Admittedly, I'm a bit of a fan of the show Super Nanny. She offers great parenting advice, if you can stomach the sites of children completely out of control prior to her arrival. If nothing else, it's a good reminder that discipline is important, even if it's difficult and frustrating for everyone involved.
I've taken away two especially helpful ideas from her show: the naughty spot/time out method (another post maybe?) and the paci fairy.
Both of my kids were extremely attached to their pacis. Natalie developed no other attachments to night-time things - just the paci, though she liked having a sleep sack on too. Gavin is attached to a few stuffed animals, but even for him, the paci was the most important item to help him soothe himself and fall asleep.
Because of this, we let them hang onto their pacis until they were over two, realizing it could become more difficult for them to part with them. But thanks to the paci fairy, the transition was a breeze. We just pulled Gavin's this week. Works like a charm.
The preparation:
1. Set yourself up for success. Pick a time when your child is most likely to do well with the transition, rather than one that's most convenient for you as a parent. I would have loved to pull Gavin's pacis a few months ago, but he was cutting four molars and using the paci to deal with the pain. He was also have some bad two-year tantrums and then we transitioned him from daycare to home with me. Not a good time to be taking away his security. But this week we noticed the molars were through, the tantrums were decreased and he was finding a new routine with me.
2. Choose the fairy's gift wisely. The paci fairy should leave a gift that's as exciting as the pacis themselves, if not a little bit more. Now, I'm not talking a power vehicle or a new inflatable water park. Really, $20 can land you a pretty sweet gift for a 2-year-old. For Natalie, it was an Elmo video and a baby doll to cuddle in her crib. For Gavin, a stuffed duck and raccoon.
3. Go into this with no reservations. There's no going back and you have to exude full confidence that it will work. Trust me, this helps you and your tot.
4. Don't mention anything to your kid until the day of. Think about doctor visits. You don't typically prep them for weeks so they can worry about the shots and what ever else might happen.
The process:
1. In early evening, excitedly tell your child about the paci fairy who is coming tonight. In our house, we tell them how big they are and how big kids don't need pacis. The paci fairy collects pacis from big kids and gives them to tiny babies who don't have any.
2. Give the child a fancy gift bag and ask him/her to collect all of the pacis. Surprisingly, kids get pretty excited about this and it gets them involved in the process.
3. Ask the child to put the bag on the front steps and say goodbye to the pacis.
4. Give them a few extra snuggles or toys at night, but otherwise don't make a big deal about the pacis being gone.
5. In the morning, run with the child to the front steps to see what the fairy left. The new presents should be in a different fancy gift bag. Make a HUGE deal about the big kid presents.
6. Throw away the old pacis in a VERY, VERY difficult to find location. Don't want those kids stumbling across where the pacis actually ended up.
7. Celebrate - job well done, paci fairy!
Have you tried this method or one like it? How about any other suggestions for ditching the paci?
1 comment:
Ah yes. I think the paci fairy will be visiting our house, as well, some day very soon! He's ready. I'm not :-) I have also seen people cut the tips off of the pacis so they no longer "work" and then the toddler eventually loses interest. OR I have seen people take the paci to one of the Build-A-Bear places and puts the paci in with the stuffing, therefore transferring the attachment from the paci to the bear that they can snuggle at night. All good approaches!!
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