Cole turns 3 in July and still has his pacifier. He calls it Soo (Soothie). My British friends call it a dummy. My aunt calls it "the plug." We've been anticipating the misery of taking it away for some time, but haven't wanted to deal with it. But he's talking about the world and trying to communicate nearly every minute of the day now so we've decided it's time. Rather than constantly ask him to take it out so we can hear him. Or have him constantly run to it at the slightest discomfort. Heaven forbid we lose it. We have no less than 6 replacements.
I haven't been that concerned about it. All the naysayers aside. Including our doctor--despite the fact that scientific evidence for it affecting anything dental or speech related is pretty slim. I haven't been that worried because, frankly, the blankie/milk/soothie combo has been all that keeps him manageable sometimes. And it clearly makes him happy...not like he'll go to college still sucking a pacifier. Let him enjoy his childhood.
We've chosen to start with the "big boys don't use soothies and you're a big boy now" route. He's allowed to have it for naps and bedtime, but the rest of the day it must be stored. But it's taken some sacrifices and supplemental comfort items. The trade-off is he's allowed to have as much milk as he wants to help him transition. So he's gone through a gallon in no time. Frequent trips to the fridge. He wet through his new, larger, size 5 Overnights diaper last night. And we now have an entire zoo of stuffed animals to snuggle. His horse. His dog. His wolf. Plus, of course, blankie.
Plus the added conversation of "remember, we are cuddling with Dog now instead" every time he asks for it. The irony is we had him putting it on top of his dresser when he woke up in the morning for awhile. Leda, at least, I can take her pacifier (not the same kind, mind you, but still called Soo) out and she won't notice it's gone for long stretches of time. Being Leda, she gets grumpy after awhile and needs it. I think we're very close to just suffering (ours, not theirs) for a few weeks by taking it away from both of them. It's easier when they're younger.
The problem with Cole being older is he's now a somewhat rational actor so bartering with him requires a bit more skill. Not that we're not up for the challenge. But like so much in life you have to choose your battles. And right now, if I had my choice, I'd choose for Leda to fall asleep before 10pm.
I haven't been that concerned about it. All the naysayers aside. Including our doctor--despite the fact that scientific evidence for it affecting anything dental or speech related is pretty slim. I haven't been that worried because, frankly, the blankie/milk/soothie combo has been all that keeps him manageable sometimes. And it clearly makes him happy...not like he'll go to college still sucking a pacifier. Let him enjoy his childhood.
We've chosen to start with the "big boys don't use soothies and you're a big boy now" route. He's allowed to have it for naps and bedtime, but the rest of the day it must be stored. But it's taken some sacrifices and supplemental comfort items. The trade-off is he's allowed to have as much milk as he wants to help him transition. So he's gone through a gallon in no time. Frequent trips to the fridge. He wet through his new, larger, size 5 Overnights diaper last night. And we now have an entire zoo of stuffed animals to snuggle. His horse. His dog. His wolf. Plus, of course, blankie.
Plus the added conversation of "remember, we are cuddling with Dog now instead" every time he asks for it. The irony is we had him putting it on top of his dresser when he woke up in the morning for awhile. Leda, at least, I can take her pacifier (not the same kind, mind you, but still called Soo) out and she won't notice it's gone for long stretches of time. Being Leda, she gets grumpy after awhile and needs it. I think we're very close to just suffering (ours, not theirs) for a few weeks by taking it away from both of them. It's easier when they're younger.
The problem with Cole being older is he's now a somewhat rational actor so bartering with him requires a bit more skill. Not that we're not up for the challenge. But like so much in life you have to choose your battles. And right now, if I had my choice, I'd choose for Leda to fall asleep before 10pm.