Baby's 11 weeks and I am so over the pacifier! She cannot keep it in her mouth and has to have it reinserted constantly. I really want to be done with it but feel like she's too young to CIO and self-soothe so I feel stuck.
Anybody ditch the pacifier this early? Advice?
honeydew / 7916 posts
I remember being in the hospital at 13 weeks explaining that we'd stopped using the pacifier because he was gagging, so we definitely gave it up before then. He never seemed to miss it! There was some fist sucking after that but I think he actually slept pretty well from that point on.
...Now that I think about it, we must have started using a swaddle that allowed him to keep his hands near his face, so he got to suck his hands at night.
papaya / 10343 posts
We did not and we went through that period of waking up every hour to have me replace her paci. It got somewhat better after we sleep trained at 6 months because she learned to sleep (sometimes) with no paci. Then around 6.5-7 mo she suddenly realized she could seek out and replace the paci by herself and it has been life changing. We put 3 in there with her (two attached to paci plushies) and she can usually find and replace them herself. Went from waking up like 6-8 times/night to 2-3 (and honestly if I let her cry more overnight she probably would go back to sleep herself but it is so fast to replace doesn't seem worth the drama).
So.. no help I guess. Just assurance that they do eventually learn to do it themselves. 
GOLD / papaya / 10166 posts
I agree w/ @Mae: It does get much easier as they get older and can replace it on their own. But, I don't see a problem with getting rid of it early.. actually, we're thinking of getting rid of it now (9.5 months) so we don't end up w/ another paci monster like our 3 yr old.
pomegranate / 3565 posts
Does she really need it? DS2 was just eh about it so I stopped giving it to him. He sucked on his hands a bit but quickly got over it.
blogger / persimmon / 1231 posts
@spaniellove: she's just discovering her hands so I thought about maybe loosening the swaddle so she can get to them. Good thinking!
@Mae: good to know that one day she'll figure it out. Don't know if I can last that long!
@BabyBoecksMom: when did she start keeping it in?
@Mamasig: every time I swaddle her and settle down to rock with her she's instantly rooting and starts crying until she gets the paci. But I haven't waited to see if she'll get over it so maybe I should!
GOLD / watermelon / 14076 posts
Does she seem to want it but just can't keep it in her mouth? Or do you think she's actually spitting it out and doesn't want it? I really tried to get our LO to take one but she spit every brand I tried out. There was a day here or there where she'd take one, but never consistently. I finally gave up. It was rough to get through the newborn days without one, but now that she's older I'm so so glad we never had to paci wean.
blogger / persimmon / 1231 posts
@lawbee11: I think she really wants it, but has a string tongue thrust. She's still pretty disorganized with sucking even with nursing and a bottle too. Once she gets it though she closes her eyes and is so happy. Then it falls out again and she searches for it and cries.
pomegranate / 3127 posts
We have it up around one or two months. DS would spit it out and get mad every time we offered one, and clearly preferred the real deal. He never missed the paci
blogger / persimmon / 1231 posts
@ElbieKay: @Mama Bird: that's how my first was! I just don't have the time now with two to snuggle/nurse/rock her to sleep so I'm trying to figure out if it's worth ditching it it not.
honeydew / 7230 posts
My kids gave up their pacis around 4 months. Same time we gave up swaddling. Now I wish they would take their pacis because the only thing that soothes them is nursing (usually 3-4 times per night for each of them!).
pineapple / 12566 posts
DS gave up his by 6 months, DD by 3 months. On the one hand it was nice to never have to deal with breaking the habit, on the other, I would have loved to be able to count on the paci for sleeping or grocery store meltdowns or traveling in the car. Some babies just don't seem to like it need it as much as others.
pomegranate / 3314 posts
My daughter never really took to it and eventually just sucked her thumb, which of course brings its own problems.
blogger / persimmon / 1231 posts
@twodoghouse: @lamariniere: thanks ladies! I think she in no way wants to give it up, it's me that does since she's not coordinated enough to keep it in her mouth
@meredithNYC: the thumb...so handy! But yeah, hard to break. I would love for her to suck on her hand or fingers but I know I sucked my thumb for a long time when I was little and needed braces 
persimmon / 1385 posts
We ditched it for sleep when we sleep trained at about 5ish months. It would fall out and wake him up in the first light sleep phase, so it was actually taking him longer to fall asleep with the dang thing than it was without it. We still use it when he's super fussy during the day (rare) and when he's in the car seat (multiple times per day), and it hasn't seemed to confuse him any.
pomegranate / 3053 posts
Yep, with our second he just kept spitting it out so that was it. It was gone so early I can't even remember when that happened. My oldest is still a thumb sucker and he's 5.5...
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
We did, but LO was never really interested in it like other kids. Between 4-6 months (teething) she started "chewing" on it and then we took it away fro good since she was getting teeth.
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