Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Detox. . .


Almost every kid uses one at some point. They are addictive. My sister's kids were so hooked, that they had tons of them stashed throughout the house so if you took one they'd walk three steps and grab another. Of course I'm talking about the crack rock of babies. . . pacifiers.

This past winter (during Christmas break to be exact) we moved from allowing pacifiers almost anywhere to being a bed only thing. It went well. The hardest part was getting grandma in on the plan, but she did and by the beginning of the year pacifiers were reclassified from full-time accessory to a sleeping implement.

So then the plan was to abolish them when summer break approached (it's easier to start big things when your wife is a teacher). I started this spring by taking it out of his mouth once he was asleep but I made the mistake of reinserting it if he cried during the night. We then allowed it in the car while we were on vacation 2 weeks ago and hooked him more than ever. A few days ago we took it completely. The first 2 nights combined crying and sucking on his stuffed panda. The third night was LOTS of crying. Last night combined talking to himself for a couple hours with waking up crying throughout the night. . . and every morning has meant once he is awake he's awake (the pacifier used to sooth him back to sleep).

He's asked for it, begged at some points. Cried. . . including sobbing "please," which just breaks your heart. Like he just wants one little hit and he'll be OK. It makes you realize just how attached they can get to certain things. I wonder is people who do interventions on heroine addicts feel this way. Like maybe it wasn't that bad and we should have just let him keep it for awhile. But I know things are getting better and a light is in fact growing nearer.

5 comments:

E.L. Bodenstab said...

Just remember that the first step to his recovery is admitting he has a problem. I'm so proud you've recognized it. Now the hard part, to get him to realize it. ;-)

ella1mom said...

Ella is still addicted. We waited too long and now we are trying to reason with her about it. Not a good thing...it isn't going so well.

Joe said...

I agree with PE, admitting is the first step :P

Anonymous said...

This is always a tough one. Carter was a paci kid. We decided at 15 mo was when we were going to wean him off it. He only used it really for sleep at that point. One night we just took it and he quit cold turkey. We just made sure he had something else to soothe him at night. We just got rid of them completely. He doesn't remember ever having the paci. Peyton on the other hand is a thumb sucker so that is going to be very difficult. I have a friend who waited till her son was 3 1/2 to take the paci away and he has a horrible speech delay. She is kicking herself for not taking it away sooner.

caramama said...

Good luck! I've seen numerous family members have to wean their kids off the crack--I mean pacis. It does not look fun.

My daughter would not take one, no matter how hard we tried (and OMG, did we try!). It was rough to not be able to use one, but at least we didn't have to go through the detox. We'll see with baby boy. He's taking them a bit now--unlike the girl who would scream like it was poison when we tried.