Holy shit, a miracle has happened.

I always always dreaded the whole “no more paci” thing with Kate. She wasn’t just a paci user, she’s a paci addict. She LOVES those things. I never thought I’d have a 2.5 year old still using a paci, but there you go… life hands you unexpected hands. I introduced the pacifier to her at just a few days old, something I had no intention of doing, I was going to breastfeed on demand all the time, no pacifiers to screw it up! But then she was nursing for hours in the evenings, my nipples were raw and red and pinched and I was nearly sobbing in pain. That child just loves to suck. The pacifier gave me a break, and it ended up making no difference with the nursing (but then neither did the bottles, so don’t take that as a universal rule). And as hard as it was to get her to sleep on her own I would have given her a hundred pacis if it meant she slept in her crib on her own for an hour.

She was down to using it only at bedtime for a while when I was pregnant, then she was teething and out of sorts so I handed them over again. When sleep and attitude was restored it was back to just bedtime. For months now we’ve had an only-on-the-bed rule: she could use them at night but they stay on the bed when she gets up.

She just got her new “big girl” bed (a twin size mattress) and Den suggested taking away the paci at the same time. I was all OMGWTF are you crazy?! I’m dealing with Ember not sleeping well (and not going to sleep until like midnight), we’re changing beds around, you want to mess with the paci too?! I had fear in my heart, people. FEAR. I had images of sobbing and refusing to sleep and waking up 145 times a night. I suggested that was not at all a good idea.

So the night before we got her new bed we ended up putting up a tent – a christmas present – in her bedroom. Which was awesome until bedtime when she insisted (in that I’m-going-to-freak-the-hell-out-if-you-don’t-let-me way of a 2 year old) that she sleep in the tent. I wasn’t home so Den thought on his feet and in an attempt to get her into her bed said, “No pacis in the tent.” She handed over the pacis and got in the tent with her blanket. He rolled his eyes and left her there, thinking she’d be crying in 10 minutes and he could put her in bed. She fell asleep. She didn’t sleep all night, she woke once crying and confused but again refused to leave the tent and so didn’t take the paci. No fussing, no complaining. She fell asleep. Uhhhhh.

When we got her new bed I figured, what the hell, let’s at least throw it at the wall and see if it sticks. So we told her no pacis in the big girl bed. The entire day was kind of a mess (actually it was one big cluster$#@% of a day), but she went to bed without an issue. Without a paci. Woke up at 6am, though.

Last night didn’t go so well. She had woken up hours early and got only a car nap. By bedtime she was hyper and overtired. She went to bed without complaint but I guess couldn’t fall asleep. An hour later she was sobbing and just at a loss… she was so tired. We gave her the paci and let her get a good night’s sleep.

Nap time today? No paci. Normal 2 hour nap. At bedtime she climbed in, made sure her blanket was all correct, went through the song and book of our bedtime routine, and then went to sleep with just some kisses and a happy “Night night!”