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This Pacifier Sleep Hack Is Hilariously Effective

It pays to have a backup.
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By Anisa Arsenault, Associate Editor
Published January 8, 2018
Baby sleeping in crib surrounding by pacifiers
Image: The Motherload

Regardless of your stance on pacifiers, you probably have a hard stance on sleep. As in, you want to be getting more of it. Allow us to point you in the direction of UK mom Laura Gerson’s crib hack.

In a Facebook post to The Motherload parenting site, Gerson explained that she noticed something while watching her daughter, Amelia, on the baby monitor: Often times, her crying immediately subsided once she grabbed hold of the pacifier she’d dropped, effectively soothing herself back to sleep. The problem? Sometimes the pacifier was out of reach, or fell down the side of the crib. Gerson had a solution: Give Amelia a lot more.

Image: The Motherload

“99 percent of the time she feels around, finds a dummy, sticks it in and she’s sorted!” Gerson says, explaining that she started the routine when Amelia was 3 months old. “Haven’t had to go into her [room] for about 8 months now.”

Aware that an overreliance on pacifiers isn’t the best sleep habit, Gerson shared the following with Babble:

“Amelia isn’t a total [pacifier] fiend and doesn’t even have them through the day, really—but it really soothes her having them through the night, and having more in there makes it easy for her to find one, and hold one (or two).”

Sometimes you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do. If you have questions about when you should—or shouldn’t—be using pacifiers, check out our guide on their pros and cons.

Please note: The Bump and the materials and information it contains are not intended to, and do not constitute, medical or other health advice or diagnosis and should not be used as such. You should always consult with a qualified physician or health professional about your specific circumstances.

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