Dummy advice please

[Loving being a mum]

Hi all,
At 5 weeks old we introduced a dummy and it has made such a difference to our little girl and our family. HOWEVER: She is now 4 months old and sleeps quite well overnight, 1-2 feeds and maybe once or twice just replacing the dummy. In the day though she is just catnaps and l can't resettle her for anything. Is this due to the dummy falling out, a stage or should l go to sleep school or remove the dummy. I really don't think she would even think about sleeping without the dummy. Also can you tell me at what age they can replace the dummy.

Thanks for your help
Chris

[Visitor7]

I would be trying all options first before you consider sleep school.
At 4 months babies go through a major growth spurt, so it could be that.
During the day, have you tried being in the room and looking out for the signs of when she's starting to stir, so before she wakes, and trying to gently resettle her. I used to have to do this Nina. She's wake up exactly 40 minutes after she initially went to sleep. So 30 minutes into her sleep, I'd go in her room, wait for the signs, and gently pat her back to sleep. It didn't take long for her to start sleeping for longer than 40 minutes.

[Loving being a mum]

Hi,
Wow- the beauty of the internet, such a quick response, thank you so much. Yes my little one is pretty much spot on 40minute cycles, so l could do that. I usually hear her starting to wake up and go in and replace the dummy, but it may be too late by then. I will start timing her and be more aware of how long the sleep cycles are.
Did your daughter have a dummy?
Thanks for your help,
Chris

[jamakin]

Hi,
i agree with Jodi it could be a growth spurt causing a unsettled period..
my Ds has always had a dummy and at around 3-4months my MCHN told me i should get rid of it before it causes problem ie waking 10 times a night to pop it back in and before they get too attached... but there was no way ds would sleep without it! so i just had to put up with the night wakings, i figured at least i could just replace the dummy and he would be fine and go back to sleep, if i didnt have the dummy what would i be doing??? rocking him? feeding? have him up crying? it suited us to keep the dummy and now i leave a few in the cot and he puts it back in his own mouth
you just need to do what is right for you and your baby. every baby is differant and there are no set 'rules'. and at her age she prob still needs feeds overnight.
as for the day sleeps... can you resettle her when she wakes? could she be hungry? it could be the dummy but its up to you if you get rid of it or not.. i'm sure what ever it is it will get better for you as she gets older, it sounds like you are doing a great job!
sorry if im not much help, hopefully someone has some better advice for you.
all the best.

[Virgo]

Just for the record...all babies sleep a 40 minute cycle...and you'll find the majority of babies cat nap during the day right up until they are around 6 months old. My daughter in now 6 months old and has just started solids and only now is being put on a specific routine which encourages her to sleep for more than 40 minutes. It did involve a little sooking (not control crying) but eventually she herself started to sleep longer...she now will usually take at least ONE 1.5 hour nap a day.. So don't fret if your 4 month old isn't napping for longer. AS for the dummy...I'm a fan and my daughter still has one for bed. It's usually not a problem at night (she puts herself back to sleep) and I only give her the dummy around 5-6am if she wakes which satisfies her until 7am when I get her out of bed for a feed.

So don't rush to get rid of the dummy..trust your baby will get rid of it when they are ready to and you are willing to. As for sleep school....I wouldn't worry about it unless your baby is NOT sleeping at all during the day. I can't recommend the following book enough as it saved my sanity...Sheyne Rowley's Dream Baby Guide. But it only is for babies from 6 months and onwards.

[Loving being a mum]

Thank you for all your suggestions. My daughter just loves that dummy, and l wouldn't know where to begin resettling her in the night without it, nothing else cuts it. I appreciate your down to earth attitudes about dummys and information about developmental stages. That's great to know, that at 6 months your baby had longer sleeps. I will certainly look the 'Dream baby guide' book up. That was also cute about leaving more than 1 dummy in the bed. Thanks again for all your encouragement.

[snowchickie79]

Our DD is 10 months now and has a dummy at bedtime only. As soon as I pop it in her mouth and walk to her room her little eyes start rolling and I know that she is ready for dream land. I too found she was waking during the night for her dummy and we also used to have to get up and give it back to her. Once she was old enough we just started putting multiple dummies in her bed and she finds one and puts it back in.

One thing we found which has worked wonderfully is that DD was pulling her dummy out trying to hold it for comfort. So I started giving her 2 dummies in bed. 1 in her mouth and the other to hold. I found that she was waking up about 1.5 hours after going down for her final big sleep (usually around 7-7.30pm) and I worked out she was waking and if she still had her 2 dummies she'd just resettle but if she didn't then she'd wake very unsettled and it would take me 1hr+ to get her back down. Now I just go into her room around 8-8.30pm (i'm about to do it actually) and make sure she either still has her dummies or I place 2 of them in front of her face so when she wakes she just grabs them and resettles again. Hence her having about 5 or 6 dummies in her bed (If i cannot find any I just put two clean ones in) This has worked a dream! We had ALOT of troubles with her waking like this and we couldn't work out what was going on. Haven't had it happen in weeks now.

One of our friends 2 children both did the same thing with having 2 dummies and I don't mind her having it for comfort as it's only during sleep times anyway. I figure I'll leave her with dummies for as long as she needs (within reason though).

If it's any help our DD was like you described at 4mo and i put it down to a growth spurt. DD now sleeps from 7/7.30pm till about 8am every night and has 2 x 1hr naps during the day. She only dropped her 3rd nap about 4 weeks ago when we had 1.5 months of teething (not fun!). Good luck with your little bundle of joy and just do what feels best for you and your baby.