We were very fortunate that our son never latched on to a pacifier. I say fortunate because I know the struggles a lot of parents go through when it’s time to make the paci disappear. We were strongly encouraged by our hospital to not introduce the pacifier until he was at least 4 weeks old. By 2 weeks, we were desperate and against their advice we tried one 1 night, and he spit it back out at us. After a month of trying to get him to keep it in his mouth, we gave up.
The closest I’ve been to experiencing the weaning of the pacifier is trying to teach the Little Man how to sleep without being swaddled. You may remember that he could not sleep without being swaddled as tightly as possible, but he got to a point where he was too strong to be wrapped up. After several attempts of trying to get him to sleep solo and a few nights of no sleep, we finally purchased the Magic Sleep Suit and it solved all our problems. We were able to gradually wean him off of that a month or so later and into a sleep sack; which is how he’s slept ever since.
The whole sleep situation caused me a lot of anxiety, and I was so thankful we weren’t having to try and eliminate a pacifier at the same time. I thought I was out of the woods for kicking bad habits. That is until he hit 1.
I stopped nursing when the Little Man turned 9 months, and since then he’s taken a bottle. One in the morning as soon as he wakes up, one before each nap (twice a day), and one before bed. I knew at a year, we were going to have to transition him from formula to milk, and thought it would be so simple. My plan was to just give him milk in a bottle and cup until he no longer needed the bottle. Unfortunately, we discovered very quickly that he was having a reaction to whole milk. Within 24 hours. he began having severe diarrhea and the worst diaper rash I’ve ever seen. And within 24 hours of stopping whole milk, the rash and diarrhea went away. Based on his reaction, our pediatrician recommended we stop cow’s milk until he’s 15 months and continue on formula or soy milk. This complication completely threw me for a loop. My plans for transitioning him went completely out the window, and I began to focus solely on making sure he was continuing to get the nutrition he need without milk.
I couldn’t deal with any more complications, so he was keeping the bottle. . . for now.
As a week or so went on, I started to think; which is never good! In my head, I just couldn’t process how he was going to get the nutrition he’d need without drinking milk or formula 4 times a day. I’m just supposed to let him walk around with a cup of formula? But he sleeps so well on a full belly!
Well, today I sucked it up and decided I’d deal with the consequences when they arose. I packed up his bottles and stored them away for future baby #2. I purchased a few more toddler cups, and felt ready to make my move. I was so nervous about how it was going to affect his naptime/bedtime routine! About an hour before he went down, I filled his cup with formula and let him drink as he pleased.
When it came time to put him down, I held my breath.
And what do you know? He didn’t even seem to notice!
I had so much anxiety about messing up his sleep schedule that I was actually creating a habit for him that wasn’t even there. I was more comfortable with him having his bottles as part of a routine, and I reflected that onto him. I think if I hadn’t felt pressure from our doctor (and the fear of bottle rot), I would have allowed him to continue taking a bottle until it was too late.
While I’m excited to have accomplished this task, I’m also a little sad. Packing up his bottles, I realized it’s the official end to him being an infant. He’s running around the house, drinking out of a cup, and eating food on his own. My baby isn’t a baby anymore!
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