Hi there. My 18 week old son has occassionally been crying out in his sleep and as soon I put his pacifier back in he is quiet the rest of the night. Has anyone else experienced this? I know some recommend to not rush in immediately, to try to let him comfort himself, but he is not awake, he is really still asleep and if I can catch it before he wakes himself up completely, should I? Thanks!
We saw the pediatrician today for my son's 4 month check up and he said it was most likely his nervous system continuing to develop as this typically happens around 6 months, but can happen earlier. He said that wasn't most likely anything I can do and to continue to soothe him through it. Thanks for the responses!
Personally, I would go in and take care of whatever he needed. In this case, his paci. He has only been in this world for 4.5 months, so he is still adjusting.
Plus, the more sleep he has, the more sleep you have. At that age, if my kids got the the awake point, they would want to be awake for a while, happy as clams, but I was still missing out on sleep.
I'm not an expert, but I totally did what you are doing for awhile.....can't remember right now what the age is, but in the What to Expect the First Year book, it mentioned the approximate age for being able to self-comfort. I would go in and give my son his paci, make sure he was ok, maybe just look at him a couple minutes when he was only 18 weeks old! I don't see the harm in it. Once he was older and could be expected to comfort himself, I stopped.....and so did he, lol. Can't remember exactly, but I think he was around 4-6 months old when I stopped running in. It didn't last long once he figured out how to find his paci in his sleep. :)
One of my daughters has been doing this since birth (she's now almost 18 mos). She does it once or twice a night, and only cries for a minute at the most. Our doctor told us that it is nightmares and is completely normal. We have never gone it to soothe her and I am very glad. She never fully wakes up and is back asleep within a minute. If you go in, you could be setting yourself up for a habit that will be hard to break.
My daughter took a binky for sleep and my son did not. My daughter was very attached to hers. We ended up getting more sleep each night when she could figure out how to put it back in herself. You might laugh, but to increase the likelihood that she could find her binky in her bed in the middle of the night, I would leave several in her bed. :-) She eventually outgrew the need for it and adopted a "lovie" to sleep with. If you can extend the time you wait before you go into your sons room, it may give him sometime to find the binky himself.
Good luck!
My daughter does this several times a week. I don't even bother getting up anymore. Even if she wakes up she picks her paci up and goes right back to sleep.
I think he needs to try to settle himself down. Going to sleep (and staying asleep) are learned behaviors (see Gary Ezzo's book Babywise). If you intervene every time he cries out, you interrupt his learning process...Which is fine, if you want to continue to get up during the night to tend to him, for years to come!
Of course! Poor little guy. I'm not popular with my views but I never let my son cry it out and to much of everyone dismay he is so independent sometimes it hurts my feelings.
Hi there,
I have a daughter that will be 1 in February. She has alway been a great sleeper but there were times she would start to cry in her sleep. She didn't take a pacifier so if she actually woke I didn't have anything to give her to soothe her and put her back to sleep. I started by patting or rocking her but when that didn't seem to soothe her either I would just stand around the corner and watch and pray for her to have a peaceful sleep. The first night or two she did this my husband had me walk away and promised to loving stand there as I would. (He knew I'd me more likely to cave in a pick her up.) By the third night she had picked up this little blanket in her crib for comfort and to this day it is a comforting thing for her at night and when mom and dad aren't around.
Whatever you think works best for you is always the best thing. But my suggestion is to let him figure out how to console himself (as long as he isn't hungry, dirty or hurting). Another suggestion is to put him in bed awake (if you aren't already doing this). When he goes to bed tired but awake and he falls asleep naturally (without assistance) he'll be more familiar with his surrounding should he wake himself crying.
Enjoy every moment...even the hard ones:) You are blessed!
I would caution you to immediately put the pacifier back in his mouth. I think it would be best for your son (and you) if you allowed him to work it out on his own. Especially since you mentioned he is definitly still asleep. He is probably going through an active sleep cycle and will calm down on his own. We have two daughters, now 6 and almost 5. We used the Babywise technique on and I am so greatful we did. This method emphasises self soothing and cautions sleep-props. Our first daughter was sleeping through the night at 10 weeks and our second at 9 weeks. Best thing we ever did. HTH
my daughter does this almost every night and my husband thinks she just having nightmares( about what im not sure maybe bottles that have teeth???) but i would try to let him comfort himself at first if he starts to wake then take care of him.
I REALLY don't suggest putting the paci back in - especially if he's not fully awake. If you do, you'll be rushing in there every night, several times, until you finally get rid of the pacifier. They make noises in their sleep and they're not awake so let him be :-)
