Who's the dummy now?
My baby sucks.
But I mean that in the oral gratification sense of the word. From Teg's birth three things have been true about her: 1) she always looks alert 2) she doesn't like to sleep and 3) she wants to suck on things - ALL the time.
These factors combined meant that from week 1, Teg has needed to suck on things in order to fall asleep. Enter the dummy/pacifier/binkie/cork! For a while, this was magic, but recently it has become a problem. She needs the dummy to get to sleep, but then she loses it and promptly wakes up again. I have spent up to 2 hours playing "catch the cork" while she has been trying to go to sleep! So two night ago I reached a point where I thought that this dummy was now hindering rather than helping her: yes, it helped her fall asleep, but once she lost it - her inability to self-soothe meant she couldn't stay asleep. So I thought we'd "suck it up", so to speak, and try to kick the habit cold turkey. The books say that by 12 weeks babies can find their own fingers and suck on them - but 4 weeks of her not being able to sleep without the dummy seems way too long...
Bad idea! Welcome back angry baby! my poor child screamed and screamed and screamed inconsolably for hours before exhausting herself, and the following day was unable to take any proper naps. In desperation before facing the evening routine once again I called the Australian pediatric sleep help line (how cool is it that they have one of those!) and begged for advice. Her suggestion? Keep the dummy. WE'll need it for the long trip home, and in the mean time Teg needs the sleep and is too little to try any cry-it-out methods.
So happy baby has her cork back, and is sleeping again. And would you know it - yesterday she found her fingers and started sucking her thumb!!!!! She's not quite coordinated enough to repeat that trick at will - but talk about timing! So who's the dummy now?
P.S. Ha ha. I saw a risque little baby outfit last week which I WISH I had the courage to put on teg. It says "mother sucker"....
But I mean that in the oral gratification sense of the word. From Teg's birth three things have been true about her: 1) she always looks alert 2) she doesn't like to sleep and 3) she wants to suck on things - ALL the time.
These factors combined meant that from week 1, Teg has needed to suck on things in order to fall asleep. Enter the dummy/pacifier/binkie/cork! For a while, this was magic, but recently it has become a problem. She needs the dummy to get to sleep, but then she loses it and promptly wakes up again. I have spent up to 2 hours playing "catch the cork" while she has been trying to go to sleep! So two night ago I reached a point where I thought that this dummy was now hindering rather than helping her: yes, it helped her fall asleep, but once she lost it - her inability to self-soothe meant she couldn't stay asleep. So I thought we'd "suck it up", so to speak, and try to kick the habit cold turkey. The books say that by 12 weeks babies can find their own fingers and suck on them - but 4 weeks of her not being able to sleep without the dummy seems way too long...
Bad idea! Welcome back angry baby! my poor child screamed and screamed and screamed inconsolably for hours before exhausting herself, and the following day was unable to take any proper naps. In desperation before facing the evening routine once again I called the Australian pediatric sleep help line (how cool is it that they have one of those!) and begged for advice. Her suggestion? Keep the dummy. WE'll need it for the long trip home, and in the mean time Teg needs the sleep and is too little to try any cry-it-out methods.
So happy baby has her cork back, and is sleeping again. And would you know it - yesterday she found her fingers and started sucking her thumb!!!!! She's not quite coordinated enough to repeat that trick at will - but talk about timing! So who's the dummy now?
P.S. Ha ha. I saw a risque little baby outfit last week which I WISH I had the courage to put on teg. It says "mother sucker"....
posted by Bronwyn at 4:13 am
3 Comments:
Hey Bron,
What is your email address?
Hayley
bronwynlea@gmail....
Will mail and say hi/touch base in a few days. Hope your time with your family down under is going well.
Chat soon.
Hayley
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