Charlotte’s final paci nap!
On Friday evening, we started Charlotte on the Paci Elimination Diet. Diet rules? Remove each and every paci from C’s room/life, put in a ziploc bag in a very high cabinet, and see what happens. Our Pediatrician said that the worst thing to do is to be inconsistent. She urged us to stay strong and once we removed paci, to not give it back.
Typically, C only really uses her paci during or around sleep times. If she’s sleepy or has just woken up, we would let her hang onto it for as long as she wanted.
Anyway, Friday night, we went through her normal bedtime routine. Drink milk, read books, brush teeth, then it was time for bed. Most nights, I take Charlotte to her room after she brushes her teeth. I tend to hand her bunny and her paci, then we crank her music box, hug and smooch a bit and I put her in bed (sometimes I give her bunny and paci once in bed). Then, I make sure teddy is laying next to her and parachute her blanky over her once… twice… three times as I count. Then, “tuck, tuck, tuck” as I tuck her in.
I went through the whole routine, sans paci, and when I said goodnight, she let out a little whine and pointed to her mouth. I played dumb. “What? Oh, do you want this little lamb?” as I handed her a stuffed animal. She made another little whine as I said goodnight and left the room.
Then, she amazed me. I spent the next 30-45 minutes watching her play in her crib until she just fell asleep. No problem. Goodnight, Charlotte.
I was convinced that the next day’s naps would be crazy, but honestly, they weren’t. She slept totally fine and besides her two mini whines that first night, hasn’t made a single hint that she wants or misses the dang thing.
I’m baffled.
Relieved, but baffled.
So, we are officially a no-paci household!
Playing House 
We cut the nipple off of Nealias and it totally worked! When we transitioned her she wasn’t too into them anyway, but after we took away her bottles she was suddenly obsessed with them! Anytime she asks for them we hand her a broken one and she looks at it and says “broke” haha! Hopefully Charlotte willkeep it up without wanting them!! And yes staying strong is the best way to go…I was a sucker in the beginning and then we just cut all of them!
The bottles were sad, too! We had those lifefactory bottles (I think that’s what they’re called) and they actually sell a sippy top that fits the bottle. So we give That to Charlotte at the times when we used to give her bottles. Made the transition pretty easy.
I can’t believe you were able to go paci-free after one night!! We are terrified of taking them away from P. My husband keeps asking and I just sheepishly ignore the issue. I can’t imagine taking it away at this point but I know we need to address it in the next couple months. 😬😬
I honestly thought it would be a huge issue and it just wasn’t. Does P use it during the day a lot? Or mostly for sleeping?
All day. She doesn’t have any other attachments to other toys or lovies.. Just her wubbas. I’ve tried introducing other objects but she’s just not into anything else. Sometimes she just carries them around but it’s usually always in her mouth.
When you’re ready, you could try cutting the paci part off so she still had the wubba friend… Paci removal is hard…
That’s a good idea. She’s been teething lately so I think she’s been even more attached. Maybe as these teeth finish coming in, she’ll be less reliant on it.
Good luck!! Don’t be too scared… Maybe she’ll surprise you!
That’s awesome!!! Brady had a lip and tongue tie, so he couldn’t keep the paci in his mouth as a baby. So he never ended up using one.
The bottle, on the other hand? He’s 15 months and still is super attached. He can drink from a sippy cup, so that’s what I use when we’re out. But at home? It’s the best way to get him to drink all his milk. I know I should cut him off cold-turkey, but I haven’t done that yet.
We use life factory bottles with a sippy top and that has been really good for the bottle transition. Good luck, momma! Also, how is Brady already 15 months old???