SAYING GOODBYE TO KAYDEN'S PACIFIER

All transitions have seem to come so easy to Kayden like his mind just mentally knows it's time to let it go saying bye to bottles...

First let me explain why Kayden had the pacifier in the first place. I live in fear I'm not afraid to admit it hearing horror stories of families loosing their babies to SIDS scared the living day lights out of me I wanted to take every precaution possible when Kayden was born to reduce the chances and that's when his pacifier came in. Pacifiers can get a bad wrap but I've had no issues with it other than I wish it wasn't in some of his photos ;) but from the moment Kayden was born I knew he'd have a pacifier. The original had to be replaced since it was lost when he was around 5 months old, the past few months we have slowly taken it away only letting him have it when he was in the car, sleeping or when he was really sick this past week since it's his comfort. Last week though I noticed it was coming a part at the seams on the side my mama instinct knew the pacifier was coming to an end it lasted another week till Mrach 5th.

March 5th Wednesday morning we went to Starbucks for a coffee treat I didn't notice anything wrong with his pacifier and he held onto it for most of the time in the car but once we got home I noticed he was playing with it and then he bent the nipple and said "uh oh" I looked closer and it was torn in half on one side. I told him, "oh no! It's broken now, you know what that means? That means you are a big boy and you can't have it anymore so was have to say bye bye to the pacifier." He looked at it again said uh oh and waved bye bye. And just like that I took it away. All morning we laughed and played and hurt our head pretty bad at one point so I made sure I really comforted him since I knew he'd want his pacifier for it but he was fine. We ate lunch cuddled on his couch, then he bit me a couple times I knew it was the lack of the pacifier the moment he did it he stopped once I told him that it wasn't nice to do that. Then 12:30 came and he was searching and getting sleepy I grabbed him his blanket and cup and put him in his crib for his nap I wanted to see how he'd do without me or the pacifier. I watched on the monitor as he searched for the pacifier and cried I felt bad but knew there wasn't anything I could do about what he wanted he sat in there for a bit and then stood up so I went in to comfort him. I rubbed his back and told him it's time to take a nap and that we said bye bye and it was all gone now, I rubbed his back and sang to him he passed right out after two rounds of "beside a western waterhouse" and in all honesty I cried the whole time and a few more minutes downstairs, it was harder for me than it was for him I think and I realized he's growing up fester than I expected. His nap lasted till 2pm and was pretty upset when he woke up I'm not sure if it had to do with the pacifier or gas pain but nothing seemed to make him happy at that moment.

The rest of the day minus hitting his head on the dining room table went great, he ate most of his dinner and played like normal never asking for his pacifier once and I noticed he talked a lot more that day he was also more affectionate. I can't lie I knew bedtime was coming soon and I was anxious because I didn't know how it would go I thought he would go to bed fine and then would be awoken 4 hours later extremely upset he didn't have a pacifier in there but that what I thought and what I thought was totally off. We started bedtime at 8:30 and of course he was fine at first but then searched for his pacifier again nowhere to be found so he cried a little then stood up I went in just like last time explaining it was gone just like last time but he wasn't having it he talked to me a little and I tried giving him a stuffed animal as a nighttime buddy but he didn't care for that either. Greg came in and we both tried to calm him down but he didn't want us to so after 25 mins of trying to convince him with us helping he pushed me away and I left the room I thought maybe he really does just want to cry it out on his own now and he did just that for maybe 5 mins it was probably less but if you've listened to your baby cry you know it seems like forever. Greg and I went to bed around 11 and Kayden slept the whole night he fussed once and then that was it.

Day 2 without it was the complete opposite, when nap time came he wanted nothing to do with me being in the room and wanted to try to sooth himself. Nothing makes me more sad than hearing my little man cry and I wish I could have just sung him to sleep like the day before but he just didn't want me there his nap lasted a little longer than the day before. How nap time went made me really dread bedtime but since his nap lasted longer I knew he wouldn't be tired till 10 so once bedtime hit Greg put him in his crib and he made a couple noises but that was it he fell right to sleep and only woke up cause of a bad dream once.

I know this isn't the end of it Kayden has to totally retrain himself to fall asleep on his own other than sleep though he doesn't ask for his pacifier and goes on with his day like it was never there in the first place and getting through our first week has been easier than I expected , he talks more, eats more, is more affectionate and seems to be more calm when out. Kayden I have to say no matter the worry in my mind when we go through changes you always blow me away by how well you transition, and I'm proud of you.