Paci- free!

4 days ago I took Canaan's pacifier away. He was already used to not having it during the day except for nap-time and bed-time, but he was pretty attached to it during those sleepy times. Theories abound on the best ways to do this. Wean them slowly, cut the tips off and tell them it's broken... exchange it for a big boy gift... I'm more of the cold turkey approach. :) All the books and blogs say if you go cold turkey, you are in for 3 days of crying and withdrawals, and then you're through. I can do three days of anything.

So 4 days ago, without any kind of game plan, I put Canaan down for his nap with his usual bed-time items-- a Mickey Mouse and a Tigger. Without the paci. Or without the "uh-oh," as he has long referred to it. He didn't ask for it, and I was like, "Well, this might be easier than I thought..." after I left the room, the crying began, so I went back in, and asked him what was wrong. He had clued in. "I want my uh-oh." So, I took a deep breath and said, "Sorry buddy, uh-oh's all gone. You are a big boy now, and big boys don't have uh-oh's." Then I offered him a variety of other things to sleep with to make the transition easier. He tearfully accepted a big boy pillow, but turned down any other stuffed animal. Then, I left the room to sit in the game room and see how it would all play out.

He cried for 27 minutes. The bulk of which he kept up a mantra of, "No thank you MUCH! No thank you MUCH!" as he (politely) protested this new arrangement. Then he fell asleep. At bed-time, he didn't even put up a fuss. I thought, "Geez, that was it?" But day 2 at nap time, he cried for nearly 40 minutes before falling asleep. At bed-time it was closer to 10. And yesterday, we had a cease-fire on the crying-- just chatting. Apparently, without a pacifier, he TALKS himself to sleep. 3 days. Paci-free before his 2nd birthday. Cold turkey. I'm a fan.