Paci Love
I was thoroughly against the pacifier before my daughter, Chiquita, was born. But when the nurse suggested we try one in the hospital to calm her down a little, I figured it was worth a try. And, well, let's just say it stuck. She loved it. I laugh a little internally inside when I hear people muse about babies that wouldn't take a paci, only because it's funny how different babies can be! Ours was addicted to hers from the beginning. So I decided to just relax, and go with it.
Let me start by listing a few benefits to the paci for us:
- It's soothing (and part of Dr. Karp's 5 S's for soothing is sucking).
- It's incredibly helpful in public places (i.e. airplane, baseball games) or when traveling and schedules are thrown off.
- Relieved me from having to nurse at take-off and landing every time we flew (especially since nursing was more schedule oriented for us and flying didn't always come at "mealtime").
- It makes putting her down for a nap/to bed much easier in new places.
- Let's be honest here, it has kept her from crying many a time.
- Plus I think I read somewhere that it helps in avoiding SIDS because it regulates a baby's breathing.
A Gradual Weaning
My original goal was to let her use it until she was walking and talking, but when she started walking (and talking) before she was 1 and we had a few trips coming up where I knew it'd be helpful, I postponed. We had however recently made it a bedtime-only thing. No more using it outside the crib (except maybe when trying to coax her to sleep in the stroller at a baseball game, or other similar "emergencies").
Next, we began to limit it to naptime. It took a few tries for her to go to sleep without crying at night without her paci, and we've still used it at night when at a new place or camping (because who wants to listen to a screaming baby through the walls of the tent? Sometimes you have to temporarily put aside parenting goals for the good of the people). But for the most part, she's done great for several months using it only at naptime.
Our last camping trip, in September, was the first time she really started asking for it, calling it her "baba" or "babi." She went through a short phase when she first started talking, calling it "nay-nay," but this was first time she would actually ask for it when she knew it was appropriate (i.e. going to bed). Oh no, I thought. We held on too long, now it's going to be harder to get rid of. But sure enough, she went back to not using it at night as soon as we got home, and that continued until we spent a week at my parents' house, where she needed it to go to sleep, and prevent crying hysterically. But again, as soon as we were back home to normalcy, it was no paci at night, with very little problems.
Then I decided maybe we should drop using it at naptime, too... and you'll have to check back here to see where we're at now!
To be continued...
Read Part 2 and Part 3!
Check out the other posts from this week's I am Blissfully Domestic!
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