My Big Girl

Greg and I have debated how we are going to get Paige off of her pacifier which she affectionately refers to as her "mi-mi". When a child can carry on a conversation without removing it from her mouth, or flip it right side up without the use of her hands, she is entirely too old for it. The silly thing is, she still uses the 0-6 months ones and doesn't like the bigger ones.

While Greg was on the deer hunt, I tried to put her to bed without it one night because they were all lost. She seemed to understand that. She woke up at midnight traumatized. I got her back to sleep and she woke up at 1:30. This time there was no calming her. I decided it may not be worth the trauma to just go cold turkey.

Our new approach is to restrict it to bedtime. On Sunday, we told her that it was only for bed. Then, we had to stick to our guns and follow through- the hard part. There is something so satisfying about making our children happy that it is difficult to withhold something she wants so bad. But, we persevered. We distracted her all through sacrament and almost gave up twice.

When we got home, she beelined for her bed. So, the funny part is that I didn't specify sleep only, I merely said if she wants it, she has to suck on it in her bed. She quickly discovered that it didn't matter what time of day it is, if she sat in her bed, she could suck on it. I went with it. All week, she has been going into her room at random times to get a "hit".



Two days into it, she started getting sneaky. She came out of her room with her blanket over her mouth thinking I wouldn't know what was under there. She pretended to be a ghost and when I lifted up her blanket, there it was. I heard my door shut and went to open it. She locked it and sat behind it sucking on her mimi. Now, we are on day four and she is doing much better. She still claims to be tired so she can sit in her bed a little, but when she gets out, she leaves it there. Or, she brings it to me and says "don't need it, I'm a big girl". Hopefully, we can phase this thing out before the baby comes. Any advice would be most appreciated.