Goodbye Pacifier – Hello Paci Puppy!

I guess it’s becoming a family tradition for us now. When a new baby comes along, it’s time for the older child to give up their pacifier, or paci. Our oldest had a deep and abiding love for her paci. I think that these pictures say it all. She had a knack for always finding a paci, couldn’t sleep without it, and wanted one in her mouth throughout the day if we would let her. Giving up the paci was painful for her – and us.

When Ezra came along, I’d hoped not to depend on a paci, but we did. It’s been much smoother sailing this time.  We kept the paci primarily to nap and bedtime and he became attached to a blanket my oldest sister Meredith made him. Finding that blanket became much more important than searching for a paci. We were also less afraid to be firm about the paci being only for sleep time as he grew older and we weren’t afraid to put him to bed without it when necessary. The paci stopped being a diaper bag necessity long ago. Despite this, he suddenly became attached to it over the past couple of months and I did not want a repeat of the agony of letting it go that we went through with Ella.

The paci attachment was so strong with Ella, we needed a way to help her let it go, but still keep the comfort of it, just like a child would with a treasured blanky. As luck would have it, we went to visit some friends in Chicago and they encouraged us to make it a paci-free trip for her. They were so sweet and put up with her fussing for it. She made it two nights without the paci and we decided to take her to Build-a-Bear to officially say goodbye to it.

With our next baby due next month, I wanted to tackle the paci and potty training. I might end up with two in cloth diapers for a little while, but we did say goodbye to Ezra’s paci on Saturday. When Ella made her Paci Bunny, she seriously struggled with letting the pacifier go. Thankfully, Ezra responded in a different way. He was cool when his dad had him throw away the blue paci (which, somehow, managed to get a hole in it that same day) before we headed on our “mystery ride.” Then, he happily picked out a stuffed puppy and didn’t resist putting the paci inside and didn’t mind when the salesclerk sewed it away. Once it was inside, we let him feel for it, so he new that he still had the paci with him in a way.

He seems perfectly happy to sleep with his puppy (much easier to find than a paci) and his blanky at night. Phew. What a relief! If you are trying to help your little one let go of a beloved paci, I highly recommend this. It’s been suggested to me that you could make your own stuffed animal and do this yourself at home as well. Our family has just found that it’s an effective way to let go of that last paci (don’t be afraid to give any extras a bit of assistance getting lost or broken). Your child gets to have a special adventure and they let go of the pacifier addiction, while still having it nearby.