Night time binky weaning

[riaketty]

Pysch and I have decided that sleeping more than 4 hours per night will help the mood swings. (bipolar) The problem is, Tamsyn wakes up about once an hour because her natural sleep cycles, and because she loses her binky. All it takes is me running in there, popping her binky back in her mouth, and she's out again... but that means I have to get up and it takes me 10-20 min to get back to sleep.

At night she will sometimes lose it through the slats of her crib. Her room is semi-dark... I do think if it was light enough that she could see her binky, she would grab it... that's something I would like to try. Then I would just have to go in when it's not in reach...

She is in the process of getting attached to a stuffed penguin and she likes carting around a blanket... I could probably make sure it was the same blanket to give her that attachment as well.

Co-sleeping is not an option b/c of my medications. She is not nursing. She is 15 months.

Ideas? My plan of action was to start offering her penguin at nap time instead of the binky, but I see a lot of crying/fussing in our future. Any way to make this more gentle would be appreciated.

ETA: Also, any ideas that involve NOT taking away her comfort object (binky) would be appreciated. I really hate this... giving her a comfort thing and then taking it away, but I can't think of how to (safely) let her continue to have it.

[Emmery'sMom]

I know one mom who puts a binky in every corner of the crib so her DD can always find one, and another mom who hooked a measuring cup on the top of the crib and filled it with binkies before bed each night.

[Tilia]

Yes, I used to put a few binkies in the crib each night. On each side of DD so she could reach out for one if she rolled over. She started to remember to reach in her sleep.

[Kiwiontheloose]

can you attach the binky to a corner of the blanket or would that be dangerous? we are anticipating binky weaning soon and to get DD attached to another object that isn't the binky I have got a soft piece of fabric (small - about handkerchief sized so it doesn't go over her face and smother her) and attached the binky to it. that way she has the binky in her mouth and the cloth is right there so she associates it with sleep. also its easier for her to find.

[LadyCatherine185]

Can you have a DP take over at least part of the night? I also like the PP's idea of having several binkies in the crib with her.

[beebalmmama]

I would also try putting several binkies in the crib with her. We co-slept so I didn't have this issue, although still had several nights of me scrambling to find it.

Otherwise with ds we started to wean him from the binky at naps to begin with. He was older though, about 2 yrs. He didn't take to another snuggle thing, But if your dd is showing interest I would start with the penguin or blanket for naps and see how it goes.