Bye, Bye Paci

Something clicked when the kids were about to turn 3 years old...they suddenly became aware of how big they were...or rather what a "big boy" and what a "big girl" they were. Maybe it's because we kept telling them they were growing up too fast or we constantly told Timo what a big boy he was every time he cleaned up his toys or told Cameron she was a big girl for going potty all by herself...or maybe because they both seemed to suddenly grow out of their shoes and we went shopping to get them bigger shoes. Whatever it is, they seem to just glow every time we tell them how big they are. So we decided to keep ridding this phase to make a few transitions for them...the biggest one...no more pacifiers for sleeping. Dum, dum, dum...

We set the weekend for Presidents' Day weekend because it was a holiday weekend and Young had an extra day off...just in case was had a few sleepless nights. I started talking about the Paci Fairy coming to trade their pacis with a toy and give their pacis to all the little babies..."because only babies use pacis, not big kids like Timo and Cameron." I could tell the importance of the first talk about the Paci Fairy on Timo because when his daddy came home from work that evening, it was the first thing out of Timo's mouth..."Daddy, the Paci Fairy is coming to take our pacis. I'm a big boy!"

The closer the day got the more anxiety I had. The kids had never slept without their pacis. Would they even know how to sleep without them?? Ugh, I was so stressed out. But luckily the kids weren't and it went pretty smooth the first night. We had them leave their pacis on their nightstand for the Fairy, had a few cries and whimpers, one wake up each in the middle of the night but that was it. Great! That was easy! Or so I thought. Then came the second night...oh boy. I think the "fun" of the Paci Fairy wore off and it wasn't "fun" anymore. We finally got them to sleep two hours after bedtime, two middle of the night wake up for each and a bright and early wake up the next morning. Not fun. I was seriously considering them keeping their pacis till they went to collage.

But after one more rocky, but better night they got it...Voila! Here they are...pacifier free! Yay!

Even though the kids haven't asked about their pacis since the second night, their sleep has been a roller coaster for the past two weeks. The naps are pretty much non existent now. I think we're had three very short naps over the past two weeks. And nighttime sleep has shortened by at least an hour...falling asleep 30 later than normal and waking up 30 mins or more earlier. And because of the loss of sleep, the whining has escalated, tempers are shorter and I'm noticing it's harder for them to concentrate on one activity for as long as they could just a few weeks ago. I've talked to several experienced moms and our pediatrician, all whom took pacis away around 3 years old, and they say it takes a few weeks to even out. I hope by "a few weeks" they mean "two weeks" and it evens out around our house soon! I know it was the right thing to do but "OUCH!" it hurts!