Withdrawl of the pacifier, that is . I figure if a not quite two year old can tell me clearly, "I want my blue pacifier" - then she's too old for one. Her nap yesterday was great. Last night was a horror show. She had touble getting to sleep without it and much more trouble getting back to sleep the few times she awoke during the night.

She managed to go down for a nap this afternoon without any fuss, but I am just dreading the night time!

I know this is necessary. She already is showing some overbite because of the pacifier - and she only uses it during sleep.

So - wish us luck and send sleep vibes our way.

Ame

By Reds9298 on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 03:12 pm:

Good luck!! We recently went through this and it was AWFUL, so we've been there!
>>>sleep vibes<<<

By Nicki on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 04:23 pm:

I hope it goes better tonight, Ame. I'm sending sleep vibes, too!

By Fraggle on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 09:54 pm:

We did the cold turkey thing with my youngest DD when she was 2 and she (well "we" ;-))had a few tough nights but within a week it was like it never existed to her. By the way her dentist told us that usually an overbite caused by pacifier use before the age of 2 tends to correct itself.

By Amecmom on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 09:56 pm:

Thanks, friends.
Pretty bad so far. Her passa is her transitional object. I have now become the transitional object. She would not go to sleep for my husband. I just came back from a meeting and had to put her to sleep now, at almost 10! I know I'm in for another rough night. Since she an her brother share a room it's doubly bad.
Deanna, how long did it take?
Ame

By Amecmom on Tuesday, August 22, 2006 - 10:37 am:

Well, she woke up once during the night and called for me. I had her drink some water (I keep a spill proof cup with a straw in her crib). I think the sucking on the straw calmed her a bit. She was able to lay back down and go to sleep.

I couldn't get to sleep because I kept expecting her to wake up.

A whole week, Meredith? I hope I can survive!. I'm sure that her teeth will come back into proper position. We had the same experience with her brother. It actually looks like he had braces!

Thanks!
Ame

By Reds9298 on Tuesday, August 22, 2006 - 11:53 am:

I turned into the substitute paci for a few days, too, Ame! She would cry and scream, I'd get her out, and she fall right back to sleep on me in the rocking chair. It was difficult to know what to do. I think, in different forms, it last for Natalie about 3 weeks. Everyone said it would be a few days of crying, but for us it was around 3 weeks before I felt like everything was back to normal and she was over it. She still takes the paci attachers (2) that were always on her pacis. She just holds them when she goes to sleep at night. It was SO HARD for my Natalie. I hope it is shorter for you and not as intense.

Natalie went to sleep okay, which was the tricking part. We were tricked at first into thinking that it wasn't as big of a deal as we thought it would be for her. It was upon waking in the night and the morning when she needed it the most. She was always a happy kiddo when she woke in the mornings...singing, talking, playing. Rarely crying. Once we threw away the paci, the woke up EVERY DAY SCREAMING...early, early and she couldn't get back to sleep. I've decided that if we have another child, when we get rid of it during the day, we're also doing it at night around 7mths. or so. This was way too hard on her!

Good luck for a smoother, short-lived transition!

By Amecmom on Wednesday, August 23, 2006 - 08:46 am:

Oh Deanna, I am sorry it was so hard for her and you. Last night she had trouble going to sleep, but not as much as the night before. She woke up twice during the night but was able to soothe herself back to sleep in a matter of a minute or so. This was the first night I have not had to go in there at all. Now, she is still sleeping - which is amazing because she is usually and early bird.
We spent the early afternoon at the lake yesterday,so I think it really wiped her out and relaxed her.
She's been waking up okay in the morning, but she calls me right away, rather than playing in her crib as she usually does.
I'm worried about what's going to happen when we have a sitter come to put her to sleep. I will need one in about three weeks. Hope she's over this and back into her good sleep habits by then.
Ame

By Reds9298 on Friday, August 25, 2006 - 04:12 pm:

Ditto on the calling right away in the mornings...it was so nice before because she always played for a long time before I had to go to her. What a luxury!

I'm glad it's going a little better. One thing I noticed (after a suggestion from someone on this board) was that when we started talking about her paci again, we started seeing improvements. We were avoiding the topic once we got rid of them, but I think talking about it helped her.

By Amecmom on Friday, August 25, 2006 - 05:45 pm:

Well - the baby wins! She could not get to sleep without it. She was talking and singing and doing everything but sleeping. She was not begging for her pacifier, which told me even she didn't know why she couldn't sleep.
The second I gave it to her, she was out.
I'll try again in a few weeks. Maybe she'll start to wean herself off it since she was without it for a few days.
Right now, it's better for her to be well rested and comfortable in her bed than for her to have anxiety over her missing comfort item.
Thanks for the ideas and the encouragement.

Oh! And that night that she did really well? I found a passa in her crib that afternoon when I put her down for her nap. I may have missed it when I was clearing them out or her brother may have found one and put it in her crib.

Ame

By Reds9298 on Friday, August 25, 2006 - 09:19 pm:

Ame- Glad you are doing what's best for your little one. I also don't think Natalie knew why she was having so much trouble. She never once begged or cried for her paci - she just cried. It really was awful. We actually got rid of hers because she finally chewed through the two she had and they were unsafe. We decided to just go with it and didn't replace them. We threw them away as a family and talked about the whole thing and when we threw them away she seemed thoughtful about the situation but didn't complain. It took about 3 days (and maybe she was just really tired on those days so that's why she slept well, who knows) before the withdrawal started.

I hope things work out for the best when you feel the time is right. Good luck int he future!