(blurry, but I don't have many pics with the pacifier)I cringed. I ran to Q and told him that TODAY Gooner was finished with the pacifier during daylight hours. I didn't want to go cold turkey, it seemed cruel. She hadn't been needing it as much anyway. The first day wasn't so fun. It might have been harder on me than her, but we made it! She cried a lot and seemed genuinely confused as to why I wasn't following our routine and putting in the plug. She found her thumb, I shuddered, and we survived. Naps were terrible and she cried for what felt like hours - which was only maybe ten minutes - and finally fell asleep with her bear in her face.
Day Two was amazing. She didn't need her thumb OR her pacifier. There were a few glances, but all in all she thrived.
Day Three proved that the pacifier NEVER existed. She'd clearly moved on.
A few days later, the pacifier was gone at night. It was amazingly easy because she is so young. I am so glad that I didn't wait until she was older. Ugh, it would be so much harder to hear her yelling MAMA from her crib. OR, FORBID she were older and we had the fairy conversation and I'm cutting holes. She sleeps so much better without that thing. There is nothing to fall out and wake her up. I love it! The pediatrician told me that I was NOT to use the pacifier past 3 months, but I felt like Gooner still needed to suck. At 7 months I feel that she is ready to be finished. I feel that every mother needs to make her own decision about what is right for her child. At the same time I feel there is a cusp and kids walking in Wal-Mart with a paci hanging out disturbs me. What do you think?
20 comments:
Makes me wanna go rip out Bubba's since he's napping with it at age 1...seriously though - I guess now is as good a time as any. Maybe I'll start tomorrow with his first nap...that way, I'll get one more night of good sleep :-)
Adios pacifier! LOL!
Yay Mom! Way to go Goooner!!!
Aww. Great job Gooner.
Colt still has his paci, he gets it only and night and nap times, which was our rule of thumb from the beginning. I also take it with me as back up when I go to the store or somewhere odd.
My aunt cut the tip of my little cousins paci a little each day and eventualy there wasn't enough for him to suck on so he was like, guess I'm done. I think I'll try that. I'm not into fariy's either, but not freaking out over him still taking in while he sleeps. Guess it doesn't bother me and until I'm convicted I'll just keep it going.
I'm so glad it wasn't too rough on either of you. My kids were never binky babies, so I didn't have to deal with that. I've heard horror stories from some people though.
I babysat a little girl who at age 3 still wanted (not needed) a binky at naptime. I just refused to give it to her while she was at my house and never had a problem with it. I think by age 1, a child can find other things to pacify themselves. But like I said before, I never had to deal with it, so it's just my opinion.
We tried giving Sophia a paci when she was a baby to "quiet" her (acid reflux = cry 24/7). She hated them. We'd give one to her in public if she was fussy (hungry) to hold her over til I could get somewhere to breastfeed, but she was never big into it. I'm glad because I too cringe when I see a kid walking around with a paci hanging out of their mouth.
You're such a great mommy. As a future Speech Pathologist, I must say I'm very proud of you. And Gooner! She is a trooper! :) Here are some related links that talk about how sippy cups may also be related to speech delays. The second link provides a better alternative for them.
http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Sippy-Cups-Slur-Speech12feb02.htm
http://mommyspeechtherapy.com/?p=12
Okay, so I have been talking myself up to end our paci days too.. I do NOT want to have a 5 year old with a paci or thumb in her mouth! I think I may give it another month and then I'll wean her from it! She looks so darn cute with it in her mouth! haha! Glad it wen so smoothly for you!!!
Ahhh! You're wonder woman! My little is about a year old, and he still loves his binky at nap/bed time. I won't let him have it during the day, but he is a huge binky/blanket kid. I need to get him "off it" though, because I kind of have a feeling he might end up with some speech issues (I think his frenulum is kind of short, but it's just a hunch...never had a pedi address it.) So anyway, maybe if we start now...
Great Job!! I totally agree with you on the paci being totally weird in an older childs mouth.
good for you! mine did keep them for naps and bedtime until around age 2, but we never had any problems saying goodbye to them. (We did what Mo's aunt did and it was a complete non-issue.) I think toddlers (and older) who are walking around with pacifiers is gross--not to mention the tooth damage it will cause! Lawson hasn't needed one yet, and doesn't suck his thumb either. If he finds his thumb, I will replace it with the pacifier (can remove the pacifier later, not the thumb), but if he doesn't need either, I will be thrilled. :)
Good job!! Now please find the the 2-3 year old I saw in church last Sunday sucking on his pacifier and take it away. The kid had a full mouth of teeth and was talking, yet he still had a pacifier. I just don't get it. I may not be able to take my son's away at 7 months, but I'm definitely going to try and ween him off of it at 1 year. I've hated it from day 1, because as much as he loves it, it also falls out while he's sleeping and disturbs him.
She is such a cutie pie! I don't know anything about weening off a pacifier obviously, but at some point it is sort of weird to see an older child with a pacifier still in their mouth! I'm glad you talked about this and I'll keep this in mind when Connor gets older...I definately don't want a 2 year old with a paci!
that pic is adorable!!
we actually didn't do pacifiers with our boys and they're doing great! well, we let BabyBoy have it for a couple weeks when he came home from the NICU because that was all his sweet little self had for a little while=) but we agree, there's a point where they're too old for it (def high school, haha). =)
so cute=)!
I'm sure it was terrible, but nice work!
Way to go! We gave ours up too late with the 1stborn. He actually threw it after nap time when he was around 2ish and we seriously lost it. Hello, cold turkey. And, like you, it wasn't all that bad. All 3 boys really liked to suck, so I waited until about 1 yr. I found that a good blanket for all 3 really helped the comfort issues.
I never used bottles, so that wasn't an issue. I also didn't use sippy cups for very long. Actually started all 3 boys drinking from regular cups with help from about 6 mo on. (Sweet tea in KY was their first sip!) Speech issues are real, and I've noticed them with kids who still use sippy cups even after entering school.
The toughest thing to do is to make the decision and take the risks. Actually doing them isn't quite so bad! You're a joy..... and please, come to KY so I can squeeze that precious bundle! :) Mer
You all left such wonderful, inspiring, encouraging comments! And Mer, we really would love to come to Kentucky. It would be fun to meet up again!
yay! again, she is so stinkin' cute!
I'm SO HAPPY to hear of your success! My daughter is almost 5 months, and I'm seriously about ready to ditch the binky. She really needed it at first, but now it tends to ruin her good sleeping habits. For instance, she does GREAT at sleeping at night from 8p-5 or 6am, and then I'm up for 1-2 hours running up and down replugging her pacifier because she keeps spitting it out. GAH! She used to sleep better!
So anyway, thanks, I"ll be stopping back for encouragement if I lose my mind :)
They older they are, it only gets harder to break them from the pacifier! Mine had hers until right about her second birthday. Good for you for ending it already!
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