1 Mother 2 Another

So far, so good with the pacifier-free
zone, but not without trials and tribulations.


As I mentioned, we’d spent all of Monday preparing Cora for
the imminent pacifier removal, and she’d nod solemnly.
Tuesday morning, I took the pacifier from her when she woke and
said, “Time to put the pacifier away for good! No more
pacifier for my big girl!” and she agreed and went downstairs
for breakfast.


My brave girl went the entire day without asking for her
pacifier.

Naptime rolled pretty well, until it came
time to actually do the nap thing. What I mean is that we read
books and said prayers and cuddled with nary a tear or mention of
the pacifier, and she fell asleep rocking in my arms. As soon as I
put her in her crib, though, Cora began screaming for me –
something she hasn’t done for months – and begging me
to pick her up and take her out. Cora cried for a total of an hour
and a half, never falling asleep, before I finally went in and
picked her up.


But I have to say again, the whole time she cried she never once
asked for her pacifier back.


Nighttime went much smoother, since she was so worn out; she simply
crashed and didn’t even wake up when I put her down.
I’d thought she’d wake up every few hours and cry
without the pacifier to get her back to sleep, but she
didn’t: Cora slept hard for almost twelve hours.


Wednesday morning we rejoiced over how she’d gone a whole day
without the pacifier, and announced we’d have a movie night
to celebrate the event that night. Cora did sleep at naptime, but
not until she’d cried for half an hour.


And begged for her pacifier the whole time.


Yes, it seems her bravery had finally run out and she
couldn’t live without it any more. But as I said, she fell
asleep and didn’t bring it up again. We made a big deal out
of it that night, fixing popcorn and smoothies and eating the
snacks on Ariel trays while watching a Thomas video. Cora was
excited and full of self-importance and really seemed to be getting
ok with the whole thing.


I don’t think the work is over, but I do think she’s
adjusting well, and I believe that’s at least partly because
we have talked openly about the pacifier, rather than just hiding
it and pretending it never existed. I know we were running a risk
with that; bringing the pacifier up when she wasn’t
mentioning it may have “reminded” her and made her
crave it. But I think it was the right thing to do, because we were
constantly assuring her she was doing great and being a very brave
girl.


We’ve also told her she can’t sleep in a big-girl bed
until she gives it up, so she knows she’ll be graduating out
of the crib soon, which is very exciting to her. We’ve got
the toddler aero-bed all ready, and a few months after sleeping on
that on the floor Cora will get to move to the beautiful big bed I
just found for her on Craig’s List.


Of course, putting high-energy, get-into-mischief kind of girl like
Cora into a regular bed and out of the safety of those confining
crib bars will bring its own set of headaches, but for now
I’m basking in glow of being a proud mama to a brave little
girl.