The Pacifier

Last week, Jake and I were taking Sophie for a walk and discussing her pacifier. We had intended on intruducing Sophie to a pacifier to help soothe her to sleep in her early months of life. We really wanted her weaned by 5 or 6 months old.

Lucky for us, Sophie never really got the hang of keeping the thing in her mouth, so she wasn't a full-time user (Just a social sucker). She did, however, NEED it to take a nap or go to bed, and it was about the only thing to calm her in the car when she was fussy or tired.

So as time wore on (speed back up to last week's walk now) we began to feel feelings of regret for introducing the pacifier. It was approaching weaning time, and this girl is addicted to the thing. Plus, she was having a hard time soothing herself to back sleep if she dropped it, since she needed the pacifier to help her sleep. But at the same time, we really appreciated her pacifier for helping her sleep and for helping her stay calm in the car.

So, imagine our surprise when, about 2 days after this conversation, Sophie decided she just didn't need it anymore. I put her down for a nap one day without it (cause it was in the other room and I just didn't feel like going to get it), and after that, any time we tried to give it to her, she just spit it back out. She just doesn't need it anymore.

She set her own pacifier timeline. I still take one with me wherever we go "just in case", but she hasn't had one in her mouth at all for about a week now. It made me realize/remember that this girl is on a schedule of her own. She decides to do things, and then just does them. She sat up all of a sudden one day, and she dropped the pacifier cold turkey. It made me decide to let her drop the swaddle when she's ready. She obviously knows better than we do.