No More "Pacy"

     This little girl has loved her pacifier from day 1. Around the time Nathan was born we decided to limit the "pacy" to bedtime and nap time so that we could eventually wean her off of it. But lately she had been sneaking into her room, snatching it from her bed, and sucking on it until I would notice. For the last few weeks I have been constantly telling her that she can't have it, that she needed to put it back in her bed, etc. I was sick of it. So on Friday night Sam and I sat her down and told her how Evie didn't have a pacy anymore because she was a big girl, and that in the morning she was going to throw her pacy in the garbage so she could be a big girl too. She listened, but had a confused look on her face. She even repeated back to us "My big girl. My put pacy in garbage." But we were a little bit worried, to say the least. She has always been a great sleeper, so we didn't want to mess that up by taking her pacifier away.

     When she woke up the next morning we reminded her about how she was going to be a big girl and throw her pacy in the garbage. She took the pacifier out of her mouth, walked over to the trash can, and put her pacy in. Then she started to cry. We thought she was sad that her pacy was gone, but she was saying "My green pacy!" (which is really purple) To our surprise she ran back to her bed, threw her purple pacifier in the trash, and stopped crying. I was surprised that she did it so willingly.

     Nap time came around, and I was worried again about how it would go. But when she asked for her pacy I just said "Where is your pacy?" and she said, "Garbage. I big girl." And that was that. She went to sleep without a single complaint.

     She also did well that night with a babysitter. Sam and I told the babysitter where it was in case she threw a fit since I didn't want her to have to deal with a tantrum, (don't worry, we had taken it out of the trash and cleaned it! :)) but when bed time came and she asked for the pacy, the babysitter told her it was in the garbage. She cried a little, but the babysitter gave her a book to take to bed instead, and she was fine.

     She asks me occasionally for her pacy, but I just remind her that it is in the garbage, and that is that. I am so impressed with how well she is doing without it. And, frankly, quite surprised!

(Ellie likes to "snuggle" with mom or dad each night before she goes to sleep. Her bed isn't very big, but she insists that we lay next to her. I know it won't be long before she doesn't want us to snuggle anymore, so I'm trying to make the most of it.)

      Sam said to me the other night, "I can't believe I will never see that little girl with a pacy in her mouth again!" She's growing up. Sniff. I can't believe she's not a baby anymore.

     And, honestly, I think I will miss seeing it in her mouth too.

Love,