Parenting Attachments

There are times that I can loosely group myself with the Attachment Parenting type, but some of my parenting practices can more easily be tossed into the Parenting Attachment category....

Like, one of my parenting attachments is the binkie. You know - the plug, the nuk, the nam, the kiki, meemee, bebe, nahnah, paci - the good old pacifier. The thing that I was hoping my child wouldn't be offered, but once he took to it so happily and I realized how amazing it was, I was just as hooked as he was.

Our pediatrician recommends limiting to nap and nighttime (which we were, for the most part) and cutting it off by age 2, so that was my plan. But then I learned he had been napping at daycare without his binkie AND without a fuss. Hmmm....

SO, tonight was Day One. I figured I would test the waters (fully prepared to pretend like we lost it, then pretend like we found it, if I decided to cave). I told him tonight we are going to go nigh-night without his binkie. He didn't say a word... Not a peep, for half an hour. I almost thought he was asleep, until I hear him yelling "Mama, whey are you? MAAAAAMMMMMAAAAAAA!!!!!!!". I checked up on him and got him tucked back in. Another 15 minutes pass and the crying starts. Not a word about the binkie, but he wants me to hold him. I never pass up an opportunity to snuggle my cuddle bug, and he was asleep within 5 minutes.

So, it took him a bit longer than usual to fall asleep, but considering I was fully expecting a panic driven meltdown for one (or both) of us, I'd say Day One went fabulously. Lets hope for progress, and not a regression, in the days to come. If it means he lets me rock him to sleep for a while, and replaces his old comfort item with ME, I'd say its a win-win-win. Plus, the old comfort item tended to give him stale breath, while I, on the other hand, brush his teeth with a minty, fluoride-free toothpaste practically every night!