All of my children have absolutely loved their ya ya (a.k.a. pacifier) since they were newborns. As a result, it has been a pretty traumatic event in each of their lives when we take the pacifier away from them for good to give their teeth a fighting chance of being somewhat straight. Since they have been required to only have their pacifiers for nap and bed time after their first birthday, I have loved how much my kids have loved napping thanks to the daily reward of getting their ya ya. So, it has always been equally hard for me to take away their pacifiers knowing how much it breaks their hearts to say goodbye to them AND knowing how much it effects their willingness and enthusiasm to take their daily nap. So, this entire process has always been really hard on both my children and me.
With that said, we noticed that Emmett's top, front teeth were really starting to get crooked this fall. So, after talking about this with Emmett many times, we finally pulled the plug during Christmas break 2021. After a rough start at bedtime (where Ron agreed to rock him in the recliner chair in Emmett's bedroom since he didn't have to work the next day), Emmett was finally able to fall asleep. But when I put him down for his nap time without a pacifier the next day, Emmett would not cooperate. He simply could not relax enough without his ya ya to fall asleep. After he banged around in his bed and kept on trying to climb out multiple times, I panicked about 30 minutes later and gave him back his pacifier. Although I have never done this before, I announced right then and there that he could have his ya ya for nap time, but not for bed time. I simply just did not have it in me to lose this precious nap time every day when I get a break from all of my children and when I can get a project done without any interruptions. As poor of a decision as this was to only remove Emmett's pacifier from his life 50% of the time, I just didn't have it in me to to fight a daily battle at nap time to get him to fall asleep.
After I made this decision the end of December, I decided that we would really need the pacifier's help in getting Emmett to fall asleep in the car and in the hotel room during our trip to California. So, I quickly announced to Ron that I would take it away at the beginning of March after we returned home. However, after we got back from CA, I was so exhausted from this marathon trip that I decided that I needed a week or two to recover before taking it away. After two weeks, I decided that I really needed the same help from the pacifier to get Emmett to fall asleep in the car and at Sarah's house during our trip to Utah. As a result, I pushed back the date to remove the ya ya from Emmett's nap time until after we got him from this second trip. When he caught Ella's horrible cold two days before we left Utah, I decided that he needed it for comfort once we got home until he was totally healthy again. And so the day finally came yesterday when I ran out of any more excuses to push off taking the pacifier away from Emmett for good. I have never waited this long to do this as Ella was a little over three years old when I took her pacifier away (as I needed the same help on our big trip to Mexico the week after she turned three years old) and Logan was 2.5 years old and Lia was almost 3 years old when we cut them off. Since Emmett is almost 3 years and 4 months old and his top, middle teeth are the most crooked of any of our children's teeth, I knew that the time was definitely past due for me to pull the plug on this beloved possession of Emmett's.
So on Sunday night, I called Emmett over and had him watch me cut all of the tips off of his pacifiers before asking him to try sucking on them to see that they no longer "worked." When it was time for his nap yesterday, we pulled out the pacifiers to look at them and I had Emmett try again to put one in his mouth to see that it was broken and no longer felt the same. We then read several stories as Emmett kept on telling me that he didn't want to go to sleep since he didn't have his pacifier any more. After reading the last story, I just cuddled him in my arms and Emmett said that sweetest thing in his little, sad baby voice. He said, "Poor Emmy. I just miss my ya ya." It nearly broke my heart. I then reminded him that he now knows that he can fall asleep without his ya ya since he has been doing it every night at bed time for a long time. I promised him that if he would just lay down and close his eyes and relax that he would fall asleep. I also told him that I would get him a treat if he could show me that he could take a nap without his pacifier. This little advice amazingly seemed to make sense to him and he agreed to lay down and give it a try and I am so happy to report that I never heard a peep out of him. When I went to check on him several minutes later, I was so relieved to find him asleep in his bed with his blankets in the exact same spot where I had placed them when he first laid down. Although I know that this was just the first day of many to come without his beloved pacifier, I hope that this transition will go as smoothly as possible and that Emmett will continue to nap for months to come without his beloved ya ya! Only time will tell...
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