Pacifier Detox: Update

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, we made the decision to get rid of Aubrey's pacifier. This is something we had been wanting/planning to do for a while. However, I just couldn't bring myself to make such a big change in Aubrey's life right before Jude was born. And then, after he came, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of the paci when I was adjusting to life with two!

Anyone who knows Aubrey knows that she had a ridiculous amount of love for that pacifier. She had to have that thing in her mouth all. the. time. or she was looking/asking for it. I was so nervous about how she would do when we got rid if it. At first, we were planning on getting rid of it completely. Cold Turkey. But then I got worried that Aubrey would quit napping if we did that since she is older now. (It's starting to sound like I'm the one with the unnatural attachment to the pacifier! Ha! No, I just really enjoy naptime ;) So, I convinced David to let us just try getting rid of it during the day. That's what we've been doing the past several weeks, and here is how that process went:

It was actually much less dramatic and painful than I thought it would be! We had a couple of tough days where Aubrey just fussed and whined for her pacifier pretty much all day. It made it harder that Jude has a paci. Aubrey would be totally fine until she saw Jude's paci, and then she would just fall apart. I think it actually helped that she was old enough to understand what was going on. We told her that she was too big to have a pacifier in her mouth all the time and that it had to stay in her bed now. Even though she didn't necessarily like that or agree with it, she understood. When we would go get her up in the morning, she would want to keep it, but we just told her that if she wanted to get up, she had to leave her "bobby's" in bed. A couple of times, she seriously considered staying in bed! Haha. One time I went to get her up from her nap, and she had put her pacifier down her shirt. She acted completely normal (hoping I wouldn't notice it, I'm sure) but I told her she had to leave her pacifier. She said, "Aubey keep bobby's in pocket." (She thinks when she puts something down her shirt, it's in her "pocket." HA! Good try, but NO! :)

After a couple of rough days though, she just accepted the fact that this was how it was going to be. Now she rarely even asks for it anymore. The other day, I went to get her up and she had it in her mouth. I honestly didn't even think, and I just got her out of bed with it still in her mouth. I put her down and she ran towards her bedroom door. Suddenly, she just stopped running. (I still hadn't even noticed the paci was in her mouth.) She turned around, ran back to her bed, and threw the pacifier in. She then ran out of her room like it was no big deal. I was SO proud of her! Another time the pacifier was on the floor when I got her out of bed. I didn't want to call attention to it and was hoping she just wouldn't notice it. She did see it though, and she picked it up an put it in her bed without me ever saying a word.

One sad thing that has come of this is that she no longer lets us rock her before putting her in bed. She is so excited to see her "bobby's" that she says, "No rock rock! Put Aubey in bed!" She just wants to get in bed. It's kind of sad.

For now, we are fine with her still having the pacifier while she sleeps. I don't think it really hurts anything, and she does take good naps and sleeps well at night. I know at some point we will have to get rid of it entirely, but I think it will actually be easier now that we've cut way back on how much she has it. Even since we have quit letting her have it during the day, she has gotten way less attached to it. She used to always have it in her mouth when I would go to get her out of bed. Now she rarely has it in her mouth.

Getting rid of the pacifier has saved us tons of time too. We literally only have ONE pacifier, and we were always misplacing that thing. Every time we left our house, we had to spend about 10 minutes searching high and low for it. I definitely don't miss that! So, I'm glad we got rid of it during the day! Aubrey looks so much cuter without the pacifier in her mouth all the time, it's easier to understand what she is saying, and it saves us time.

*I know this post is kind of all over the place, but I might need a little pep talk when the time comes to pull Jude's plug (haha) so I can refer back to this! :)*