Pacifier free!

Well, after 16 months of life with a pacifier, this cutie is now pacifier free!!

I feel like this is some sort of AA, smoking, or food addiction thing. "I'm Bob, and I haven't smoked in 5 years." "I'm Susie, and I haven't had any caffeine for 3 months." "I'm Cooper, and I haven't used a pacifier in over a week!"  So some have asked the hows and whys....so here are the details.

First off, this was a mom and dad choice, not a Cooper choice.  I had the goal of him being finished with the pacifier before the new baby comes, but through the holidays, I noticed that he was starting to enjoy and depend on the pacifier more.  We had just been giving him a pacifier when he was laying down for naps/bedtime, sometimes in the car, and when it was a sensitive day that he seemed to really benefit from it.  Recently though, he would go in his room and grab a pacifier off the nightstand and come back in with it into the living room.  Or if he saw me get in the diaper bag while we were in the car, he would start saying, "pas-eye (paci) ... peas (please) ... peas (please) ... peas (please) ... peas (please) ... peas (please) ..."  He seemed to notice it and want it.  I thought that once we got home and we're going to be home for a little while would be a good time to try and get rid of it.  This wasn't an experiment that I wanted to try out while we were traveling or staying with other people.  So how did we break him of the pacifier?  Cold Turkey.  We just moved them out of sight, and thought we would try to lay him down for bed without it one night.  And that was successful!  And he did great the whole next day too!  There have been some moments that it's been tempting to just give it to him--knowing it would help calm him down.  He had a rough day last Wednesday (interrupted sleep from New Year's Eve could have been part of the problem though) and he was just a little more fragile than normal that day.  On Sunday, he ran a fever all day, and I know that would have been soothing for him.  Yesterday, nap strike.  Today, interrupted nap from a noise outside.  So yes, there have been moments that I wish he had it.  He has done really well though.  We have noticed him looking for it at times, and I think he has asked about it first thing on some mornings, but he has been great!  So last night, our four little friends went into the trash.

(Now here is my "I don't want to offend anyone" speech):
If your child uses a pacifier, that is great.  If your child does not use a pacifier, that is great.  We are just trying to learn this parenting thing a day at a time.  We felt it was a good time to wean Cooper from the pacifier, and he has responded well.