Can't say we didn't try...

* written May 2015

Oh man, November 4th was a sad night.  For that was the night we first tried to take away binky.

Nolan was about to turn 2, and I had read that sometimes it's no big deal to take away a pacifier.  Like -- parents build it up like it's going to be World War 3, but when it happens, the kid does fine!  N was only using his for bed and nap time - and really only to fall asleep, not all night - so I thought, "Nolan's pretty chill about a lot of things.  Maybe this will be us!"  By the way, whoever wrote that has never been a toddler parent and was writing purely on hired obligation.

We had also read that it's sometimes effective to simply snip the end of the pacifier, rendering it ineffective for getting suction so the baby simply loses interest, letting the paci fall by the wayside.  Again -- this is bogus.  We didn't know that, but were we about to learn.

So, Mikel and I teamed up for the whole bedtime routine as is often the case.  Bath, lotion, teeth, jams, book.  Totally normal.  Then we lay him in his crib - "goodnight!  we love you!" - insert snipped binky and run out.  Then watch the monitor.

Nolan sits up.
Takes the paci out of his mouth.
Fingers it around a bit, trying to examine it in the dark.
Puts it back in.
Twists it in his mouth.
Pulls it out.

Sticks it in.

Pulls it out and tosses it aside.
Then starts patting and sweeping his crib with his little hands in search of a different paci.
Finding only the snipped one, he tried it a couple more times --- then MAYDAY.  

The saddest, most defeated little confused cry!

Not totally invested in this little experiment, we didn't push it.  I mean, the kid sleeps like 13 hours per night and takes a 2 hr nap, so this wasn't totally worth jeopardizing our whole livelihood over that exact night.

I ran upstairs with a new binky in hand, ready to hand it over and lull him to sleep.  I gave it to him, bid him goodnight again --- but when I left, he just sat in his bed and whimpered pitifully for 20 minutes.

Talk about tugging at heartstrings!  Rocked his little world.

Now, 6 months later, we still have the paci -- and actually, now he insists on having two!  Think he got wise?
But you know what else we have?  A majorly solid sleeper.  And some things aren't worth rocking the boat for........  We shall see.