's in the floor on his tummy), so he has to spin around and locate the dummy before putting it in.

• then play floor games of finding the dummy and making it the right way around.