And guess what. I did it. Yesterday. I really did!
It was scary, I won't lie.
I was worried about sleepless naps and sleepless nights and
a fussing and crying baby.
I was worried about sleepless naps and sleepless nights and
a fussing and crying baby.
My 18 month old Jacob really likes his pacifier. In fact, I would say it is more of an obsession than a like. It is in his mouth all night and I'm sure it would be in his mouth all day long if I let him.
I prepped myself for a handful of nightmarish days and nights. I thought about how I would handle any crying. I even made sure to get extra sleep the previous night so I'd have the patience to handle the situation.
You will never believe what happened when I put him down for his nap. I'm still in shock over it. NOTHING. That's right, nothing happened. No fussing, no crying, no short nap. Night time was almost the same. He talked to himself for a few extra minutes when falling asleep and woke up a little early the next morning but that's all. Crazy.
I'll give you an update of how things are going next week (cause I can't be this lucky!) and I'll tell you what I did to drop the pacifier.
Until then, wish me luck!
If you have a pacifier dropping story, feel free to share it!
Related Post:
Update on the dropped pacifier
I'll give you an update of how things are going next week (cause I can't be this lucky!) and I'll tell you what I did to drop the pacifier.
Until then, wish me luck!
If you have a pacifier dropping story, feel free to share it!
Related Post:
Update on the dropped pacifier
That's incredible. Congratulations to both of you.
ReplyDeleteMine quit the paci about a month old. She is a terrible thumb sucker though!. You can't take that away...
ReplyDeletewhy did your doc want you to drop it? my son is 18 months old next week and when he was about 11 months old, we dropped it to only while he is sleeping. Just recently he started asking for it all the time during the day but we have been pretty strong. It REALLY is a blessing at church though since its during his nap time ;) Im just wondering the when and whys....
ReplyDeleteJust like that, huh? Wow, you must've done something right. Way to go.
ReplyDeleteThe same thing happened to me! I was terrified to get rid of my son's pacifier out of fear that he'd be screaming at the top of his lungs non-stop. But once I got up the courage to get rid of it...nothing happened. It was like he didn't even notice. I was worried about nothing, lol!
ReplyDelete*Thanks so much for visiting my blog and following on Twitter as well. I'm following back!! ;)
xoxo
http://beautyandababy.blogspot.com/
The thought of it is always horrible. For my two kids, we did it with success. My son forgot his own at a friends house and I refused to bring out another one. We told him that we will bring it back when we go visiting again. It helped!!!
ReplyDeleteMy 5.5 month old daughter was using a pacifier as a sleep prop so we dropped it cold turkey. I was terrified. Basically the paci was critical for those first 5 months because it really helped calm her down. Slowly, it turned into a sleep prop and was the only way she would go to sleep. In the night, she would cry for it when she woke up. When we went in her room, she'd see us and open her mouth and put her head to the side and close her eyes...she just wanted the paci back so she could go to sleep. And this was happening 6-8 times a night!!! It wasn't good for her sleep (or ours!). We took it away cold turkey (and also took the swaddle away so she could find her thumb). The first night was AWFUL and then all of the naps the next day were pretty brutal as well...she would cry and I realized that I was also the one hooked on the paci because I loved the feeling of being able to do SOMETHING to help her...so I had to remind myself that I was helping her to learn to sleep on her own. We ended up swaddling her again because her arms just flailed around and weren't soothing her yet. But then she was ok. I would say it was two really tough days/nights, and now she sleeps without the pacifier. If she wakes up, she puts herself back to sleep. It was definitely the best thing we've done for her sleep!
ReplyDeletealicia - i am dealing with this with my 4 month old and wondering what you did during those times she was crying - did you leave her in her crib? pick her up and soothe? shush/pat? i agree - we are both hooked on it but i need to get some sleep and she's not waking up hungry!
Deletethanks!
leah
Congrats!! I remember with my first 2 children that rule was set--no matter what, no more pacifier after the 1st birthday. Then baby 3 came, and with her that rule went out the window!! LOL -She was on the pacifier for awhile--probably longer than what she should have been because she was so uncontrollably fussy without it!! Luckily, baby 4 dropped the pacifier on his own the day we brought him home from the hospital!! LOL
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome - congrats! I tried doing that last summer but i'm still nursing so pulling her off wasn't easy unless i could slip the paci in. We only use it for sleep or when she's sick. Keep us posted on the follow up
ReplyDeletefollowing u back from alexa hop. i did an alexa review for u. happy new yr
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome! Returning the love. What Alexa Blog Hop were you coming from btw? Left a review.. xoxo to you and yours! ~ Deana
ReplyDeleteGlad it all turned out well! Congratulations to you and your baby! I like your FB page and followed you on Twitter too! Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteCinthya, thanks for the congrats!
ReplyDeleteRMG,
ReplyDeleteYeah, I really was trying to avoid the dropping of the pacifier for the thumb, which has to do with my timing of dropping it. My oldest was a thumb sucker until age three and it was dropped miraculously after his tonsils were out. otherwise I think we'd still be working at it!
Kelly,
ReplyDeleteThere were several reasons for dropping it. I'll have to think about it more and write it all up with my pacifier blog post I'm working on. For now, what comes to mind is 1) teeth and jaw alignment. Some pediatric dentists and pediatricans say the pacifier after around 15 months (give or take, can't quite remember) will start to cause issues with teeth and jaw. Other say it won't cause issues until permanent teeth are in. I wasn't too concerned about this since my kids will likely all need braces anyway, but when the dentist looked at my 3 year old son's mouth and said he could tell he was a thumb sucker with his right hand because his jaw shape was changed--I was a little freaked out. But jaw and teeth can go back into position.
