We took Avery's paci away.
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| We took the paci away from THIS sweet little face. Can you believe it? We're mean. |
It all started 4 nights ago. We decided to get rid of the paci by the time Aves turned 2. Her bday is on May 8th. So...the time has arrived. We limited paci-use strictly to bedtime/naptime about, ohhh i dont know...6 or 8 months ago with no problem. During the day, she never cared about it, but the second it was time to go nightnight, she was alllllll about her beloved paci. And it was PRESH to hear her ask for it so sweetly. And then adorrrrable to walk in her room in the mornings, watch her jump up with such excitement, chunk her paci into the covers and say with such joy, "paci, bed!!" (which meant...it was time to get up and she knew paci couldn't come w/her. cutie.) I've been kind of nervous about the weaning process....and everyone told me it would be fine. And I know that it TOTALLY will be. But, OH MY FRIGGIN GOODNESS. It is HEART-WRENCHING to listen to your child cry/yell/whine/sob everytime she gets in her bed. It staaaanks to tell her "NO" when she asks so sweetly for the thing that has soothed her to sleep for her entire lifetime. It hurts my heart to think that she is so sad! Believe me people, I am fully aware that the child will be completely fine and will get completely used to her new paci-less life. But, right now, it makes me want to cry. I don't actually cry about it. But I almost do sometimes. Because it is straight up sad. Can I just give it back? Nobody has to know...
6 comments:
Awwww... Aves. She makes you so sad because she is just so stinkin cute and gentle sweet. If she would just be meaner, it would be easier :) jk. So question from a non-Mom, if you had to do it all over again, knowing how hard it is on you and her to get rid of the paci, would you give your child a paci as a baby? Serious question. So many people are pro-paci but for me, since you know how hard it may be to wean them off it some time or another, why give it to them in the first place? Again, non-mom so that says a lot :)
Tori! That's SUCH a good question. To be honest, I didn't want Avery to be a paci baby. But it was a great way to soothe her need to suck....and so she became a paci-baby. With Cameron, we gave her the paci early, but then took it away the SECOND she seemed uninterested. She was paci-free from maybe 2 months to 4 or months. Now she's on it again. I honestly think it's kind of worth it if your baby is one that really needs to suck for soothing purposes. I found it super helpful. They may have been perfectly fine without it, but I definitely don't think they're any worse for it. We tried to be careful about not offering the paci as the first option any time the girls cried or whined (so they didn't become obsessed). Ours were always pretty good about being just fine without it. For Aves, it's just nighttime. With Cameron, the only thing I'll do differently is to try and break her from it a little earlier (maybe). Because, although this is rough, in the grand scheme of things, it is SO minor and SO short-lived. The benefits outweigh the costs by about 8 million. So...there's my answer. Baby #3 (whenever he/she becomes a reality) will most likely be offered a paci just like the other 2 :)
We are about to be at the same phase with Maddox!! We took it away months ago during the day and he has done great but he still gets his paci during nap and bedtime!! I know we only have a little while left to sleep peacefully through the night before Addison arrives so I'm not wanting to rock the boat with his sleep schedule but I know we will need to take this step and get rid of the paci completely before too long!! Hopefully she moves past it SOON!!! I know its so hard to see our sweet babies so sad about something like wanting their paci!!
I'm working towards that with Bentley, too! (although I don't think we'll have as much trouble because I haven't made a big deal out of it) & just be glad it's not a thumb! That would be 10x harder!!
Jesse still has his but only at night time (and naps at home). He just turned 2 in late March. We thought about taking it away for growing teeth worries but the pediatric dentist says it can't have that effect until permanent teeth come in around age 6 and even then it's not physically bad unless it's used a lot. Same thing for thumb sucking. So we're not so worried about it anymore. Our main stress was what OTHER people would think about his paci use and I've just filed it under "you ain't his momma." To each their own as it usually goes in parenting!
Totallllllly with you on the "to each his own thing" That's the only way to be when you're a mom I think :) To be honest, one of the main reasons we wanted to break it is that we travel SO often on the weekends, and Aves can't sleep in the car well because she always drops her paci...and we can't pick it up for her...she then she can't go back to sleep...and then she cries...and wakes up cameron...and everyone gets sleep deprived....blah blah. a little selfish maybe? but I think we'll all be better for it once the breaking is done :) who knows. sometimes i kind of wish i had never taken it in the first place, but now i can't give in...you know how that goes. :)
and yes danielle, i am thankful i don't have to cut avery's thumb off to break her of thumb-sucking ;)
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