My child has been sleeping well with the aid of the pacifier. I feel it is about time to remove this prop. Any ideas on how to go about this?
Many babies rely on dummies to soothe them to sleep.
Unfortunately plenty of times the dummy dislodges and
the exhausted parent ends up searching for it in the
dark. Sometimes it makes sense to keep extras and insert
one than to fight over sleep. But since you want your
baby to give it up altogether, here are some things
you can try to wean your child. (There will come a time
when many sleep props will have to be weaned anyway).
Pacifier use will take some time.
The quickest way is the cold turkey way which will mean
the pacifier 'disappears' and you on your part have
to be determined that come what may, you will not make
it magically appear and let your child have it when
she wakes up. Going about this way will take a few days
as she will learn to fall asleep without it. If excess
crying is difficult to handle then you will want to
go the gradual way, which will take longer. Let your
drowsy child have her dummy but before she drifts into
deep sleep (heavy breathing, rapid eye movement etc)
remove the pacifier immediately and put her down to
sleep. When she wakes up, give your child ten minutes
and if she still doesn't settle, give her the pacifier
but once again remove it before she goes into the deep-sleep
mode.
Over the next few days or weeks, shorten the amount
of time for pacifier use - the day will come when your
child will realize that it is not worth the trouble,
that she can sleep nicely without this prop.
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