A Year of Gratitude #67

 

A Year of Gratitude #67: No Pacifier Addiction

I don't know if there's anything that I find more annoying than a child over the age of one with a pacifier in their mouth. I'm sure there are people who will hate me for this post, but it's my blog and I'll write what I want.  :-)

When Gus was six months, his pediatrician and I talked about the paci and if there was any real benefit to continue using it after the first six months. She said that if he could go without, it was probably best because it becomes addictive and habitual for many children.

Steve and I decided that there are other things that we'd rather have him become addicted to (such as a lovey) than a paci. So after November 11, 2010, we said goodbye to all the pacifiers in the house and Gus knew no different.

As he's gotten older, I've been more and more thankful that we stopped it when we did. I know MANY people with kiddos his age (and older) who STILL have to deal with the paci issue. Some only let their child have it when driving (it calms them I guess?) or at bedtime. 

I've always been one to believe that you do whatever you have to do at bedtime to get your child to sleep. If it's co-sleeping, reading 1,000 books, leaving a nightlight for them, giving a bottle, and yes, giving the paci, do whatever it takes. 

It's seeing a child out in public, with a paci in their mouth that annoys me to no end. It just might be my #1 pet peeve. It's even worse when the child is old enough to talk. 

I was just reading a post that one of the May 2010 moms wrote on my May Monsters 2010 FB board wrote. She said that her child won't sleep through the night unless they have a paci in their mouth and if it falls out, when they wake, they scream because they don't have it. It made me SO THANKFUL that I don't have this problem.

I think children can easily get fixated on things and pacis seem to be something that MANY grow insanely attached to. Why don't more doctors tell parents (like mine did) that after six months, there's no real benefit to using a pacifier? The first six months, yes, it's a great soother, and helps reduce the risk of SIDS. But after six months? After a year? After two years? It just becomes a habit. A VERY VERY difficult (and ugly IMO) habit to break.

And this is why I am so grateful that we never got started in the paci problem.