Saturday, March 28, 2015

The Pacifier Chronicles: Day 2 - Captain's Log

For those of you just joining us, I am writing about our "just wing it" strategy to get rid of C's pacifier. This is just a real life look at how we ACTUALLY approached this milestone. 

After she gave up and fell asleep last night, she stayed asleep until 1:39. Very specific, I know. She was pretty upset and asking for her paci. So, I put her in bed with me and after flailing around for about 30 minutes, she fell back asleep until around 6:45 am. Yay! 

The first thing she said to me in the morning? "Paccciiiii."  Yep. Awesome. I stuck with my "it's all gone" strategy. To which she promptly replied "No mama! Nana!" Clearly she was calling in the reinforcements. 

She went to playcare in the morning and was fine all day and through dinner. I think it's because I kept her really busy with playing outside, going to Steak and Shake for a milkshake, and watching more TV. 

Then it came time to settle down for bed. Bad news bears. I'm talking full on screaming and crying. But she never did specifically ask for the paci. It's almost like she wasn't sure what she was missing. She finally fell asleep and is now in her crib. So day two is complete and smoother than yesterday, except bedtime. Hopefully tomorrow will be even better! 

Friday, March 27, 2015

The Pacifier Chronicles: Captains Log - Day 1

So, I should start by saying this is not, I repeat - NOT, the first time we have tried to ditch the "paci" in our house. We have an incredibly adorable and attached kiddo and we are weak, wussy parents. But C's dad is out of town this weekend and since he's the bigger softy, I'm taking the opportunity to nix the paci. 

Day one went like this:

We dropped Dad off at the airport and headed home at around 7:30 am. As soon as we exited the car I confiscated the pacifier. This was okay because we got yogurt and milk. 

Once breakfast was over she immediately asked for her paci. I distracted her by allowing her to watch way too many episodes of Mickey Mouse. "You want your paci huh? How about another half hour of TV instead?" For a kid who never gets to watch TV during the day, this was pretty blatant but EFFECTIVE bribery. 

Once she lost interest, I tried to put her down for a nap. She bounced up and down in her crib and fussed for about 30 minutes. I gave up. We baked cookies instead. Hey, you do what you have to to survive these types of transitions! 

At this point I got on facebook and begged my oil friends for advice. We began diffusing Balance for her mood and Cypress for the transition. I rubbed some lavender on her back to help her relax. Her mood changed immediately. Yay! 

We then made lunch. She ate her lunch in approximately three minutes and wanted down. She then proceeded to wander around the house saying "paaaaacciiii, weahyou??" For those of you that don't speak toddler, "paci, where are you?" I almost quit right then. It was so sad! I told you, weak and wussy. 

Instead we watched some more Mickey. Hey, I didn't say I'm a role model. She fell asleep watching Mickey and I moved her to her crib. She slept for an hour and a half without a pacifier. Win. 

I planned to get us out of the house after her nap because afternoons are usually her fussiest time. Thus, they are also the time we are most likely to resort to pacifier use. We went to target and C's Nana gave her money to spend on a few toys to keep her mind off the paci over the weekend. Yay! Nanas are really great and they can shamelessly spoil their grandkids. So that's awesome. 

We got stuck in traffic on the way home because I'm a moron and thought that I should drive the same direction as every other human being in Dallas at five pm on a Friday. By the way, my kid has about a fifteen minute tolerance for the car. If she's in there longer than that, you WILL BE PUNISHED. And I was. She screamed and boo hoo'd the entire way home. But go mom (me), she did not get the paci! 

We got home, ate dinner, took a bath and then the asking for the paci stared again. She's a persistent little thing. 

"Mama paci?"
"They're all gone."
"No done done..."  And some tears to go with it. 

Be still my heart! I almost gave up again. But we stuck it out and she fell asleep on my arms - with. No. Paci. 

I have no idea how she will sleep tonight, but I am proud of us for making it through one day with no paci! Even if I did bribe her with Mickey, new toys, and cookies. 

I will update the captains log tomorrow night! 

Diy paci weaning by me. Love yall.