7 Month Old Pacifier Dependency

by Elizabeth
(NY)

My daughter is a little over 7 months and was sleeping well at night but lately it has been getting worse. I use to have to go in and give her the binky once maybe twice and lately she has been wanting it more and more and I'm exhausted.

How do I get her to stop wanting it at night? She never has it when she is awake. The only time she gets it is if we are out and she is fussy and I know she is tired and at nap and bed time.

Please help!

Baby Help Line:

7 Month Baby Wants Pacifier At Night All The Time

Your daughter is just going through a stage, and has got used to the Pacifier being a comforting thing when she is tired.

Sometimes however, pacifiers are used in place of what baby really needs, she may be hungry, and going through a growth spurt, she may be teething and uncomfortable. She has obviously started to associate her pacifier as her comfort thing, which can be a good if she can find it herself! I would doubt she is waking because she has lost the pacifier, she would be waking anyway, with some sort of discomfort or need.

Having a baby is one of the most exhausting times, and disrupted sleep is par for the course. Unfortunately it is a bit of a shock when a baby that was sleeping well, starts waking in the night again. (But most do - sometimes I think that is one of the most well kept serets among all "sleep experts".)

Many parents want their baby to use the pacifier at night, as they often settle quicker and you can get back to bed. Some parents feed baby back off to sleep, or pat them. But either way, you can't stop a baby waking in the night when they need you, either to provide a feed, or some comfort. It is your choice whether you wean her off the pacifier and try other ways of soothing her off to sleep, but you are still going to be sleep deprived I'm afraid!

At her age, she should be able to learn to find the binky herself. I atually put like 10 pacifiers in the crib of my kids at around this age, and it did help a bit.

Don't worry, she will be unlikely to be using a pacifier when she becomes a teenager - although I do know one who does! At this age, it is hard to break a habit she is growing familiar with, and the older she gets the more she is learning to associate comfort with the pacifier.

If you decide you want to do away with it altogether, you can read about two ways to break the pacifier dependence here.

Hoping you get some good night's sleep again soon,

Annie

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