Another One Bites the Dust

I hate pacifiers. Loathe them in fact. Before both of our girls were born, I vowed that they would never use one. Within their first days of life however, that vow went out the window. Sleep trumps all silly pre-baby vows and I begrudgingly encouraged full paci-addictions for both of my girls. They were instant paci-holics too. They didn't just use them during grumpy times or sleep times, they used them all of the times. It bothered me, but I let it happen. I couldn't wait until the day that I weaned them from those suckers (pun intended) once and for all.

I cannot explain why I hate pacifiers so much. I have not had any bad experiences with them that scarred me for life. I have never read any horrifying studies on pacifier use. I don't really have a reason, I just hate them. So getting rid of them has been a bit of an exciting thing for me. My poor paci-loving girls. 

Weaning Beatrice from the paci was relatively easy. It took about a day or 2 for her to get over wanting/needing it to fall asleep. Weaning Penelope has been completely different. I waited until after we returned home from our latest trip to Tennessee to begin the process. Homegirl fought me on that stupid piece of rubber for 9 days. 9 days of crying nearly all day. 9 days of zero naps. 9 days of near insanity for me.

My girls are stubborn, that's for sure, but their mama is more stubborn. As much as I wanted the crying to stop, I was not giving in and giving her back the paci. If anything, the more she cried for it, the more I was driven to stand my ground. Does that make me a bad mommy? Finally, she stopped crying and resumed her nap schedule. The paci war is over and life can go back to normal.

Of course, if we ever have another baby I vow to never give it a pacifier. Those things are my mortal enemies and even though I have won the battle twice now, I don't want to fight it ever again.