Bye Bye Paci
So as I mentioned briefly on Friday, we had to break Charlie of her pacifiers this weekend. By society and doctor standards, she is really too old to have one at two and a half. But that isn't why we had to take them away.
For the past few weeks, Charlie has been chewing on the nipple part of the pacifier. And twice in the past ten days, she has managed to chew the tops off the nipple. We've caught it both times, but may not always be as lucky. So the paci had to go.
I waited after naptime Saturday {mainly for my own sanity} and the just cut the top off her remaining pacifier. I didn't make a big deal out of it, or even draw attention to it. Just cut it and left it off to the side.
It was a little over an hour before Charlie even noticed it was cut. When she brought it to me and said it was broken, I just said yes it was, and left it at that. She didn't seem too broken up about it.
Fast forward to bedtime. As she was gathering up her "crew" of toys she brings to bed, she got upset again over the paci. I reminded her it was broken, and let her bring it upstairs with her. {If I had just taken the pacis away completely, she would have spent hours asking me where they were and telling me to get them. For her, this seemed like the best way}
We got through our bedtime routine okay, but when it was time to go to sleep, Charlie was a mess. I stayed extra long in her room, singing, reading more stories, etc. Eventually I realized that nothing I was doing was helping, and she would just have to work this one out on her own.
She cried for 20 minutes before I went back in there. As soon as I opened the door, Charlie's tears dried up and she was happy to play.
Sorry kid, what you're going through is hard, but you need your sleep. So after playing with her for about another 20 minutes, I said goodnight again and left. She cried for another 20 minutes, and then finally passed out. Night #1 was done!
Charlie slept good the rest of the night, and slept in till almost 9:00 yesterday. She was really fine with the whole thing until nap time. That was a bit of a disaster. She basically cried for an hour and half straight before we just got her and brought her downstairs.
Thankfully though, bedtime was a little smoother. She only cried for about 15 minutes this time before falling asleep. She also slept through the night again no problem.
Overall, I'd say we're pretty lucky with the way this is going. I absolutely no plans to take away the paci until she was ready. But where safety is concerned, I just couldn't mess around. So for a girl I thought would have her paci for at least another two years, she's handling the transition very well.
Emmy has been a huge help as well. She keeps telling Charlie what a big girl she is, and how good she's doing. Melts my heart.
And just like that there is one less baby item in the house, and Charlie is one step closer to being a big girl!
For the past few weeks, Charlie has been chewing on the nipple part of the pacifier. And twice in the past ten days, she has managed to chew the tops off the nipple. We've caught it both times, but may not always be as lucky. So the paci had to go.
I waited after naptime Saturday {mainly for my own sanity} and the just cut the top off her remaining pacifier. I didn't make a big deal out of it, or even draw attention to it. Just cut it and left it off to the side.
It was a little over an hour before Charlie even noticed it was cut. When she brought it to me and said it was broken, I just said yes it was, and left it at that. She didn't seem too broken up about it.
Fast forward to bedtime. As she was gathering up her "crew" of toys she brings to bed, she got upset again over the paci. I reminded her it was broken, and let her bring it upstairs with her. {If I had just taken the pacis away completely, she would have spent hours asking me where they were and telling me to get them. For her, this seemed like the best way}
We got through our bedtime routine okay, but when it was time to go to sleep, Charlie was a mess. I stayed extra long in her room, singing, reading more stories, etc. Eventually I realized that nothing I was doing was helping, and she would just have to work this one out on her own.
She cried for 20 minutes before I went back in there. As soon as I opened the door, Charlie's tears dried up and she was happy to play.
Sorry kid, what you're going through is hard, but you need your sleep. So after playing with her for about another 20 minutes, I said goodnight again and left. She cried for another 20 minutes, and then finally passed out. Night #1 was done!
Charlie slept good the rest of the night, and slept in till almost 9:00 yesterday. She was really fine with the whole thing until nap time. That was a bit of a disaster. She basically cried for an hour and half straight before we just got her and brought her downstairs.
Thankfully though, bedtime was a little smoother. She only cried for about 15 minutes this time before falling asleep. She also slept through the night again no problem.
Overall, I'd say we're pretty lucky with the way this is going. I absolutely no plans to take away the paci until she was ready. But where safety is concerned, I just couldn't mess around. So for a girl I thought would have her paci for at least another two years, she's handling the transition very well.
Emmy has been a huge help as well. She keeps telling Charlie what a big girl she is, and how good she's doing. Melts my heart.
And just like that there is one less baby item in the house, and Charlie is one step closer to being a big girl!
I feel ya! We are working on this too. My deadline has always been her second birthday so we need to get on it since that's only a few weeks away! She only gets it at nap time and night time right now and I'm hoping to take the nap time away within the week to see how she does with that. Here's hoping your little one gets over it quick! So sweet that her big sister is trying to help!!
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