The End of An Era
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Marin's pacifier, formerly known as Ni-Ni, formerly known as Chew-Chew is no longer with us. We pulled the plug (literally) and he's not thrilled with the idea. Marin will be 2 years old on the 28th, so it was way past due. I know a lot of kids keep their pacifiers past this point, but due to dental health we decided now was best.
Instead of his pacifier simply disappearing (otherwise known as the cold turkey method) we adopted an even meaner plan that we read about online. We cut the nipples off of all his pacifiers and gave him the plastic ring. No, we didn't perform this sadistic surgery in front of him, but Matthew and I did laugh like maniacs as we took turns destroying the things.
Marin was oblivious to our plan until after his bath one night. He asked for his Chew-Chew (like he always does) and I unceremoniously handed him the nipple-less pacifier. He gets this confused look on his face, turns it over and over in his hands, shakes his head no and promptly hands it back to me. "Chew-Chew please, " he says. I tell him that the Chew-Chew is all gone, that he's a big boy now, but that he can have this Chew-Chew if he wants it. He didn't cry, but did whine a bit and protested to his Dad who was trying not to laugh. Lights out was another matter. I could hear him crying and saying, "Mommy Chew-Chew Please" very loudly for about 5 minutes. Then he fell asleep holding the new and non-improved pacifier in his hand. He slept all night for the first time in nearly 2 years without a piece of plastic shoved in his mouth. It was a beautiful thing.
It has been over a week now and so far so good. He still gets a little ticked off at bed time, but he doesn't cry after it. He randomly through out the day will tell me, "Chew-Chew way" meaning, "The Chew-Chew has went away". And, I'll say yes, it went away because you are a Mommy's big boy. And he'll say "Yeah, Chew-Chew yucky" even though he would like nothing better than to have his old pal back.
In retaliation, he refused to nap. Not just the first day without it, but for the first full week without it. It was really rough. I say "was" because he's currently napping now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll be able to adjust to napping without his pacifier as well as he does sleeping at night without it. He played and played at the park today and fell asleep in the car on the way home so I was able to ease him into his pack-n-play and back out of the room. When the UPS guy rang the doorbell, I nearly fainted. Luckily, I still hear snoring from 2 rooms away.
Instead of his pacifier simply disappearing (otherwise known as the cold turkey method) we adopted an even meaner plan that we read about online. We cut the nipples off of all his pacifiers and gave him the plastic ring. No, we didn't perform this sadistic surgery in front of him, but Matthew and I did laugh like maniacs as we took turns destroying the things.
Marin was oblivious to our plan until after his bath one night. He asked for his Chew-Chew (like he always does) and I unceremoniously handed him the nipple-less pacifier. He gets this confused look on his face, turns it over and over in his hands, shakes his head no and promptly hands it back to me. "Chew-Chew please, " he says. I tell him that the Chew-Chew is all gone, that he's a big boy now, but that he can have this Chew-Chew if he wants it. He didn't cry, but did whine a bit and protested to his Dad who was trying not to laugh. Lights out was another matter. I could hear him crying and saying, "Mommy Chew-Chew Please" very loudly for about 5 minutes. Then he fell asleep holding the new and non-improved pacifier in his hand. He slept all night for the first time in nearly 2 years without a piece of plastic shoved in his mouth. It was a beautiful thing.
It has been over a week now and so far so good. He still gets a little ticked off at bed time, but he doesn't cry after it. He randomly through out the day will tell me, "Chew-Chew way" meaning, "The Chew-Chew has went away". And, I'll say yes, it went away because you are a Mommy's big boy. And he'll say "Yeah, Chew-Chew yucky" even though he would like nothing better than to have his old pal back.
In retaliation, he refused to nap. Not just the first day without it, but for the first full week without it. It was really rough. I say "was" because he's currently napping now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll be able to adjust to napping without his pacifier as well as he does sleeping at night without it. He played and played at the park today and fell asleep in the car on the way home so I was able to ease him into his pack-n-play and back out of the room. When the UPS guy rang the doorbell, I nearly fainted. Luckily, I still hear snoring from 2 rooms away.
