Day One

I have a policy. Maybe you'd call it a parenting philosophy. My children will have a pacifier when they are newborns. It helps with the transition out of night feedings and it keeps them from crying as frequently in the car. But, they will not be allowed to use the pacifier past 18 months. Why 18 months? Well, because that's the age they can go into nursery at church and taking a pacifier into the nursery is just not a good idea. All went well with Arwen. She loved her pacifier, but we convinced her to throw it in the trash before she was 18 months old. Then came Eleanor. She, too, did excellently and we disposed of it in plenty of time to go into the nursery. But, there was one thing we hadn't anticipated. The age span between Ellie and Arwen is almost three years. the age span between Ellie and Jack is barely over two years. Consequently, when Jack came along we introduced the pacifier and were content until very shortly thereafter, when Eleanor took notice. At first it was just pointing at it or holding it, but it didn't take long before she figured out that she also liked to suck on it. It's been a battle for the last year to get her to stop taking his pacifiers and to keep them out of her mouth. To no avail.

A couple of weeks ago I tried to get rid of the pacifiers with Jack, but I gave in when he was miserable from teething and was crying in the middle of the night. However, Jack just turned 18 months old last Monday. This time I will not fail! Yesterday in the afternoon I stealthily removed the pacifiers from sight. Then, last night we put Jack to bed without it. And he didn't need it in the middle of the night! I'm soooo happy. But, today is officially Day One. Eleanor already asked where it was, but I told her he doesn't have one anymore. So far, so good. Jack seems quite happy under the circumstances. We'll see.

I just hope that it isn't a problem later this week when we move. I repeat myself: we'll see. Next step, getting him to sleep in his own bed at night!