Good bye paci!

The whole pacifier thing has been a nightmare for us this last month. As the girls got older they started depending on them more and more for sleeping at night. That wouldn't be so bad if they could keep it in their mouths or if they were able to put it back in if it fell out. But, unfortunately, they can't do either, so Dan and I have been up and down countless times during the nights to put that darn paci back in. 

It all came to a head Saturday night when Dan and I were up so many times putting pacifiers in the mouths of 2 little girls that we didn't get more than 1.5 hrs of consecutive sleep. It was a rough night. That next day, Sunday, I told Dan that we needed to do something about the paci and he was in total agreement. We were going to start with Annie because she seemed the least addicted to it and we were going to cut her off cold turkey!  I know, that sounds so harsh, but after almost 4 months of sleepless nights, and the most recent ones only getting worse instead of better,  it was time to do something! 

So, that night we put Annie to bed and we didn't give her the paci. There was crying involved and it was a long night, but Annie was learning to put herself back to sleep instead of relying on the paci to do it for her. Monday night was a litte better...still had some crying but better.  And last night, after a brief struggle to get her to go to bed, she did great all night long. Every once in a while I'd here a little cry, but it never lasted more than a few seconds. She went all night till 5:30am.  I think she's definitely learning and on her way to sleeping all night long!!! HOORAY!!

Now Molly on the other hand. Whew! I was going to let her wait a few more weeks as she just didn't seem to be ready to let go of the paci.  I was going to focus on Annie and get her straightened out and then work with Molly. But...we had a change of plans last night.  I put Molly to bed at 7:50 and within 30 minutes I'd already put the paci back in 2 times. Dan came into help and rocked her and got her settled down and at 9:00 put her in the bassinett in our room. I crawled in bed hoping to get some sleep but 8 minutes later, Molly lost the paci and was awake crying.

That was it for me. I was not going to be up all night putting the paci in her mouth every 10-15 minutes. So, we let her cry. It actually took her less time than Annie before she fell asleep. She woke up a few times throughout the night, but really she didn't do more than fuss. So we let her go. At 5:00am, she started crying and knew she was probably hungry so I fed her and she went right back to sleep for another hour.  Overall, she did much better than I ever expected. I think after a few more nights, both girls will be able to sleep all night without the paci!  I will be doing the happy dance when that happens.