When Hailey was born I was adamant about no pacifier ever coming close to touching her lips. Fast forward 2.5 years and my child was in love with the thing. Granted, we slowly had started weaning her off it and finally it was just down to bed time only. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to pull the plug entirely. She just was too attached. When she’s 3, I told myself.
Then 4th of July came. We threw a last minute gathering and had a blast with some good friends.
We went swimming in the lake.
The kids played in yard.
(and inside… this will come into play later)
We ate good food.
These little pesto, mozzarella and tomato apps were a big hit! Thanks, Danielle!
Overall we enjoyed a gorgeous day with some good friends (as I tried to push living north of the city to Julie and Ryan 
)
What 30 year old woman still busts out the sorority squat for pictures? Me. That would be me. KD fo’ life yo.
Hailey was doing so well that we decided to go for it and went out on the boat to watch fireworks.
It was totally worth it, but it was later than Hailey has ever stayed up…by far. When we finally got her into bed around 10:15, her room was a mess and her two pacifiers were nowhere to be found. Snatched by a friend? Maybe. Hiding in piles of books and toys the kids were playing with? Maybe. Either way, I searched everywhere (for about 5 minutes) then did the unthinkable. I told Hailey they were gone. She looked devastated, so in a moment of weakness and exhaustion, I told her we’d go buy her a new one tomorrow. This satisfied her enough to fall asleep.
The next morning, the first words out of her mouth were ‘mommy take me to Target to buy a new paci.’ Rats. Two year olds and their sharp memories. On the drive there I gave her a choice. We could buy her a new paci OR she could pick out any new toy she wanted. Immediately she chose toy. I explained several times that this meant no more pacis. She was so smitten by the dog on clearance that she wholeheartedly agreed.
Nap went fine, but that night, overtired as she was, she started crying hard for her paci. My heart was breaking and if I would have had one, I would have given it right to her (WEAK), but I didn’t. So instead I explained again that she had her new puppy instead of a paci, cuddled with her and sang a couple songs, and that was that. The paci was officially gone and hasn’t been talked about since.
That dang dog however…
has yet to leave her side.
And that’s how my little rock star finally ditched the paci.
With liberty and freedom (from the paci) for all!
John J. says
Well done my witty, manipulative (in the best way of course), fun loving, and nurturing daughter. “Free at last … “!
char eats greens says
That’s fantastic!! Now, how would I do the same for a thumb? Just kidding. I sucked my thumb and I turned out fine (I think?), so I’m sure Nia will suck it until is appropriate for her to stop! I have no worries about it actually.
Good thing she’s loving that dog!!
Brittany Dixon says
Threaten to cut off the thumb? I’m sure that wouldn’t give a toddler nightmares 😉
Sarah@creatingbettertomorrow says
As we plan for our boys I’ve kept saying NO PACI’S my mother in law thinks I”m nuts and doesn’t get it…but I’d like to avoid them if possible…however, if we give in 🙂 which would be totally fine of course 🙂 I will have to remember this perfect story. And now you have a new friendly family member – a dog that requires no potty training 😉
Parita @ myinnershakti says
Go H (and you)! Looks like you guys had a great weekend on many fronts 🙂
Sherry says
Way to go–all of you! Great story (reminds me of how I would get y’all to throw away all your Halloween candy-a couple of days after Halloween-in exchange for making cookies:)).
Has Hailey given up her socks too?!?!?!?
Brittany Dixon says
Oh, I’ll have to remember the Halloween trick! That and the quarters trick make you a brilliantly evil mom 😉
And YES! We haven’t even had socks at bedtime lately. My baby girl is growing up! Sniffle.
Karen says
Great to hear she had a say in the decision. Hurray for Hailey, now she is officially a Big Girl:)
Angie says
I love it! My son will be 2 in September and is in speech therapy. He’s making progress with his speech and he mostly uses it for naps and bedtime but lately with teething he’s getting it more and more. We want to drop this habit soon and that’s a great idea!
Christina says
Great job!!!! My daughter was also VERY attached to her paci, and I was absolutely convinced that getting rid of it would cause endless tears and drama. And you know what…..one day, I firmly told her we were done with the paci and I handed it to her and said “throw it in the trash!” To my amazement….she did! And never looked back. I realized right then and there that the pacifier is really a crutch for parents, not kids, lol!
Brittany Dixon says
I agree! Probably a crutch for parents. It sure saved us a lot of times!
Michelle G. says
So cute!
Tiffany says
Great job, Mama! We STILL have not kicked the habit yet (only for bedtime now) and the clock is ticking on little miss turning 3 (next month!). We are down to just 1 paci and it’s even been chewed down to almost nothing (we pull off the pieces she chews so she doesn’t choke or eat them!), but she still wants it. Last night, she said she didn’t and actually made it a night without it so maybe we’ll get lucky?!? With the littlest miss, she does NOT like pacis even though we’ve tried and tried so I suppose we’ll avoid having to kick this habit for her! I know people have strong feelings about them, but I would have liked her to take it for sleeping at night as it has taken her awhile to sleep longer and I felt like that could help put herself back to sleep AND for at daycare since mama isn’t there to comfort her when she’s tired, upset, etc.
Brittany Dixon says
K hasn’t really taken to pacis either and now I find myself trying to force them on her- haha! So I understand the ‘it would be nice to have’ option.
