True story of a 2.8 year old boy and his beloved pacifier
This weekend we concluded the biggest and the most anticipated transition of my almost 3 year old’s life, moving off the crib and finally letting go of his paci!
I know what you are thinking, this is way too late for a 2.8 year old to be sleeping in his crib and still using his pacifier, I hear you, totally!
But you know, he has been sleeping with all the shebang since he was 4 months old and has slept through the night since then no matter the sleep regressions, teething, sickness, travel or jet lag(I hope I will not jinx it!).
So every time my husband or other well meaning relatives suggested he is a little too big to be using his pacifier, I promptly explained to them that I was not ready to rock the boat of my good sleeper.
But I knew it was coming, I can not keep him in his crib forever and he definitely could not use his pacifier forever!
Thus began the most dreaded journey out of the crib!
By now you know I am a crazy researcher.
I plan and research and then plan some more and read some more. I sometimes go to the lengths of creating google docs and share with my husband so he knows exactly what I am planning and expecting from him.
Yes, you can send him sympathy donuts, but that is how I roll 🙂
So of course I read all about the various methods we can use to get him out of his crib and without his paci. I blindly follow Taking Cara Babies for any sleep advice, so I read and reread her articles and armed myself with all the courage I could muster.
I started telling him stories about little boys who eventually give up their pacifiers to get a very nice gift from the pacifier fairy. I added dragons and tacos to the mix and involved a cat or two in the mystery.
I can tell you that he wasn’t buying any of this BS though!
He would always come back with "he is a fall(small) boy” and is not ready for a big boy bed.
Anyways the weekend came. My husband kept reminding me about our herculean task and I too, kept telling him that Kiki is still a fall boy.
Dear husband, still persistent and armed with the plan, got the tools needed to convert his crib to a daybed. Kiki suddenly became interested in all the tools and was so excited to convert his crib to a “big boy bed”.
They both worked on the bed together and I stayed out of the room on purpose. I was too anxious to see this unfold.
Kiki came running to me, in his excited and half broken speech he told me he has a Big Boy Bed now and can get on and off the bed by himself. He was so proud of his work and the newly found independence that he never once protested about being a fall boy and announced he did not need his paci anymore. 😳
Well, there were a few tears and he did try to stall the nap-time a bit but it was nothing like I had imagined in my head.
He sang himself to sleep, in his bed, without paci, clutching his lovey and being his usual naughty self.
I had a sudden relief wash over me when I saw him through the baby monitor, sleeping like a big boy and then felt a heaviness in my heart, for he, in fact, is a big boy now!
Oh the complex emotions of Motherhood!
Every new milestone comes with a bittersweet moment and the awareness that they grow so fast!
I write this while glancing over the baby monitor, every now and then, waiting for him to wake up so I can scoop him up in my arms again and baby him till I can!
I have never been the one to embrace the transitions excitedly. It is always hard for me.
Whereas my husband is always ready and thinking ahead.
Which boat do you fall into? Are you always looking ahead or are you a romantic for nostalgia? Or are you a mix of both?
