Pacifier Bear...

It's not unusual for Leah to wake up in the middle of the night and cry out. Eventually she finds her pacifier and she's quiet again but then I'm totally awake and my heart is pumping because I was startled. I'd say five out of seven nights this happens. We never go in there because we know it's short-lived but that darn pacifier has been ruining my sleep for months. Not only that, Leah has a terrible rash/eczema break out all around her lips, chin, and nose which I assume is from the dry weather and her pacifier being moist all night.

So one day I just decided we were going to get rid of it. I started talking to Leah about how she was a big girl and we were going to give her pacifier away to a new animal friend. She seemed excited and on board with the idea so we made a plan and put it into action.

Years ago I heard about how families take their kids to Build-a-Bear to get rid of the pacifier. I thought that was fun and knew when the time came that I would do it that way. So we headed to the Bear workshop and Leah got to choose her very own animal to give her pacifiers to. She chose a pink bear formerly named "Hearts." We then took Hearts to the stuffing area to 'come alive.' The bear was stuffed and then Leah got to stick a tiny fabric heart inside too. Prior to all this I had called Clark's sister because she had done this very same thing with her daughter a couple months earlier. I needed some advice and support because I was starting to feel nervous that I was making the wrong decision and that this method wouldn't be successful. However, after our conversation I knew that I just needed to follow through and stay consistent and that Leah would adjust just fine! Afterwards I was totally motivated and ready to go. I was glad for the advice because the moment of truth came when Leah needed to hand over her pacifiers to Hearts and I got super nervous again. Leah was totally frozen and did NOT want to hand them over. It was heartbreaking. All her worst fears, although easy to talk about, were not so easy to overcome. She was brave though and found the courage to stuff them in the bear and say goodbye. We then picked out a shirt for Hearts and went on our way.

That night she got really panicked when there were no pacifiers in her crib and was realizing they were gone. She kept saying, "get them out! get them out!" because she knew they were inside the bear. But again, she was brave and adjusted quickly and we haven't had an issue since! We just would say that big girls don't have pacifiers and when she was sad she just needed to give her bear a big hug. The night wakings have decreased although Leah did seem a bit on edge for about a week afterward. Really sensitive and moody. Not sure if it was related. I tried to capture the event but was busy corralling Caleb, encouraging Leah, and talking with the worker. I'd say that the whole thing was a success and perfect for Leah's personality. She LOVES her bear and has since named it Teddy.