It's a Love/Hate Thing

I don't talk about it in public, but the babe still uses a pacifier at night and at nap time.  She has 3 at all sleep-related times.  She's got one in her mouth and one in each hand.  Then there is a back up one on her dresser, just in case.  This kid has an oral fixation, no doubt.  Sometimes during the day, she'll go upstairs claiming she's tired, and I know she's just going up for a hit.  It's like she's a closet smoker.

We have thought about cutting her off so many times.  We've had a few short experiments but haven't held out.  The pacifiers, which she calls "baas," are her security blanket.  She never had a favorite stuffed animal or doll.  But she has always had her baas.

I find them gross as they get smelly and make her face crusty in the morning.  And I find the addiction annoying as she comes into our room at night when she can't locate all of them.  In fact, we can't even put her to sleep if she has momentarily lost sight of any of them.  But they calm her down and make her happy, so what are we to do?

The dentist has reassured us that it's OK.  She's going to need braces regardless, and there's no point going through the agony of cutting her off.  So, we are just going to wait for it to happen naturally.  She won't go off to college with a baa in her suitcase.

We tried to avoid creating another pacifier monster with our second child.  But the little guy has liked his pacifier since day one.  He used to be OK with 1 baa.  Then he upped it to 2.  And now we are at 3.  When I sit with him in the rocking chair after bath time, he points at the pacifiers on the table and whines until I pass them to him.  He will transfer the baa in his mouth into his hands when he wants milk, and then plug it right back into his mouth when he's done. After our bedtime reading, he lies down in his crib with a baa in his mouth, and one in each hand, just like his sister.

The pacifier has an amazing ability to make our life better, even if our children's dependence on it is frustrating.

Apparently it will be a love/hate thing for us for some time to come.