Parenting advice

[WiLdAtHeArT]

My son is three months old and incredibly cute (that's his picture to the left). My wife and I think he is addicted to his pacifier. At 6 or 7 weeks he was sleeping 6 or 7 hours a night consistently, but lately he is waking up every 2 or 3 hours - crying because he is not soothed by his pacifier.

We have read that to cure this, just make him quit cold turkey, letting him cry and cry and cry at night when he wakes up, which teaches him to soothe himself at night,and eventually he will sleep through the night without waking up and crying.

We tried it last night and it was tough to hear him wailing for 45 minutes.

Has anyone else had this problem or heard this advice? Are we doing the right thing? We'd rather have him not reliant on the pacifier for comfort, but we hate hearing him cry incessantly. :crazyeyes:

 

[Nikki]

My 2nd daughter never wanted a pacifier. She just didn't like it.

My 1st daughter was a different story though! She was ADDICTED to hers. I hated the thing, but it sure did come in handy when it came to shutting her up. :

We tried everything to get rid of it, but then the doctor told us that there's no need to worry unless they're like 3 and still needing it. She got rid of it when she was almost 3. All of a sudden one day, she just stopped putting it in her mouth, and so we tossed it in the trash. She did ask for it that night, but we told her that it was lost. Never had another problem!

Think about it....is the pacifier really THAT awful? It's a comfort/security item for a baby. And there was no longterm harm. Really, the only harm it can cause is maybe needing orthodontic work if they use one for too long. But most kids need some sort of orthodontic work anyways, so that's not a huge issue.

Kids grow up so fast. Don't fret too much about the paci. Enjoy your baby sucking away on his paci. One day you'll want those days back. I know I'd love to have my girls be babies agian....paci or no paci.

 

[4runner]

It's no big deal! Just hope he does'nt find his thumb now, because if he does, you'll wish he had kept the pacifier. :

 

[WiLdAtHeArT]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I get frustrated about the varying opinions on just about every subject of parenting. So many sources of conflicting information. As first-time parents it can be over-whelming. What I am getting from parents of three or four kids is that it really doesn't matter. Babies almost take care of themselves and it doesn't take a rigid set of rules to care for them properly. All babies are different and require mostly love, food and sleep.

Thanks again.

 

[Ana'riel]

I think it's horrible that people tell you to just let your baby cry! When babies cry and aren't given attention they will learn they aren't important.A pacifier is not so bad...I gave mine up at three because I decided I was a big girl and only babies had pacifiers, dsome of my friends said they gave it up when someone called them a baby. It's also much more likely that they'll give up a pacifier later than thier thumb. And sucking their thumb causes bad orthodontic problems, just asak my brother and sister. Anyway, thers a lot of differing opinions but please on't let your baby "cry it out" too much. It's NOT good for them

 

[Heidi Mighty Mo]

My story is similar to Nikki's. I said I would never use pacifiers.. but I had one in my first child's mouth before we even left the hospital! That kid wanted to nurse ALL the time and I simply could not do that...he was making me bleed!

He used his pacifiers until he started learning to walk and even by then he didn't use them as much. Once he started learning to walk, he began to take them out and leaving them around the house and I just picked them up threw them away as I found them. Within a week or so, they were all gone and he never even noticed.

My second child never wanted or needed one so that just wasn't an issue.

Pacifiers and not evil and I think as long as they can been weaned from them by a year old, it will be fine. You don't have to refuse them to have it at such a young age, chances are, they will grow out of it on their own by the time they start walking. Not all, but most.