WFMW - Parenting Tip

How much does your child love their pacifier? Do they have more than one?

K had about six of them, and kept two with her at all times. By the time she was two, we had got her down to only using them at bedtime. Not nap time, only at night. She handled that pretty well, but wasn't about to let them go all together. We had talked to her about how she was getting so big, and didn't need them anymore, but no dice. She wanted her "nukkie". Fine. We thought of a way to get rid of it. Take it from her on a Friday, and struggle through the weekend. We had planned on the weekend we were going to do it, T was at his moms, no activities planned, a completely open weekend. Well, the weekend before that my hubby was going on a fishing trip. He accidentally took the remaining nukkie with him in his car. Opps. After a moment of panic, searching the house for a nukkie that was missed when we took them away, I almost cried. A child with no nukkie all weekend, all by myself... oh boy. But then I realized that this would be her weekend, we didn't have T since hubby was gone, and no real plans for the weekend at all. Cold turkey all weekend long. I told K that she wouldn't have a nukkie anymore, that Daddy had lost it. She said okay, with tears in her eyes. She told me she missed her nukkie, and wanted it back. I let her cry a little, since it was her security "blanket" for so long. But within 5 minutes she was back running along playing with her toys.

That first night I didn't know what to expect. Tears? Temper tantrum at bed time? No sleep at all? I got none of that. While I kept her up later that first night, to ensure that she was exhausted and wouldn't fight me going to sleep, the remainder of the weekend was fabulous! No problems, and no mention of the nukkie again.

While it was an accidental cut off, it worked for me! Check out Rocks in My Dryer for more Works for Me Wednesday Tips!