Too Much of a Good Thing

Most people have heard the saying "You can never have too much of a good thing," I am here to tell you that yes...you can have too much of a good thing. When I first had Parker, I was not one of those mothers who was never giving my child a pacifier. I had already sterilized several and brought two of them with me to the hospital. After all, I think babies with pacifiers in their mouths are cute. He showed very little interest in it at first and for the first *almost* 2 years of his life. He would occasionly pick it up, put it in his mouth, suck on it for a while, then toss it about. I was fine with this.

This is Parker when he was only 1 day old. He liked the paci because we gave it to him.

He then got very sick right before I started school *teaching* in August, and all he wanted was his far far *pacifier*. He was sick so what was I to do--I gave it to him--all of the time. Little beknowest to me that this was the beginning of an addiction. My child is obsessed with his pacifier. If he can't find one, he will walk around the house saying, "paci, paci..where are you?" I can't deny that it is cute when he calls out for his pacifier, but GEEZ..enough is enough. He can talk a lot now, but I can't understand him when he has the paci in his mouth. I tried to convince myself that I was ok with him having it as long as he took it out to talk, but lets face it..it is driving me bananas! We have cut holes in the ends of the pacifiers, but I am pretty sure that he has them hidden around the house--he always finds another one.

Parker with his paci Halloween night

When I was out of school for Christmas break, I decided that I was going to take it away from him--cold turkey. This lasted all of about 1 day. When he would not go to sleep without it--I gave it to him. I took it away the next morning, and I was determined that he was not going to have it again today. Jim isn't nearly as disgusted with the paci fetish that Parker has as I am, and P knows this. He uses this to his advantage *I think*..if I am not around--he will ask his Daddy for his paci--little stinker! Jim usually gives in to WHATEVER it is that Parker wants *and me too* for that matter--he is such a softy and I LOVE that about him. He will do anything he can to make sure that we are both happy. Day 2 of life without the paci became Day 1 of life with the paci back. I do not give it to him during the day at day care or when he is at home on the weekends. He gets his paci when it is close to bedtime, sometimes in the car, and always when his Daddy is home. Since P knows that I don't like for him to have his pacifier..when he does..he is very defensive about it. That is MY PACI..he will say. Once he gets it--there is almost no getting it back.

This is Parker when he doesn't get his paci when he wants it!

This is happy Parker with his paci!

Which Parker would you rather deal with?

I feel like I need to replace the paci with something else--something that he will be comforted by. In the beginning I had tried to give him a blanket, too. That didn't stick. He is ok during the day when he doesn't have it--most of the time. I just want him to be ok ALL of the time.I would love to hear how you got rid of the paci or some ideas about something else I could do.