A long, long time ago when Nicholas was six months old he had a terrible cold and stopped using a pacifier. About a year later he succumbed to peer pressure and took up the habit again. We had always planned to break his habit but things kept coming up - a new baby, potty training, etc. Nicholas planned to break his habit when he was old enough to be in the gym at school (the before and after school program for the elementary age kids). I guess to him that's a long way off and seemed like he could keep his pacifiers for as far into the future as he could see.
We surfed the web and asked our friends how to help him give up the pacifier. The "binky fairy" who comes in the middle of the night to steal the pacifier seemed scary for a child. Cutting holes in the pacifier so the joy of it is gone may not work on an older child who would notice (or be like Adrian who preferred his "boo-boo passy"). We utilized another plan and took advantage of Nicholas's very caring and giving nature. We told him there are babies that don't have pacifiers and really want to have one. And told him he could give his pacifiers to them. When he went to bed Sunday night we put his pacifiers in a bag to send to the babies. It went so well I thought to myself, "why didn't we do this sooner?".
Of course I was concerned about how well he would sleep without a pacifier because I'm sure it helped soothe him. So here's a breakdown of the nights since the charitable pacifier donation:
Sunday (night 1): came to our bed around midnight
Monday (night 2): came to our bed around midnight
At this point I could hear Jo from Supernanny in the back of my head, "Mum, you have to take charge and have him go to back to his bed and stick to it!"
Tuesday (night 3): came to our bed around midnight and I walked him back to his bed, tucked him back in, gave him a cup of water...15 minutes later I did it again.
Wednesday (night 4): came to our bathroom while I was getting ready for work at 6 am
Thursday (night 5): came to our bathroom while I was getting ready for work at 6am
There you have it. Done. He really didn't put up a fight after giving up the pacifier and managed to get through the night on his own after just a few nights.
1 comment:
Yay! I'm so glad that this transition went well for him-- and the idea of giving his pacifiers to other babies is a wonderful thought. It reminds me of how you had him help pick out toys and things to give to Travis before he was born, to help ease that transition as well. Nice. =)
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