Oh, the paci. It was our best friend and our enemy for the past 2 years. The paci…. the thing I was SO afraid to give to my newborn since she wouldn’t breastfeed and I heard that a pacifier would make it worse…. this thing that soothed a teething baby girl… the comfort that kept my daughter sleeping through the night since 10 months old…. the big ‘ol binky that took over the majority of my photos of Ruari’s first 2 years.
We were SO afraid to ditch that thing. Afraid we would never get any sleep since Miss R was completely addicted. In fact… I think she loved that thing! She gave it rides on her toys and carried it around all day… every day.
Then…. the only paci she had left got a little hole in the nipple. I promised I wouldn’t buy any more…. BUT, I was scared. She was complaining her paci was broken. I mentioned to my husband that we should just cut off the nipple and see what happens, but I was way too scared to do that. BUT, apparently he was not. He got up. Asked to borrow her paci… and, came back with the tip cut off.
Ruari tried to put it in her mouth… with no luck. “Mama, it’s broken. Fix?” But, I couldn’t fix it. And, she cried. She cried a sad sad cry like she just lost a best friend. Only for 20 minutes. This cry was so much shorter than I thought it would be. I thought she’d be awake all night calling for her friend. But, nope. She asked over and over for us to fix her paci. But, we told her no. She cuddled with it that night. And, the next. And, only a couple more times after that. Slowly she gave up that thing. And, has only asked for it about 3 times since.
It was so much easier than I thought it would be. I know it’s only a pacifier… but, it was a huge part of our lives. Something that helped us. She never liked sucking her thumb. The paci was her thing.
I guess I never really put two and two together until now but, I think her naps stopped the same week she gave up her paci. OMG. Hmm…. maybe I’ll give it back… HA! No way. I love that she no longer needs it in her life.
So, here’s to no more pacifier! Yay! Happy Wednesday!
{Related Posts: //13 Month Old Ruari//Laureli is 11 Months Old//Baby Bits//}
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{If you have a Wordless{ish} Wednesday, please feel free to link it up below. And, feel free to link up to these blogs too… Parenting by Dummies, Project Alicia,And Then She Snapped, Jenni from the Blog, and Live and Love Outloud.}
Tags: 2 year old, laureli, note to ruari, paci, pacifier, Ruari
Categories: Uncategorized
Oh wow. Peanut is just over 1 and LOVES her paci. We only allow her to have it during bedtime and nap times, but I'm still terrified about the day that we have to take it away 🙁
I so was too. Luckily it went smoothly!
My son gave up his paci at two. I cried more than he did about it. I just realized he really wasnt a baby anymore 🙁 But I was also happy for him too!
AW! SO COOL! and so glad you had an easy time getting rid of the pacifier. we had the same exact problem with niko.
i first gave niko the pacifier when he was only one day old!! & he loved that thing until he turned 3!!
we were all so reliant on that thing though.. to calm him down when he needed a nap or quiet down when he
was upset at something… so as much as niko was addicted, we were too. it was just so easy and convenient!
niko even had a name for it. he called it "T" weird but after he turned three it was too much.. and not only for his teeth but the pressure from family and friends saying how horrible it was for him and that he was too big for that.. i hated hearing that but didn't
want to be a jerk back.. once we took it away he only cried once and i was so surprised but we kept explaining to him why he couldn't have it back and he eventually gave up.. now if he sees it at the store he will ask for one.. he wants one for christmas! haha
but now luna has a similar problem, she's addicted to her sippy cup! gees! here we go again! haha
Yeah. I think we were definitely addicted too!
Hey girl. I usually link up every week here, and I have been trying to add your button to my post like I do the others, but it never works for me. Just wanted to let you know. Thanks for hosting. 🙂
YAY for no more paci!!
Ah man. With my daughter she just kind of decided to throw it away around 2 but my little dude is WAY more attached to his. Kinda dreading the detox…
I think the hole in it first definitely helped. 🙂
I was seriously shocked at how little fight Oz had in him about the dang Paci. I thought it woul be terrible… but when he finally bit a whole in it I think he realized it was "broken" and the transition was so much easier than we thought! Yay for Miss R!
Awww beautiful Ruari and her paci… I wish Megan leave it so easy too… can this works with us? I don't know
I'd say try it. 🙂
Great job, Ruari! And mom and dad! We weaned Em from it at 18 months, and I think it was harder for us than it was for her.
She cuddled her paci at night? That is so sweet.
We were stupid lucky with our oldest, gave up both his bottle and his 'soo' (as we call it) all on his own – and pretty young, too. The bottle was gone by 18m and I think he had a soother until he was about 2.5 – but only when he slept. And so far we've been just as lucky with our youngest – he refused his bottle right around the time he turned 1 and only has his soother when he's sleeping.
Good job, Ruari! : D
Nice! That's better when they just do it on their own. Now if Ruari would just potty train herself…..
Yay! I cut the tip off my oldest son's paci too and it worked great! No tears.
So wonderful!
yay ruari!!! what a strong little girl.
awesome! I got my 28month old neice off the pacifier last week. it was a little struggle but she did so much better than I expected.
Isn't that nice? 😀
hooray! buh bye paci!!
yay!!!
what a sweet post about the paci! Judah took to it for the first week he was born, then he didn't want it and now that he is teething bad whis back molars he found a paci that he will carry around for 5 mins and forget about it.
Teething was the worst. The paci was a lifesaver.
My cousin used to work for a pediatric dentist who recommends cutting them off. He suggested cutting of just a little at a time (which we didn't do). This worked for our first daughter and I'm sure we'll be doing it for our second when the time comes.
It worked like a charm!
