Bye-Bye Pacis and Thumb-Sucking

I think this is the first time in our kids' lives that we accomplished something before the goal date that we had originally set! In a recent blog post I said we would get rid of the pacifiers and thumb-sucking habit before Alexis, Jack, and Faith turned three, but then I realized how attached they were getting to these things so we decided to take immediate action before the habit became even harder to break.

It has been a bit of a rough week due to the lack of sucking devices and incoming cuspids for all three kiddos, but I think it is (mostly) safe to say that the pacifiers are gone forever. The thumb-sucking is a little harder since I can't take away Jack's thumb, but he has been very willing to wear his bandaids and hopefully he will be able to keep himself from sucking his thumb without the bandaids soon! Here is the story of how we broke the pacifier and thumb-sucking habits.

Sunday, May 10:
Micah was out of town Thursday through Saturday night. Originally we were going to start this process on Monday morning so that Mother's Day was a bit more enjoyable, but then I realized that I'd rather have a so-so Mother's Day than endure the first day of this process by myself while Micah was at work. So before breakfast on Sunday I explained to the girls that pacifiers were for babies and that their pacifiers were now yucky since they were big girls, so it was time to throw them away. I also explained to Jack that his thumb had an "owie" from him sucking it, so it was time to put a bandaid on it so his thumb could heal and he could stop sucking it. I had mentioned these things to them before so it wasn't the first time they heard it. I also told them that after they threw away the pacis and Jack put on this bandaids, everyone would get to open a gift that Mommy and Daddy got them for being such big kids.

Everyone got two pacifiers to throw away, including Jack since he couldn't throw away his thumb. Alexis quickly tossed hers in the trash, Faith stuck one in her mouth and the other in the trash, and Jack threw his away. I told Faith that it was time to throw the last pacifier away, but she didn't, so Alexis grabbed it out of her mouth and threw it in the trash! I think Alexis was really motivated by the gift bag. I then put a "Cars" bandaid on Jack's left thumb, which he seemed excited about.

Alexis pulling the last pacifier out of Faith's mouth

"Bye-bye pacis"

Jack really does have an "owie" on his thumb from all of the sucking

Jack checking out his Cars bandaid

We then gave each of them their gift which had a beanie baby and a blanket. We bought the beanie babies for this occasion as we wanted something they could cuddle with when falling asleep but also small enough so that it was portable for traveling. I included blankets that we already had but weren't using so that each of them could figure out which was most comforting for them. The beanie babies have really caught on for all three so I might put the blankets back in storage soon.

F, J, A opening their gifts

Faith was by far the most excited about her beanie baby as it is a smaller version of the stuffed husky doggie that she already loved. Jack already had a tiger blankie in his bed so we got him a tiger beanie, and Alexis got a kitty beanie since she loves seeing our cat and we thought she would be excited about a kitty of her own.

Faith ecstatic about her new doggie

Alexis looking at her new kitty

Jack checking out his new tiger

The new animals didn't leave their hands until we went into church that morning

When it was time to get in the car for church, both girls asked for their pacis (or "papi" as Alexis calls it) but we reminded them that we threw them away and they had their new animals to hold in the car. They both seemed okay with that explanation. At nap time they both asked for the pacifiers again, and then they both cried for about 30 minutes before falling asleep.

Bedtime was a bit more difficult. The girls sleep in the same room so sometimes when one gets upset it is impossible for the other to fall asleep, so we end up with two upset kiddos. This is what happened on the first night without pacifiers, and in the end we had to get both girls up for a little bit so that they calmed down, and then we laid them down in separate rooms for the night. This did the trick and they both fell asleep.

The new animals were with them all day, even during their bedtime snack

Monday, May 11:
The day started much earlier than I would have liked as Alexis woke up at 5:15 crying. We were surprised that she had a fever of 101, and we were torn on whether or not we should give her a pacifier as we had set four aside just in case the kids happened to get sick during this process (since we reverted back to bottles twice after giving them up because the kids were sick, we knew it might happen again). We gave her ibuprofen but since she seemed happy (just wide awake!), we didn't give her a paci. Micah got up with her so that I could try to get a little more sleep before he left for work.

Throughout the day Alexis continued to have a fever on and off and she was super tired from waking up so early. On our morning walk she fell asleep in the stroller for about 10 minutes, which hasn't happened in months.  Jack and Faith were very concerned about her and they kept looking at her and saying, "sleeping."

At nap time I put bandaids on both of Jack's thumbs as I realized he was sucking his right thumb now that his left thumb had a bandaid on it. Luckily, even having bandaids on both thumbs didn't hinder Jack's sleep. Unfortunately, both girls cried for a long time (at least 45 minutes) at nap time and eventually I got Alexis up as she wasn't going to nap after her "cat nap" in the stroller.

Alexis took another short nap on our afternoon walk and I actually let her sleep in the stroller in the garage for a few extra minutes while I started dinner since she was completely exhausted from waking up early and not napping.

At night Alexis and Jack fell asleep right away, but Faith made noises for about an hour. She wasn't crying, but it was hard for her to fall asleep. But then around 10:30 p.m. Alexis woke up. We were exhausted from being up late Sunday with the girls and then waking up with Alexis early in the morning, so we caved in and gave her a pacifier so that we could all get a much needed night of rest.

Tuesday, May 12:
I snuck into the girls' room as soon as I woke up and pulled the pacifiers out of Alexis' crib as I didn't want her to find them and get upset when I took them away again. I'm so glad I did as she didn't seem to remember that she had fallen asleep with pacifiers the night before.

Although Jack didn't nap, it may have had more to do with his sleep sack coming unzipped as he was trying to fall asleep than it did with his lack of thumb sucking. Both girls napped well, and everyone slept well at night.

Wednesday, May 13:
I forgot to put bandaids on Jack's thumbs! I was so irritated with myself, but overall he is doing so great with not sucking his thumbs so I don't think this mistake has caused much of an issue. Alexis did wake up at 4:00 a.m. Thursday morning and my first reaction was to give her a pacifier so that we could all go back to sleep, but I'm so glad I didn't as she went back to sleep without it!

Today: 
Now it's Monday, May 18 and we have been without pacifiers for over a week! Although both girls occasionally ask for pacifiers when going to bed or getting in the car (the two places that we let them have pacifiers), they haven't put up a fuss when we remind them that we don't have them anymore. I have caught Jack sucking his thumb at various times when he didn't have bandaids on, but I've been reminding him that he is a "big boy" and he doesn't need to suck his thumb anymore, and for the most part he has been cooperative.  We are soooo glad this process is (mostly) over!