The Middlebrooks Family: Withdrawal...

When Ansley was a year old the pediatrician told us it was time to take her beloved paci away! We did not have the heart to take it away.....or the courage. Ansley has NEVER been a great sleeper & we just knew it was going to be rough, to say the least, once we finally got rid of the paci. We decided to let her keep it but ONLY in the crib. That transition was much easier than anticipated. Looking back, that should have been our clue to do it then, completely.

Brian & I decided that at 18 months, we would finally take it away for good. However, at 18 months, we were about to move & Hayes was arriving in 4 short months. Ansley was about to go through a lot of change & we thought that she would need that darn paci for "security" purposes. So, 2 years became our new cut-off. And believe me, the closer her birthday came, the more anxious Mommy & Daddy got.

Let me just say that taking Ansley's pacifier away was like watching a drug addict going through withdrawal. The first night actually wasn't so bad....the next day at nap time however was 2 hours of pure hell! Ansley was screaming, throwing herself on the floor, banging her head against the crib, etc....for 2 HOURS!!! It was all I could do not to run into her room & just give the darn thing back to her.

It got better each day & by day 4 she didn't even ask for it anymore. The other mistake we made was turning her crib into a "big girl bed" BEFORE taking the paci away. Totally should have done it the other way around. Then at least she would have been trapped in the crib. BUT it's done & we are so relieved.

Words of advice to anyone that has a pacifier lover.....take that thing away no later than 12 months! Sooner if you can! With Hayes, we use it some during the day, but he has never been given the paci at night and you better believe all paci's will be out of this household by the time Hayes is 7 months old. We are NOT going through that ever again!

Ha! I actually couldn't find that many pictures of the paci!

Here is a picture of Ansley's 1st trip to the dentist....no cleaning yet, but they looked in her mouth & said she looked great! She got a new toothbrush & lots of stickers! She'll go back at 3 for her 1st cleaning.