He Kicked the Habit

If you know Jack you know he LOVES his pacifier. The pacifier was a life saver when Jack was a baby and while I vowed he would give it up by his first birthday...he did not. I'm quite certain that he could have done without his pacifier much earlier and had I taken it away when he was one, he probably would have done fine. The thing is, I was addicted to the pacifier. Those moments when peace and quiet was what I needed I could count on that pacifier to meet my needs! Earlier this summer we actually came really close to having this habit kicked. Jack was doing a really good job at leaving his pacifier in his bed and only using it at nap time and bed time. But then the twins came along. You hear people talk about older children regressing with a new baby (babies) around and that's pretty much what happened. He saw the pacifiers for the twins (that looked just like his) and we did not have the energy to stick to our guns and keep the pacifier out of his mouth. But as of Sunday the pacifier is gone. Cold turkey, just like that. He's not using it during the day or even when he sleeps. He threw it in the garbage tonight and traded it in for something better...monster trucks. Perhaps he'll need some toddler friends to commiserate with or a "Pacifier Anonymous" group to help him through those moments when all he can think about is sucking on some plastic. But I think he'll be ok. And now when he asks for a pacifier he does so with a grin on his face, knowing good and well that those days are behind us, but checking just to make sure.