To Paci or Not to Paci

Pixie is in her room shrieking like a crazy lady. On Monday I decided to take away her pacifier cold-turkey style and the results haven't been pretty.

The whole paci thing was never a problem until a week ago. She customarily only got it in her crib and that was good enough for her. But she got really sick a few weeks ago and I just let her have it all the time since she looked so pathetic. After she got better she couldn't kick the habit and was actually getting more and more dependant on it. We were at a family reunion with tons of little babies last week and she strolled around the party pulling all the pacis out of the newborns mouths to claim for her own. I didn't realize what was going on until I found a small mountain of strange pacis next to me on the picnic bench and realized all the babies were crying. Pixie had a shiny new one plugged happily in her mouth in one more in each hand.

And so it ends. She's 18 months old and facing her biggest loss yet. On day one she asked for it a few times and couldn't take her morning nap. On day two, she cried in her crib for a while but then somehow found one stuck between her crib and the wall and napped happily. Today is Day Three and I've carefully checked her crib area for contraband paci's and put her mismatched collection of stolen pacis on a high shelf. Already, her shrieks have subsided into low, infrequent moans. With my luck, she'll become a thumb sucker.

I sucked my thumb until I was 5 years old. I'm the 6th of 9 kids and all the big sisters were doing it so how was I to know better? But when I was five my mom went on a anti-thumb campaign and put up posters all over the house with a picture of a little girl sucking her thumb with a big X over her. Then she promised me that if I stopped sucking my thumb she would buy me a Cabbage Patch Kid. This was at the height of Cabbage Patch Kid mania and stores were frequently back ordered. How could I resist? I had coveted one of those creepy hard headed dolls for months! I kicked the habit in no time and my mom presented me with Adrienne Jacobina, the Cabbage Patch Kid with blonde hair, green eyes and a left sided dimple just like me. On our first night together my mom snapped a picture of me sleeping happily, snuggling with Adrienne and sucking my thumb. Life was sweet.

Despite my track record, I have high hopes for little Pixie. Right now she's softly babbling in her room, repeating "paci...paci...paci" over and over in a cheerful little voice. Which one of us will crack first?

Comments

Anonymous said…
"On our first night together my mom snapped a picture of me sleeping happily, snuggling with Adrienne and sucking my thumb. Life was sweet."

I cannot tell you how disturbing I found that sentence, since I'd sort of skimmed over the CPK bit. I thought to myself "Whaaa? I...don't remember that... " until I realized I'd missed the whole part about Adrienne Jacobina (Jacobina? really?)

Also, darling shot of your kid throttling a kitten, there.
Anonymous said…
oh no. i have decided to encourage lily to use her paci more since i knew that you had had a lot of luck with penny. lily doesn't even like it, but i have been trying to make her keep taking it to manage her sleeping and car seat crying.

maybe this is a good time to try to switch penny to one afternoon nap since you were thinking about doing it anyway. it might help if she is a little more drowsy.

Also, that was hilarious about Adrienne skimming the blog. HAHA.
Left-Handed said…
Two of my sisters had pacifiers... but my parents never took them away. They both stopped using them when they started to get teased by their peers about it. Do I dare say how old they were? At least if your daughter picks up the thumb instead, she won't be able to loose it or take other kids thumbs to suck on.
Spike said…
if penny starts thumb sucking because you took away her paci, i swear i am not paying for her to get braces.
Anonymous said…
mom told me she'd get me a baby all-gone if i kicked the thumb sucking habit.
lets just say the reward was sorely disappointing, and not worth the effort.
Anonymous said…
So are you sucking again, Nubsy Wubsy?

BTW, I vote for the thumb over the paci any day. I always like to see a self-sufficient kid rather than one who demands I run all over the place trying to find a plastic thing to placate them. Let them placate themselves!

And don't worry your golden head, Adam, about ortho bills for baby suckers. What kid gets buck baby teeth? By the time their fellow kindergarteners lay into them with well-deserved taunts over their thumbsucking, those baby teeth are just getting ready to fall out anyway, and when the Real Things come in, the habit is gone. ...Unless your kid has some severe emotional damage, which I can't address. It's out of my league. Best left to the pros.
Anonymous said…
I don't know about the Paci, but how about that poor kitten???

It looks like she is about to dismember the darling little thing...
Spike said…
no no no, barbara. if you mess up your baby teeth, your adult teeth grow in crooked. take it from a guy who did exactly that, and spent 2 years in braces paying the price.
Mrs. Mike said…
Good luck. It took my son about a week to get over his "binky" after I took it away. I very nearly caved several times, but I stuck it out and now I'm glad.

When was your cabbage patch kid's birthday? I, too, coveted such a doll, and remember feeling gipped (sp?) that all cabbage patch dolls were born either September 1 or November 1. How original is that? I guess when dolls are born in a cabbage patch they all emerge the same day. That would make them a determinate vegetable.
Anonymous said…
Be strong, Sarah! You will not crack! If you do, I'll come over and take Penny's paci away for you! :)
Anonymous said…
Rachel:

I always found it creepy that the little birth certificate Cabbage Patch Kids came with had a space to write in the mother's name (you) but the father's name was always... Xavier Roberts. Ew.

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