Ding, Dong The Nuk Is Dead!

About a month ago Karl and I decided that we were going to get rid of Max's pacifier, which we call The Nuk.  Partly because Max was becoming awfully clingy and we were getting tired of the constand battle of him wanting it ALL the time.

So I started doing some research and found this site called "Bye Bye Binky". It was all about getting them to WANT to get rid of it on their own. It gave you a 7 day schedule on how to get rid of it. You started how poking pin holes in it, then after a few days you cut the very tip off, then each day after that you cut a little more off. What WAS supposed to happen is they would realize that it was no longer pleasurable for them and they would no longer want it.

Yeah.....nice in theory not so good in actuality. We followed all the steps and that Nuk went through hell....Karl just kept cutting and cutting and cutting. There was literally nothing left of the silicone, NOTHING my friends and that kid still wanted it. When we would read books to him before bed he would just sit and hold it in his mouth, then he would just hold it. In the last few weeks he would just sleep with it in his hands. It was almost pitiful...there was a tiny sliver of me that felt bad for him and almost caved and gave him a new one. Then I woke up and realized the horrible tantrums he would throw when we wouldn't give it to him.

This morning Karl came up with the great idea of breaking the handle part of and just laid it on the ground where we were playing and left it there for Max to find. Which of course he did. As he picked up he said, "oh no....is broken?". Karl and I both said that yes it was in fact broken, as we tried to suppress giggles we sat and watched our poor son try and put it back together. Finally Karl said that it was broke and that we should throw it away.....we sat with bated breaths.

Max looked at us, looked at the Nuk.....back at us, back at the Nuk.....then he walked over to the trash and tossed it in. Have not heard a PEEP out of him all day about it. NOT ONCE!!!! Beautiful. :)

The other bonus, we found conversion bed rails for his crib and we decided to bring the full size mattress up since we didn't have anything else to do and that kid took a nap with no crying, no banging on the door AND we put him down for the night and again no crying, no banging on the door.  Hallelujah!

Go figure...

Last night Max slept wonderfully. He woke up around 1:30 am and I could hear him just cooing and babbling and then doing his little boy business, so I got up and changed him and he went right back to sleep. Woke up at 4 am, fed him and he went right back to sleep until 7:30 am.

The Nuk rules!

The White Flag...

I have decided that the Nuk wins. I have sat in the house for the last two days, in the same clothes and not even really sure if I have brushed my teeth or eaten anything besides coffee and I don't think that counts ~ I don't quite honestly think I could do one more day. I know they (who are these "they" people anyhow?) that they usually can break a habit in about 3 days but my fragile mind cannot take anymore.

Max cried so much today he is hoarse. Both Karl and I have agreed that he got both of our stubbornness traits, which means he is doubly stubborn (is that a word?) and too tough for me to fight with. My heart has been breaking for the last two days and I refuse to see him cry so hard he can't breathe. I just can't do it. So I am not going to. If I have to get up 50 times a night I would so rather do that then see him that way. I lost a little piece of my soul seeing him just outright hurt.

Many thanks to Val (The Nuthouse) for the kind e-mail, it truly made me feel better! Now I am going to hug my son and go to bed!

I Caved...

I am weak.

I was so strong all day yesterday. I didn't once even think about giving him his Nuk because I so want him to be able to sleep without it. But last night was rough. He only took a few short cat naps throughout the the day so by the time he was actually ready to be put down for the night he was exhausted, and so was I.

We fed him at 8:30 pm, cereal and then his bottle. He actually feel asleep quite quickly and then as soon as I moved and put him in his crib the waterworks began. Karl and I took turns for about an hour and I just couldn't take any more. Mentally I was so tired from the crying from the daytime I was spent.

So we gave him the Nuk. Instant sleep. The bonus is that he was so tired he slept soundly from 10 pm until 3:30 am. Which means I also slept.

Today starts day two of "The Battle of the Nuk". Pray for me!