Removing dummy... For good!

[amy1234]

So my lo has never slept through and has needed a feed at 2am waking at 7am - she's 20 weeks.
On advice of the hv we reduced her 2am feed by half which resulted in her waking up twice and, on advice of doc have just started weaning (just baby rice for now) BUT the last week the dummy dependency has got silly, almost every 10 mins between 4am and 7am plus I'm beginning to think even the night time bottle could be a soother thing as well soooo as of 7am this morning no more dummy!

Just feeding her now then it's off to bed so could be a long night. Any tips/advice or moral support about how long this should take to get self soothing on track would be lovely!
Thanks!
X

 

[amy1234]

ok - so she's been asleep for 1 hour 20 minutes and now waking / whimpering.... Any ideas / help for how best to soothe her without making her dependent on something else?

 

[HoneyBee1508]

I can't really suggest anything as my LO still needs her dummy to sleep at 6 1/2 months. I could be wrong but I seem to remember readng somewhere that it is not recommended to take the dummy away til after 6 months as their sucking reflex is still strong til around that time. It sounds like it could be the good old 4 month sleep regression - mine started at around that time but she didn't wake at the sort of frequency you're talking about, it was more like every hour from about 4am til we get up at 8am.

 

[Poppy7]

We never took our LO's dummy away before he was 6 months old. Crying is generally involved with ditching the dummy and anything like that is not recommended before 6 months.

When we took our LO's dummy away we gave him a "snuggler" (small, soft, teddy with blanket attached). That way atleast he got comfort and reassurance from something.

If you have still decided that you want to go ahead with taking the dummy away definitely introduce a comfort blanket and calm reassure your LO when she wakes up. Maybe shusshing, patting, even a cuddle (you can't ruin them at this age!). She really does need comfort at 20 weeks. Also, night wakings for milk are still normal at this age.

HTH.

 

[Sarah10]

Oh god i feel you, same dilemma here, LO goes down around 7pm, sleeps for 1 hour, then is awake every 10-20 minutes, then 11pm he wakes up for 30minsish, looks round and shouts until i pick him up, rock him back to sleep with dummy.. he then sleeps on and off till 2am, then has a feed, then off/on till 4:30m when we get up. I know he isn't hungry because he has around 40oz a day with 2 meals (breakfast = babyrice or blended fruit and rice, and for his tea/dinner he has veg or something)

Hoping things get easier! I tried a couple of nights to stop his dummy but i gave in! lol x

 

[choc]

I have been in a similar position, getting up all through the night to replace the dummy. Sometimes once an hour, sometimes 4 times a hour. I decided enough was enough too! I was too much of a wimp to take it away for the whole day though as it is the only way to extend his naps. Anyway it has been going pretty well, I encouraged him to suck his hand (which he spends the entire day doing anyway) and he uses that to settle himself back to sleep when he wakes. He still wakes about 3 times a night but now I don't actually have to get up to him.

 

[LoraLoo]

I'd be inclined to let her have her 2am fed in full, she's still young. If halfing her feeds has resulted in her waking more often, she probably needed the full feed. As regards to the dummy, worse thing I ever did was wean my daughter off it! Perhaps as someone else has said, a comfort blanket or go in and stroke/pat her and just reassure her xxxxx

 

[hattiehippo]

Tom still woke for a night feed until he was about 28 weeks so I wouldn't worry that your LO is still waking at 20 weeks. I would ignore the HV suggestion about reducing the feed - they're waking becuase they're hungry at that age not out of habit IMO and its only going to guarantee crying and then needing the dummy to settle if they're not getting enough milk when they're waking up.

I wouldn't take the dummy away until your LO is old enough to adopt a cuddly toy/muslim etc instead as a comforter. They need to be around 6 months for this though.

We didn't take Tom's dummy away and it did get easier around 5 months as he started to be able to put it back in by himself. But before he could do that he did go through a phase of waking almost constantly for it which was really tough.

 

[amy1234]

Argh not sure whether to take it away or not now. Don't want to be mean but I have to start back at work in 3 weeks so is the best time got any sleep deprivation from a selfish point of view. She has fallen back to sleep again without dummy, just a cuddle and a pat so might persevere with it and maybe if the cry escalates past whimpering consider abandoning the plan.
So hard to know what's best!

 

[amy1234]

Btw - what's sleep regression?

 

[kerry1981]

I took Jenna's dummy from her when she was 5 months because I was getting up every 40 mins through the night to replug her so she wasn't getting a good sleep and neither was I. Not I was totally against leaving her to cry until I ready the Dr Ferber book - solve your childs sleep problems and then it all made sense to me.

I took the dummy away during the day and done controlled crying to get her used to self settling. It took 40 mins the first night and she woke 3 times but managed to go back to sleep within 5 mins. It was hard at first to let her cry but I knew she didn't need anything and just had to get on with it. But honestly after reading the book it was sooooo much easier.

Taking away her dummy was the best think we have done when it comes to sleeping. If only I could use it when we go shopping

 

[special_kala]

If shes waking still between 4 and 7 then id say feed her the full bottle as she could be hungry. Your baby will drop her night feeds when shes ready not when you are im afraid

 

[kerry1981]

I meant to add that she may still need a night feed and if so just give her the full one. If it starts to interfere with her morning bottle then I would suggest that it it time to drop it

 

[Sarah10]

Sleep regression is when babies hit a development spurt (usually around the 4 month mark, also 9 months i believe) and it can cause them to wake alot more, because so much is going on in their heads.. i think lol.

 

[amy1234]

Perfect, I have been ignoring the hv on the feed front after the 3rd day when it just seemed to make it worse! Have no problems feeding her as I'm sure she needs it, I Presume it's seen more as a habit when they just take 1oz not 4 or 5?

 

[babyfromgod]

I am slowly weaning my LO off his dummy, he only used it for bed and was never a big fan of it anyway which helped. He just used it to go to sleep and would spit it out and stay asleep. I just put him down without it and he doesn't cry and takes himself off to sleep but if he does cry i give it to him. Good luck weaning you LO off it

 

[kerry1981]

Perfect, I have been ignoring the hv on the feed front after the 3rd day when it just seemed to make it worse! Have no problems feeding her as I'm sure she needs it, I Presume it's seen more as a habit when they just take 1oz not 4 or 5?

Yeah totally, if your lo is hardly taking anything then it I'm sure they are just waking out of habit. Try offering some water when it gets to that stage

 

[amy1234]

Last night was hit and miss, we had a good night apart from at 5am when she cried for almost 45 minutes no matter what I tried and in the end took 2oz frim a bottle and passed out...

today has been tough - she is currently squirming in my lap, glazed eyes as she has only had 2 30 minute naps rather than 3 1 hour ones... I'm sure this is because without the dummy her naps are too short.

nightmare!

 

[ILoveShoes]

I hope it gets easier soon.
xx

 

[mum2beagain]

i took connors dummy away a week ago as he was waking hourly for it we just went cold turkey the fiurst 3 nights were quite hard he would go to sleep fine but wake up after 2 hrs screaming we did a little cc which was hell but after the 3rd night hes been fine now sleeps from 6pn-7am if he does wake he re settles himsekf straight away hope ur doing ok xx