Paci Update

About a month ago we decided to break Mason of his Pacifier habit. We were a bit nervous about the whole process. Mason was quite addicted to it. When we went on vacation back in September, my Mom was able to break him of his pacifier during the day. Whenever he got upset or asked for it he got it, but while at my Mom’s house she would only let him have it if he was in bed for naps or at night. We had school break him of his naptime pacifier at about 18 months. It was easy for them, and he didn’t care. So, all we had to do was break him at home. Easier said than done, right?

We waited until after his birthday and after Michael and I had a few work trips. We wanted both of us home for two weeks straight, just in case it was horrible. The first night went really well. Mason took forever to fall asleep without it and asked for it several times. We told him Gabby ate it and that a baby needed it. He didn’t like the answer but it was okay. The hard part came when he woke up in the middle of the night. He cried so hard and wanted it so bad. It made me very sad. I ended up reading him a few books and singing for about an hour before he fell back asleep. He stayed that way until the next morning.

Naptime was the hardest breaking point for him. I honestly thought naptime would go better, since 5 days a week he takes a nap without a pacifier at school. The good thing about doing it on a weekend and during naptime, if he won’t fall asleep I will just keep you up. He eventually killed over in exhaustion on a walk around the block. Since the first weekend, he has done great. He rarely asks questions about his paci and he normally answers them with Gabby ate my paci or the baby ate my paci. We are now a month out from taking it away and he does great. Sometimes it takes us longer to fall asleep, because he lays in bed and talks. He asks a million questions, where is daddy or where is mommy, where is gabby…etc. He talks to his bear and I love listening to him talk until he finally falls asleep.

It is possible to survive taking away a pacifier with a 2 year old. It really wasn’t as bad as I thought, but that might have been me preparing for the worst. I expected weeks of no sleep. I expected more crying. I expected lots of asking about where it was. I really didn’t think he would be able to comprehend the reasoning I gave him. Be careful what excuse you give…they remember everything. The good thing that Mason wasn’t mad at Gabby.