Pacifiers

Both of my boys took pacifiers when they were very little (about 4 - 6 weeks old). I've always debated about whether or not I wanted to give them one in the first place, but it was either a pacifier or they wanted to nurse in the middle of the night all of the time and THAT wasn't going to happen. Maybe I should just let them discover their thumb ... although, I personally think that it's easier to take a pacifier away than it is to get a child to stop sucking their thumb. Plus pacifiers may help decrease the risk of SIDS.

However, I've read that it's harder to break pacifier use after 6 months. When Jackson was about 6 or 7 months old I asked one of my close friends who had an 18 month old at the time what she did about the whole pacifier issue (I wanted to know if she had any tips on how to wean Jackson from the pacifier). Her response was, "when you figure it out let me know." The next day I took Jackson's pacifier away. I didn't go cold turkey, but I limited it to the car seat and his crib. By 8 months Jackson wasn't taking a pacifier at all.

So, now I'm starting the weaning process with Micah. He already only takes the pacifier in the car and crib which is good (with a few exceptions when he's visiting family/ friends where I don't want him to be fussy). I decided that today was going to be the day that I attempt to put him down for a nap without a pacifier. His first nap was a success! He cried for about ten minutes and then put himself to sleep. He even woke up in the middle of the nap, cried for two seconds and put himself back to sleep. The second nap he cried for two minutes and then went right to sleep, but he woke up half way through the nap and couldn't sooth himself back to sleep, so I gave in to the pacifier. He hasn't had a third nap yet and that's usually his toughest nap (he's transitioning out of this nap very quickly, but still needs it most days) so we'll see how that goes. I'm just going to take little steps at a time. I'm sure I'll have some setbacks along the way (like the shots he'll be getting on Monday), but we'll get there.