Lindsey says
I always thought we would only use one for 6 months. LOL. Yeah my little one turns 8 months next week and I can say it will be awhile before we are getting rid of it. We promised to talk about it before the end of this year again.
Katy Mc says
Yay, so glad that went well!! Kids make us over think things more than we should 🙂
Lauren B. says
Awesome! It’s probably best to just rip the metaphorical band aid off all at once and be done. Jackson is 22 months, and he is down to only taking the paci if he’s physically in his crib for naps or nighttime. I said that at 18 months we would “lose” the paci, but he’s just so darn cute with it and I’m weak. :). So now it’s sometime after 2 years old. I like your strategy of giving her a choice, and it sounds like she made a big-girl decision! Way to go Hailey!
Laura @ Mommy Run Fast says
This was so similar to our story! I didn’t really want to use it but we did and she LOVED it, which was fantastic while it worked but made me nervous about giving it up. We also cut it back to only bedtime and then around 2 or 2 1/2 made it part of the switch to the big girl bed, which worked only because she was SO excited about the big bed! So we explained that when we were ready to set it up, she’d have to say bye to paci. She agreed and did great. She had a few days where she talked about paci and that it was hard to say goodbye (and wondered if all kids feel sad when they say bye to paci?) 🙂 But overall it went so much better than I expected. So glad the same was true for you!!
Kelli H (Made in Sonoma) says
That is so great about her paci! I think my parents let me have one until I was 5 or 6…wow, those things definitely made me need braces. haha. Anyway, good for you guys!
Marjorie says
Yay Hailey! I am starting to do that thing where you give the kid two options. It makes them feel like they have more of a say. Good job mama! 🙂
My son is a thumb sucker, so I don’t know how we are ever going to kick that habit! Eek!
Avery @ Young Aspirations says
Smart mama! I never would have thought to offer a toy instead. Your 4th looked like a blast! Makes me miss the lake days.
Laura @ FitMamaLove says
That sounds like it went pretty smoothly! Most of my friends had a harder time with it than that. I feel very fortunate that my kids both gave up the paci on their own by 8 and 5 months.
Sam says
Genius!
Ashley @ My Food N Fitness Diaries says
Wahoooo! Sometimes those unplanned moments make for the best transitions. When I was trying to wean Hunter from breastfeeding, I swear we cut out most of his feedings due to us running late to being somewhere. Ha! I was so anxious about it all, but I look back and realize it all happened pretty nicely.
Monica says
I have been trying to figure out how to get my daughter off the bottle! She’s 15 months old and still has about 3 a day, and isn’t overly interested in drinking milk out of a sippy cup. She’ll drink other stuff, but not milk… Her doctor told us not to worry about it too much, but I’m still a little nervous about how we’re going to kick the habit!
April says
Looks like your 4th celebrations were super-fun! And yay for no pacis! I had to laugh when I read your mom’s comment/question about no socks… Lottie went through a “I must have socks on in bed” phase a few months ago. Hilarious the things they get attached to! Love that cute stuffed puppy! (Lottie has “Gray Kitty” aka Ernest that goes with us everywhere, and she refuses to sleep without him.) I’m loving this age, aren’t you?
Jaclyn @ Bumpsweat says
Kids are so smart! But you’re a rock star for thinking on your toes like you did. Woo hoo!!
Julie says
Ha ha love this post! So cute! My husband was dead set against a paci for our daughter. I had gotten some for baby shower gifts & just threw them in the back of a drawer. One night (when she was a few weeks old & I was a ZOMBIE all.the.time) at about 1 a.m. when she STILL hadn’t gone to bed & nothing was working, I snapped & frantically tore that drawer apart looking for them. I grabbed one & stuck it in her mouth, & she just spit it out & continued to scream. :/ I never did tell my husband… 😉
Brittany @ Delights and Delectables says
yay!! I said no paci too… that didn’t hold. When he’s screaming… paci it is. It is infrequent, but I need to keep this swap in mind! 😉
Ancy says
That’s great. We did it when he turned two. It was just so random. We cut the tips of the paci and said that it’s broken. We said the other one was at school. He was sad for a few days but he’s over it. Are you using it for the baby? I am using it. It’s def a life saver!
Mrs FF says
Good job Hailey! One if the first of your many big girl decisions. Hope she hasn’t asked for the paci since then?
Luckily I didn’t want to use a paci and my daughter never took to it. And of course I didn’t push. I have “nightmares” of me trying to break the habit from a five yr old who refuses to sleep or nap without a paci
Carrie says
Congrats on the paci! That is not an easy feat. We swore we wouldn’t use it either, and we lasted 16 hours in the hospital with C before begging for more! W has no interest either. Does your new puppy have a name?! Poor Koda!
Danielle says
That is awesome! Way to go Hailey!
We were down to only naps and bedtime with my 2.5 year old a few months ago but then we were travelling, transitioning to a big girl bed, etc. and are totally back to using it as a crutch. Like Hailey I’m sure our daughter would be fine but I just can’t do it yet. Maybe if we set a “good bye paci” date I can stick to that.
Denise says
Awesome job, Brittany!.. And awesome job ditching the pack, Hailey! I so hope that it’s that easy when I get the courage to cut Olivia off from her Pavo. She is so obsessed with it. 🙁 I seriously dread it!
Denise says
*paci. So sorry for the typos.. The life of the multi-tasking mom! *sigh*