Pacifier? What Pacifier?

Shane is pacifier free!!

It has been just a few weeks and the road has been bumpy, but we did it. Ok, ok, we may have had a little help. From this little guy:

(The tummy glows and plays lullaby songs.)

So, in case you were wondering: Yes, we basically replaced one addiction for another. Adam wasn't too keen on the idea, but I bought the seahorse anyway because as Adam always says, I'm in charge. :)

I've heard from so many people that weaning your kid from the pacifier is SO HARD. When we decided to give it a try I was worried that it might be too early, too late or we might not have the right tactics. I asked my sister for advice since she has "been there, done that." She said the things that helped her kids the most were a favorite blanket and a favorite stuffed animal.

Favorite blanket: check.
Favorite stuffed animal: uhhh...

Shane has never cared much for stuffed animals. We show them to him and he pushes them away to find a cooler toy. I really don't care that he doesn't like stuffed animals, but it sure was going to make weaning from the pacifier a lot harder. Shane was already used to sleeping with both his blanket AND his pacifier, so the blanket itself wasn't going to do much to REPLACE the pacifier. I know he could have done without the adorable seahorse (and I am still wondering if I should regret my choice), but it was SO MUCH EASIER with it.

Shane LOVES the glowing stomach and music. He turns it on as soon as I lay him down in his crib and even when he wakes up sometimes. He doesn't cuddle with it. He prefers it laying next to him so he can flip through a book and listen as he falls asleep.

The other night I laid Shane in bed, turned the seahorse on and realized the batteries were really low. The music didn't even sound like music. So I took the seahorse and told Shane I was going to go fix it and that I would be right back. As I pulled the seahorse out of the crib, he clamored to grab it and pull it back. He had a betrayed look on his face. As I was replacing the batteries Shane started crying. I walked back in to his room holding up the "fixed" seahorse (music playing) and Shane looked so delighted. He reached out for it, positioned it where he wanted it and waved good night to us. We turned out the lights, closed the door and didn't hear a peep from him the rest of the night.

Part of me misses the pacifier because it always made Shane so happy to see it. He always got the biggest smile when I pulled it out and gave it to him. It calmed him down in so many situations. Shane probably would have sucked and chewed on that thing forever, but that's what I was afraid of.