Kicking the Habit

Compared to my last few posts, this one may seem really boring, but I wanted to write about it because it is a milestone in my book. We are officially one week pacifier free!  I was a little to hesitant to write about it before, and as you can see, I have had more fun things to post about the last few days.

One of my goals this summer was to break Kenley of her pacifier addiction.  She mostly only used it for naps and sleeping, but a few weeks back when she got sick, she seemed to get more attached to it.  I know it was comforting her when she wasn't feeling so good, so I let her have it.  Then, when we were on vacation, I was worried about her not napping or sleeping well being away from home, so she had it a little bit more then too.  The last few weeks, she also would ask for it by saying, "The Pac!  The Pac!" Or asking for her blanket and "Pac Too!"  I knew it was time to try and take it, even though I dreaded it, and thought for sure it would be a few days of Hell.

So, she went to bed with it one last night, and when she woke up in the morning I took it, and I hid all of the other pacifiers laying around the house too. (so I thought)  I cut the tip off of one of the pacifiers and when she asked for it I gave her the "broken" one.  She threw a big fit, but I distracted her and then we left the house for the day.  I showed her the broken one a few times throughout the day and when she was in a really good mood I asked her if she wanted to throw the paci away.  Of course I had to say it in a voice that seemed like this would be something really fun to do, so she did it received a big round of applause afterward. 

She did not ask for it anymore that day, but a few hours later when it was time for bed, I knew that the hard part was just beginning.  She cried in her crib for almost an hour, feel asleep for about 2 hours and then woke up and cried a bit more before going back to sleep, but then slept through the night!  Ray and I didn't even have to use he ear plugs that were on our bedstands "just in case." 

The next morning I told her how proud I was and how she was such a big girl.  She only asked for it once or twice over the next day or two.  We only had one little setback.  We were in my room and I was straightening up, when I looked over and saw her sucking on a paci!  I have no idea where she got it from or how she found it, but I immediately snatched it away from her.  Again, she was not happy that I took it away after she only had a few seconds of being reuinted with it, but there was no way I was going to undo the 2 days of hard work.

The last few days she hasn't asked for it once, and she has been going down for naps and bedtime really good!  I am proud of Kenley and proud of myself for not giving in and knowing it would be a few hard days and then (hopefully) it would be over, and it was.  Although, I have to admit, looking back at all these pictures makes me remember the good old "baby" days with her paci. 

Here's where it all began, at the hospital!  I should have known by the way she was gripping it that it would be hard to say goodbye!