The thing about the paci is...

I love that Sadie will now take a pacifier. It's made so many things so much easier. But the thing about the paci is that she's not real good at it. She'll suck on it, but often you have to hold it in her mouth or she'll inevitably spit it out. This isn't a big deal if she's sound asleep...but if she's not she'll wake up immediately when she realizes there's nothing in her mouth to suck on.

Usually by this age, actually way before this age, babies have enough dexterity that they can put the paci back in their mouth. That would be nice, I could lay her down in her bed, she could grab the paci and stick it in her mouth and suck herself to sleep...maybe someday, but not yet.

So, am I a bad mom that I want to rig up some device to keep the paci in her mouth? A friend told me that when she would swaddle her babies when they were real little, she would just wrap the swaddler thing over their mouth to hold the paci in. So, I'm not crazy...or the first mom to consider something like this. I got the idea the other night when I laid Sadie on the couch and kind of angled her downward, putting a pillow up against the paci to keep it in her mouth, she fell right asleep.

I was thinking some kind of elastic that's not real tight, so that it can fall out if her mouth is agape with sleep, but tight enough to keep it in there so she'll stay asleep. This would eliminate the need for me to sleep with one hand against her face at night so she'll keep sucking. Is this dangerous? Should I just tough it out? I am desperate. Any other ideas?

UPDATE: I did it, and it sorta works...at night. It didn't work too well at nap time once she realized I wasn't there she woke up. But she did nap for 10-15 minutes! See?


We'll keep working on it!