Farewell pacis!

For a few months I've been struggling with the notion (and the methodology) for weaning Sabrina off her beloved "paci". She would ask for it as soon as her butt went in the crib for naps or bedtime (she's been using it solely at bedtime since she was about 7 months old). One night a few weeks ago, I decided I would see what happened if I simply didn't give it to her as I put her down for the night; she cried and cried for 15 minutes, until the time I went back upstairs to give it to her. So I knew a cold turkey option would be rough on everyone in our house, and I wanted to avoid that.


I did some research on-line and found a site, developed by a dad, that spelled out step-by-step instructions to wean your kid in 7 days. It claimed to be a low-stress method for the child (important), and one that should eventually lead to the child rejecting the paci. Great! The more I read it, the more excited I became to try it. The premise is to reduce the nice feeling of the paci in the child's mouth. So step 1 involves snipping the very tip, so that "squiggy" feeling goes away. The next night you use a large needle and poke 7 holes through what's left. The next night you cut a slit down the part that rests against the tongue (again, it will feel weird to them). If at any point the child says something about it being broken, the guidelines say to just give them a different one that has the same special "features" :) Never deny them at this point, not until they say they don't want it. If the child hasn't rejected by this point, keep cutting away more and more of it until it's just a nub.

So I decided to use the method but over a longer period of time (2-3 nights at each step versus one night). And it worked BEAUTIFULLY! The first night I gave her the modified paci with the tip snipped off (which I did when she wasn't looking), she kind of raised one eyebrow when it went into her mouth, but kept sucking (I tried to keep a straight face). After about a week of doing this, I would ask her if she wanted her paci once she was in the crib, she'd either say no or just not answer. I would respond "OK, well, I'll put it here next to you just in case". Two nights ago I stopped asking altogether and that was it! She stopped asking for it and has slept just fine.

Oh, and I took away the one that stays at day care for naps (which was also being modified as went along). Glad I remembered to do that :)