I need your help. I need you to leave comments because this time and this time only I am in need of parenting advice from total strangers (or non-strangers from those friends and family who read. Hi!).
I am looking to get rid of Eirinn’s soother. For good. She doesn’t have it all the time, but would if I’d let her. I don’t mind her having it during sleep times; at night and during her nap, but I’d really like to break her of it during the day and I don’t think you can have one without the other. I’m having visions of a five year old Tornado Eirinn wandering around Zellers with a ’sooder’ hanging out of her face, sucking on it like Maggie Simpson. I’ve seen kids like that. They’re usually the ones wearing an adult sized diaper and a bottle full of Gaterade under their arm. I don’t want Eirinn to turn out like that. We’re going to tackle the diaper during Christmas vacation, but I was hoping that we could say sayo nara to sooder before then.
For a couple weeks, I’ve been laying subtle hints to her that soothers are for babies and she’s not a baby, she’s a big girl. But she doesn’t seem to care. Being a baby sounds pretty cool to her. I’ve also pointed out that her friends at daycare don’t have soothers because they’re big kids and doesn’t she want to be a big kid? Apparently, no thank you. She’ll stick with the baby deal for now.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m still a soother fan; which, in Parenting Land, is like admitting to feeding your child chocolate covered mothballs for breakfast. But I’ll admit it. My name is Jen and I willingly encouraged my daughter to take a soother. Not only will I admit that, I will also confess that I have every intention to offer it to any subsequent children. It has on countless occasions calmed her, which has often been a difficult task, and allowed her to fall asleep. It has done it’s job soothing her. And I haven’t witnessed any of it’s “well documented” evil-doings; no speech delays or impediments, no misaligned teeth, only one ear infection in her life. It has, quite honestly, been a lifesaver for me. But everything has it’s time and place and I’m pretty sure the soother has reached it’s expiry date. I think she’s old enough to learn how to sooth herself and how to fall asleep without the aid of a pacifier.
She also still gets a bottle before nap and bed, but I’m not ready to give those up for a very practical reason – she still isn’t eating a well-rounded diet (not for lack of my incessant trying) and needs those two servings of milk. She also has inherited some of my anal-retentiveness and will only drink milk from a bottle and water from a cup. No Milk Shall Be Consumed If Presented In A Cup. So, for now, bottles stay.
Like I said, I need your help. I need gentle, creative, effective ideas for easing the soother out of all of our lives. Also, please leave any of your own soother stories, so I know we’re not alone.