2) speech can be delayed. This is mainly with kids that have it throughout the day. But I think there is a possibility of speach being affected even if they suck on it all night because their mouth is used to forming a certain way.
3)The longer they have it, the more they get addicted and used to what feels 'normal' to them. Some kids I know who dropped it at 2 didn't even cry or anything, but it took them months to start sleeping normally again, simply because things didn't feel right.
REASONS TO KEEP IT (bc we're on the subject:)
1) you can calm or quite baby when you need to--church is a big one for me or when baby is sick
2) baby goes to sleep so well with it!
3) you can wait until they are older and understand what is going on and you can just have them toss it and you don't have to deal with their confusion over the change and any possible crying.
That's what comes to mind :)
Hey it's Clairity,
ReplyDeleteI don't think I did too much right (although I did a few things which I think helped), I think there was a lot of luck involved. Plus, he has had some additional struggles this past week--but there have been other factors involved like illness and teeth.
Rachel
Allycia,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad it was smooth sailing for you too! Thanks for the follow!
Rachel
Alicia,
ReplyDeleteThe pacifier is defiantly a sleep prop for many kids, to an extent it was for my son too. When he was a newborn he defiantly woke up because it fell out and we had to work with that. When he got older it was mainly an issue when he couldn't suck on it because he had a stuffy nose.
I have heard of many parents who have played the pacifier game with their kids for several months. I'm glad you guys took the plunge so all of you could finally get some sleep. Baby was suffering from sleep deprivation just as much as you guys!
Nekky,
ReplyDeleteIt seems like that thought of something is often worse than the actual thing, in many cases, huh?
Rachel
Melisa source,
ReplyDeleteThe pacifier is such a curse and blessing isn't it?
Rachel
Irene,
ReplyDeleteI used the pacifier a lot with extending sleep, and with pulling off right before bed to keep baby happy :) Many uses, too bad it often turns into a prop!
Rachel
QueensNYCMom,
ReplyDeleteThanks! happy new year to you too!
ARticle write up
ReplyDeleteI believe it was crunchy frugalista, and thanks!
Katya Kate
ReplyDeleteThanks! Happy new year to you too!
Congratulations!! I remember those days all too well..{yep, I have 5 children} Only one of my children was obsessed with her 'binky' and one day..I cut the nipple off and told her it was broken. She looked at it as said - "it broke mommy, it broken" I said yep it is and she continued on her merry ole way...of course she then found her thumb and that was another wonderful adventure:)
ReplyDeleteVisiting from Alexa Blog Hop...off to give your site a review:)
Hugs!
Dr. D
Stopping by from the Alexa Hop. Congrats on your success with going cold turkey, how lucky you are! I'm leaving a review too.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year
Saw your comment on my site from the Alexa Drop Hop, came to return the favor. Wrote a review... :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on losing the binkie as we called it in our house. The small person here was almost 3!! It was a happy/sad day for sure! We found them stashed all over the house long after we thought they were gone!! The sooner the better for sure!!
Hope to see you back soon!
Grandma Juice
www.gmajuice.bandrdesigns.com
Dr. Mommy, so sorry you had to go through dropping the pacifier and then had to deal with dropping the thumb later. No fun. stopped by your site and left you a comment. Thanks for the visit!
ReplyDeleteRachel
Thanks for stopping by vannapk1. Left you a review too.
ReplyDeleteRachel
Grandma Juice,
ReplyDeleteIt really is a good but sad day when the binkie goes. I thought I had found and put all of them away, but randomly my son walked by me the other day with one in his mouth. I freaked out a bit (bc I was worried my work would be undone) but he was fine. Left you a review also.
Rachel
Um, that is crazy is all I can say. Jacob is (was) obsessed with his pacifier! So...what is the recommended time frame from dropping a pacifier? I'm thinking I need to drop Liam's soon, he is almost 15 months, before he starts to become obsessed.
ReplyDeleteSharon,
ReplyDeleteAfter 12 and before 18 months seems to be a good time to drop it. Late enough that baby probably won't start sucking his thumb and soon enough that he doesn't become even more addicted to it (which seems to increase significantly after 18 months of time) or POSSIBLY have teeth/jaw issues from it.
Seems like the ideal time to drop it is when the decreased need for sucking happens for a short time between 13-14.5 months (is that the right time frame I told you previously, my brain is foggy right now from being up all night with sick jacob!).
Oh my, this is beyond encouraging to me. These are the things I ponder all the time and don't really know who to chat 'em over with....so glad to hear someone else's perspective. Yay!
ReplyDeleteIn motherhood, other perspectives are always nice. At least for me. Thanks for stopping by and commenting cheyenne!
ReplyDeleteRachel
Stopping by from the Alexa Hop on Mommies POV!
ReplyDeleteI'm happy for you that letting go of paci went so well!! It's been almost a year since my little guy has used his, and when he sees pictures of himself with it he still asks for it with longing. It's amazing how attached they can get!
Thanks for stopping by savingsinasecond. I've wondered if my son would suddenly take back to the pacifier if I showed it to him. Both my kids seemed to totally forget about breastfeeding within a week so I wonder if the same thing will happen with the pacifier since it's around the same age. I would test it out right now, but I'm afraid I'll make the little guy sad.
ReplyDeleteRachel