Play-Learn-Grow-Repeat

At my baby shower, I got no fewer than 30 pacifiers from people. All manner of sizes, shapes, colors and designs. The kinds that clip onto clothing, the ones that appear to be bigger than the baby’s face and, of course, the obligatory Yankee pacifier, because what true fan doesn’t want their kid sucking on something with a Yankee logo?

Andrew went through phases with the pacifier. In the beginning, he used it a lot and then one day, after about 3 months, he refused to put one in his mouth. This lasted for several months before he became firmly obsessed with the pacifier again.

The fascination was only for a particular brand this time. It didn’t matter that we had lost most of the pacifiers, including the prized Yankee one, because all he wanted was his yellow or blue nuk.

Andrew’s almost two and a half now. At daycare, he doesn’t use the pacifier, not even to nap. But when I pick him up at the end of the day, he has wandered over to his bag, unzipped the outside pouch, dug out his pacifier and is happily sucking away…

When he’s home, he wants it to sleep. He wants it for no apparent reason at all. We try to hide it, thinking the “out of sight, out of mind” principle will apply. It does for awhile, but out of nowhere he’ll start screaming: I WANT MY BINKY!

We try to tell him that he’s too old for a binky. We ask him why he needs it. Andrew’s response is generally nothing more than “because” or “it’s mine.”

We’re probably going to have to take them all away at some point and go cold turkey. But it’s hard to imagine taking something away from him that makes him happy, keeps him calm and gives him some sense of comfort.

So, for now, I hope that he grows out of it on his own.