My first son was the easiest baby ever but was pretty addicted to the paci. I thought taking it away the week he turned two would be a nightmare but it really wasn't so bad! Now my second son doesn't want anything to do with the paci and I wish he did since he instead sucks on the middle two fingers on his left hand- meaning he's always turned to the left side which has caused a major flat spot oon his head. So yeah- rather he have the paci. It's a little easier to take those away than the kids fingers 🙂
Glad it was easy for little miss R!
Oh yeah. I bet!
Buh Bye Paci! I never that issue here, we just have a purple blankie that our 3 year old daughter will probably end up taking to college. haha!
Hee! That would be adorable.
Hooray Ruari! Hope you get your naps back soon!
Ha! I don't think we will. She naps like 3 times a week now. :/
I was fortunate. Only one of my three ever used a pacifer (we call it a plug). And she was ADDICTED. Although it's been 3 years since she's used a plug (she's 5 now) she occationally "finds" one here and there and tries to give them to her dollies. Three years later and we find those green plugs in the craziest places! And it was so hard to get rid of them I kinda stop breathing everytime one shows up.
Hee, we've called it the plug a few times…. especially during meltdowns. 😉
Your story made me so sad for her little broken heart! Especially her cuddling her broken paci. Poor poor girl! But good in the long run I'm sure 🙂
My daughter (7 months) does suck her thumb, and I tried so hard to get her to take a pacifier because I worry about her teeth…not to mention I have loads of people giving me advice and telling me how I should feel about it haha.
I always wanted her to suck her thumb instead… but, I guess the good part is I can just take the paci away. My mom got my sister to stop sucking her thumb when she was little by telling her it will make her teeth crooked if she keeps doing that. She stopped right then and there. 🙂
oh man, jess loves her pacifier. i only give it to her at naps and bedtime but if she sees one she get's SO excited. this is new to me because the boys never used one. and yes, with my first i was deathly afraid to use one because of the breastfeeding.
glad the transition is going smoothly 😉 not sure when we'll start ours!!
Maybe a hole will appear in yours? 😉 R hated it because there was no suction. She went with the hole in it for a while. Then, we cut it off.
Oh wow! I'm glad it went so smoothly! Ellie never liked pacifiers, and while there were a few times I wished she would, I was mostly glad that it was one less thing we'd have to "wean" her from. Good job for taking that step…..so sorry about the naps :/
Yeah. I wish she still napped every day. Now it's so rare.
Yay! Congratulations! Transitions can be hard (especially for us parents!).
Good for you, hanging in there.
~Michelle
It definitely was harder for me.
Oh man. I dread the day. My son ONLY gets the pacifier in his crib. They all stay there, in fact. But since that's the only place he gets it, that's the only thing NOT having the paci will affect when the time comes. I'm scurred. 😀
Hee. It really is scary.
Yah!! Go Ruari!
Woo hoo!
That's a huge milestone and it sounds as though it transpired relatively painlessly…well, aside from the whole napping part. Here's hoping she starts napping again–moms need naps, too! 😀
Well, we played hard for 3 hours straight today. She just took a 2 hour nap! Yeah!
Congratulation!!! All three of my kids never wanted a pacifier. Sometimes I whished they had taken one. 😉
Happy WW!
Verena
Thanks!
You are giving me hope that we can do it sometime in the near future! My husband is a baby and says it's her last "baby" thing about her. I hope it's as easy for us!
Hee! It sort of is… huh? Unless she's not potty-trained. 😉
i hate the darn pacifier. now. i was glad that she only wanted it to sleep but there are too many times she wakes screaming cuz she's too tired to find the stupid thing and … i just wanna get more than four hours of straight sleep! 🙂 i'm so ready to nix it… but i'm not. soon. soooooon.
Ha! Yes, soon. Ruari used to do that same thing too. But, it turned out to be easy. 🙂
My oldest had a favorite paci that got a crack in it when he was about Ruari's age. To our dismay, although it had been a huge part of our lives, he didn't want it anymore after that. It was almost TOO easy, at least for me as a mom! I kind of wanted more of a finale or something, you know? Ha! But it was nice once it was gone. My second one let go of his fairly easily, too, thankfully. Now my daughter is all that's left. She's two and a half and is a thumb-sucker, so that's going to be a difficult one!!
Oh yeah. The thumb sucking would be hard!
I envy you! My girls are content without their pacifiers during the day, but without them there would be no naps, no sleeping at night and we definitely wouldn't make it through church (we barely do as it is). They still wake up during the night crying if their paci has fallen out of their cribs. Eek!
Our guy actually throw his and his baby brothers paci in the garbage….he's 32 months so he knew what he was doing! The first couple of nights were tough, but now no problem! Luckily for us he still goes down for an afternoon nap, thank goodness! But I agree with you, it is nice to have it out of our lives 🙂
Oh I know that I want to but don't want to feeling! My little poppet Tara had the best suck going when she put hers in her mouth – I loooved watching the comfort it would give her. I didn't enjoy so much her talking with it in her mouth. A couple of months ago, she started playing with it, chewing it, biting it, and we decided to tell her that if it did indeed break, there would be no more and it would have to go into the bin. (and boy was I tempted to buy another and stash it in the cupboard, "just in case"!). Then a couple of weeks later and totally out of the blue, she announced it was broken, wandered over to the bin and put it in! I was tempted to run and save it… but didn't, and chose to let her guide this and make the decision. Amazing little people – how they work sometimes just blows me away 🙂
Wow! That is amazing!
e-gads! my fiancé is adamant that we give it up once a top tooth comes all the way down. i am SCAREDDDDDDD! glad to hear your experience was relatively pain free!
I really didn't have a problem with it until she was wanting it all day. I love it for comfort. 🙂
Aww, good job Ruari! That's great that she gave it up so easily.
I'm so happy it went smoothly!