Hey there!
Are you struggling with sleepless nights because of your little one's constant awakenings?

If your little one is over 4 months old, uses a pacifier and is having trouble sleeping, it might be time to say goodbye to the pacifier.

As a newborn, the pacifier is amazing for helping meet that strong need to suck some babies have. As they approach 4 months though, things start to change with your child’s sleep and physical development.

You may have started giving the pacifier at sleep times as a way to get your baby drowsy and to fall asleep and now it seems like they can’t live without it!

How Does Using a Pacifier Contribute to Night Wakings?

While it can help babies become drowsy and transition to the next stage of sleep, they may end up relying on it to stay asleep all night long.

This can cause multiple awakenings, leaving them (and you!) feeling unrested in the morning.

So you might be asking how using a pacifier can lead to night wakings? Isn't it supposed to help them sleep?

Let me break it down for you.

When your child is sleeping at night, they go through different sleep cycles that last around 90 minutes. During each cycle, they transition through different stages of sleep, including REM- Rapid Eye Movement or dream sleep and non-REM- deep sleep.

If your child constantly needs the pacifier to soothe themselves back to sleep during partial awakenings between cycles, it can be a vicious cycle.

The pacifier gets them to that "drowsey" state which is actually the first stage of sleep. When they get into a deep sleep, the pacifier usually pops out of their mouth. As they cycle through sleep and come back up to the peak of a sleep cycle and are partially awake, they will be looking for that pacifier to get them drowsy and back to sleep again.

If you're dealing with this, you need to know- it's not normal for your child to keep waking up all night long. It doesn't have to be this way...

But don't worry, there's hope!

If they don't use the pacifier to get to sleep, then how will they get to sleep?

Babies are so smart and if they want to suck on something, they can learn to suck on their fingers to self sooth.

They might roll around in the crib to get in a comfortable position, thump on the mattress, move their legs up and down or their head side to side.

These are all self soothing behaviors that they control. Each child will develop their own way of self soothing if given the chance!

If your little one is under 12 months, they shouldn't have a lovie or a blanket in the crib with them, but if they are over 12 months, a lovie or a blanket is something they can control in the crib and can give them comfort to sooth themselves back to sleep.

Once they learn to self sooth without using a pacifier, they may even babble themselves back to sleep. With a little practice, they can sleep a full 11-12 hours without the pacifier.

I usually suggest parents stop using it at around 4 months.

But, if your little one is older, and you find yourself here, just take a minute and reflect on why you're reading about this subject in the first place?

Let's figure out what's going on first.

Have you been noticing any issues lately? If the pacifier is causing trouble? If so, it might be time to stop using it.

So when it's time to say bye-bye to the paci, how do you do it?

It's pretty simple, really: Just throw it in the trash can.

The biggest thing is that you stay committed to no more pacifier.
If your child is young, 12 months and under, there is not reason to try and reason with them...they can't developmentally do that yet, so your commitment and consistency to no more pacifier is key.

Now, if you're feeling a little unsure about throwing that thing away, check out my Baby Sleep Program for 4-16 months. I walk parents through how to confidently handle the sleep training process when there's no more pacifier involved.

For toddlers between 12-36 months, you can introduce a stuffed animal or a "lovey" blanket along with removing their pacifier. Let your child latch onto the stuffed animal and after a few nights, remove the pacifier altogether. If you need more help for your toddler (17 months-2.5) I can walk you through everything with my Toddler Sleep Program.

But what about older children, like 3-5 year olds?
It's important to have a clear conversation with them about how they're such a big kid now and they don't need a pacifier anymore.
My Young Child Sleep Program is perfect if you're trying to drop your 3-5 year olds pacifier and help them to sleep all night in their own big kid bed.

Allot of children have a Wubbanub that they love. If your child has a Wubbanub, simply cut the pacifier off of it.

If throwing it away seems too harsh for you and you want to try a pacifier weaning system, go for it!