Paci-free!

I have been reluctant to share this because we all know that as soon as you declare something publicly with children, they decide to flip the whole thing on you, just to show you who's boss.

But it's been eight whole nights and so I think (hope? pray?) I'm in the clear.

Clair has not had her pacifier since Sunday Aug. 30th!!

My original goal was to put a stop to her nighttime addiction when she turned 2. That deadline was blown out of the water by her supreme-and-total love for that danged thing. If we even suggested she could sleep without it, she would FLIP. OUT.

Is that Sophie in that picture? Awwww! Sophie!

So our new deadline became 3. I didn't want to do it right after she started school because I thought that was too many changes, and that we'd be taking away her one source of comfort. (Poor thing.) So I was all prepared to defy the dentist's admonitions about the pacifier and let her have it a few more months. OK,  I also didn't want to deal with it. But it was mostly about Clair and her comfort! Or halfway about Clair. Whatever.

Anyway, then we went to my friend Andrea's wedding and had the kids sleep overnight at my parents. I somehow forgot the pacifier. My Mom called to tell me we forgot it, and there was a moment of panic (mine). But then I remembered that whenever Michelle would babysit for us at night, and put the kids to sleep, she would never give Clair her paci, and my child would be just fine with that. Like, Southern belle agreeable about it. But with us? FANTASTIC, ACADEMY-AWARD-WINNING FLIPPING OUT.

Anyway, Clair slept without her paci at my parents without incident. So the next night, at home, I just decided to keep it up. I just didn't give her her paci. It was touch and go there for a minute, especially the first couple nights. She slept, but not without giving me the Spanish Inquisition. Seriously, this girl should work for the NSA or something. She would NOT let up. If I knew state secrets, I probably would have given them to her, just to get her to shut up and go to sleep! Eventually I had to lie get creative and tell her the paci-fairy came and took all the pacis to give them to little babies who needed them. This didn't fully satisfy her - in fact, it kinda freaked her out that there was someone in her room who she couldn't see, and that caused a whole chain reaction of other sleep challenges. (#notmysmartestidea) ...

But there was nothing she could do about the fact that there were no more pacis, so eventually, finally, she just accepted it, and slept. And now, she doesn't even ask about it anymore!

Unless something crazy happens (and I have learned enough in my few years of parenting to know that that is entirely possible), I feel fairly ...hmm.. somewhat? ...sorta comfortable declaring our house officially paci-free!

Detective Mom and The Mystery of the Fallen Pacifiers

Clair has a bit of a problem with her pacis. She's addicted. When it comes time for her father and me to break her of this habit, I don't predict it will be pretty.

In order to keep my little addict from going through paci withdrawal over night, I have resorted to putting a jillion of the little suckers (get it?) in her crib at night, and I roll up receiving blankets and stuff them between the crib slats and the mattress, to try to prevent them from falling out.

But try as I might to prevent fallen pacis, every morning there are a near-jillion pacifiers on the floor near her crib. (She always has one in her mouth, so it's usually a jillion minus one.)

We all know Clair is a wild sleeper. But I just could not understand how she managed to litter the floor with pacifiers so successfully every night.

Good thing I grew up reading Encyclopedia Brown and Trixie Belden books! Because, I think I might have solved The Mystery of the Fallen Pacifiers.

That girl there on the cover? That's me.