15 Days Paci-Free Journey

Our paci-free journey started last year when my son was 18 months old. My goal was to wean my baby off the pacifier before he turns two. The decision to use a pacifier is up to you. As for me, I introduced pacifier to my son when he was only 1 week old. It happened one night when milk or rocking him to sleep was of no use to stop him from crying. Nothing soothes him aside from the pacifier. It was like a magic to me. It perfectly works and even put him to sleep without lullaby or such. At that moment my mind was "Okay, this pacifier will be a perfect tool to help me survive this motherhood." To the point that we've become dependent on it. At first I was like yey this seems to be easy! But as time goes by, I've learned that there are pros and cons on using a pacifier.

THE PROS

1. Pacifiers offers temporary distraction

2. Can put your baby to sleep

3. Helps stop hiccups

4. Soothes and calms a fussy baby

5. It offers freedom to moms. In my personal experience, my baby can sleep without me or my husband as long as he's sucking his pacifier (a big help, though)

6. Helps soothing during teething stage

THE CONS

1. We've become very dependent on it. It becomes our first line defense to anything. E.g. Baby cries over something? Let him suck his pacifier to soothe him.

2. Confusion between sleep and hunger. Since we are very dependent on pacifier, we've become confused on our baby's needs

3. Prolonged usage of pacifier may result to dental problems. Our son's teeth are misaligned though it may be genetic, but we think pacifier use may be one of the reasons

Last day of using his binky

So I've attempt to put away my son's pacifier slowly day by day. On our day 1, he survived 10 hours without paci except during nap time. It was a good start because I have expected the worst reaction from my toddler (tantrums, whining, leaving home.. lol). On 4th day, he successfully sleep paci-free. But minutes passed he woke up crying looking for it. But the day after that, during his nap time he voluntarily removed it before closing his eyes. I was so happy and felt that this journey will pass smoothly. Days passed until day 15, we've survived 48 hours without his binky with a minimal drama. (His daddy being marupok whenever he cries) Of course, there's still crying and whining but we momma's must be consistent for a better result. Our journey may not flow smoothly but I am glad that we overcome it. I am so proud of our little one for doing great on this paci-free journey.

Moms, just remember all you need to do is tough love. :)

Months after weaning off pacifier