Sunday, June 10, 2012

Goodbye Pacifier!

When Claire was a newborn, I would plead with her to take a pacifier with absolutely no luck.  She wanted the real deal - all the time.  After our very troubled beginning of our breastfeeding journey, I finally got my supply up and she didn't want to eat all day and night.  At that point, I was okay with the fact that she didn't want a pacifier, one less thing to break her of down the road.

Fast forward 8 months, Claire had been sick on and off for two months.  We just couldn't get her well.  We started the Daniel Fast with church and I was fasting and praying for an end to our medical drama.  About week and a half in and Claire was admitted to the Helen DeVos Children's hospital for RSV and double pneumonia.  We were there for an entire week, but she was getting better.  It was during this time that the pacifier came back into our lives.  Claire had started to self wean during the day and I really didn't want to go backwards so the pacifier came to my rescue.  Ever since then her an 'Paci' have been an item.  After she turned two, Paci was only allowed in the car, during her breathing treatments and in bed (or laying on the couch if she was sick).  That slowly went down to only at bed and nap.  She hasn't had a pacifier at daycare this entire year so I knew it was just a matter of time until we got rid of it permanently.

I had settled that when she turned three that would be the end of the pacifier.  Of course, she came down with croup and I just couldn't do it when she was sick.  Finally, we got her well and mentally prepared to take her to Build-A-Bear so that we could sew the pacifiers into an animal of her choice.  Wouldn't you know, the store was being remodeled and closed.  Ugh!

I found out recently that Build-A-Bear was reopened so we started mentally preparing Claire for another try.  We had an open house to go to on the other side of town near the mall where Build-A-Bear is located so I asked her Saturday morning if she wanted to go and give up her pacifier for good.  She was very excited about going so we seized the moment and headed to the mall after naps.

I was so proud of her, she did fantastic!!  She was thrilled to be there, she picked out a cat and headed to the stuffing station. She was a little shy, but pushed the pedal to fill the cat part-way full of stuffing.





Then came the big moment, with only a little bit of hesitation she put all the pacifiers into the kitty.  She was a little shy since the bear stuffer was a man - she's quite shy around men for some reason.  I was so glad that we had avoided the meltdown!



Then came the all important bath - really four baths and picking out the clothes.  Since Paci Kitty is essential at bedtime, she got a set of purple pajamas.  A couple bows later and we were on our way home.



I was a little nervous how the night would go.  However she did her breathing treatment without fuss and other than playing a little longer than normal since she had a stuffed animal in bed she went to sleep without any whining.  

On Sunday, the little stinker found another pacifier that did not make it in Paci Kitty.  She said that she needed her kitty to snuggle with and the other pacifier to have in her mouth.  Ryan was quick on his feet and suggested that we wrap it up for babies that don't need pacifiers and really need them.  She agreed and we put the stray pacifier in a box and wrapped it up.  Of course, she wants to come with me to drop it off to the babies in need - looks like I need to set something up at the church nursery.

I am so proud of her!  I can't believe how big my girl is getting!!



14 comments:

  1. Way to go Claire! So glad she took to this transition so well. I'm not looking forward to taking Bailey's Paci away, although it should be easier than what taking Tyler's thumb away has been. Love this idea!

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    1. Thanks Carrie! I am glad at this point that it was something tangible we could take away, I sucked my thumb for a looonngg time. Hopefully this works for Bailey when you're ready. I hope Natalie wants to participate too someday!

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  2. Awesome job Claire! Great thinking of putting the paci's in a kitty :)

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    1. I had a friend who did this with her daughter right after Claire was born. I stored that in the mommy memory bank and I am so glad I did!!

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  3. I am so proud of her! What a big girl and what a clever idea!! Yah!!

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    1. She has continued to do well, I am so thankful. I took the idea from a friend, so glad I remembered that one!

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  4. She did so good and so did you! Wonderful idea to do!

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    1. I was hoping that it would be an easy transition since I was not sure how 'strong' I would be if she made a big fuss at the store. Thankfully she LOVES cats and that motivated her to get rid of the pacifier. Every night before bed she still tells me that she misses her paci, but doesn't cry or fuss more than that - I'm so thankful!

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  5. Yay you guys did it!!! I've been wanting to do it, but I think I'm scared more for me! haha I've told Addison about doing this before, but showing her the pictures really helps her to understand & now she wants to!!! So excited, I think we may go next week sometime. :-) Glad it went well for you all, especially night time!!!

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    1. I was terrified that our nights would be horrible and she's never sleep again! She was excited and ready to go, so we just went with it - I'm glad that she's done with it, but I'm sad at the same time that she's getting so grown up. I hope it goes well for you and Addison, make sure you call me if you do go!!

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  6. good job Claire!! We had weaned AIden down to a paci at nap and bedtime, at home only, by the time he was 18mos. At 20mos it was Memorial Day weekend so we decided to nix the paci that long weekend. He did really well. Cried for 10mins the first day, about 3-4 the second and didn't look back the third. I am slowwly trying to get Rebecca to only have the paci at rest time as well, but she still uses it for comfort a lot when she gets upset. I wanted to try to nix it Labor Day weekend, but we'll see how that goes. It might wait until Thankgiving which will put her at 20mos as well.

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    1. You rock! Getting rid of it before 2, I was just not that good!! I like when they're not in their mouths all the time, so I may move up the age for Natalie. We will see how it goes. I didn't think I could cope with the 'cold turkey' method, but Alden did really well, if I knew it would be that easy, I would have done it earlier - haha!! Good luck on with Rebecca - I hope it goes as easily as Alden!!

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  7. Way to go Claire

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  8. I am so glad I found this article! My daughter has always been super attached to her paci!!! She recently turned three and she still uses her paci for nap and bedtime. Everyone gives us such a hard time, but honestly I would rather her have a paci than suck her thumb. I sucked my thumb into gradeschool and it messed up my jaws. That being said, I know we need to really try to get rid of it completely. I have heard about the Build-A-Bear idea before, and now I definitely want to give it a try. Congrats!!! :-)

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