I finally decided it was time. Actually, I decided that a few months ago, but I finally got the courage (thanks to my doctor and Daddy) to just do it. We have been battling illnesses off/on the past month or so, and I finally got a window of opportunity. I knew it would be a rough few days without sleep. And who wants to lose sleep...by choice?! :)
Unlike with Lily, I did not have a set plan. With her, we used the "paci fairy" and that was it. We talked about it for weeks ahead of time and it worked great. With Jackson, I knew it was going to be a tougher transition, so I grabbed onto anything I thought would work!
The process started with watching the Elmo "Bye Bye Pacifier" video. We watched that for about a week, and then decided he grasped the idea that he was ready to be a "big boy" and give the pacifiers to babies who needed them...i.e. cousins Charlie and Ethan! :) So, Monday we gathered up all of the pacifiers into a paper bag and discussed how the "paci fairy" would be coming to get them and take them to Charlie and Ethan. He also has a couple of buddies from church that he sees regularly, and do not have pacifiers. I was able to successfully use them as "big boy" examples. :)
That night, there were about 20 minutes of tears, and then he finally settled down. I went in periodically to check on him and then finally ended up rubbing his back and he fell asleep.
Tuesday, no tears! He whined a little just before nap and bed time, but once we read books and he climbed in bed, I just rubbed his back for a few minutes and he was out!
Since we are on day 3, I'm pretty confident we are through the worst of it. Phew!
Next up, potty-training after the holidays! Never a dull moment in the Bolinger house! :)
