I may have jumped the gun and I feel a little unprepared, but now that it is done, I can't go back.
I don't think it would be an over-reaction to call Olivia a dummy addict. That is, until last night. She is now a recovering addict. It has been 32hours without the beloved dummy.
I put her to bed last night without it and she cried for about half an hour. Realising I had jumped the gun, but definitely not able to go back, I went and got her up, and we googled pictures of babies with dummies, and big kids sleeping without dummies. It was, I thought, successful, though probably belated. We discussed the issue rationally, and she went off to bed. Well, she was still awake and fairly distressed when Justin got home at about 8:30, so after failed negotiations with the princess, we both sat on the floor beside her bed to help her settle. Olivia looked like she had died and gone to heaven. She rested her angelic face on her pillow, and wispered sweet nothings to us (in a voice I wish she would use more often). After a while I left to do my other motherly duties and Justin offered to pull up a pillow on her floor until she fell asleep. She didn't last long in her bed, and they ended up having a snuggle session on her bedroom floor, where she eventually fell asleep.
Words cannot describe how important the relationship between the two of them is to me!
I'm not sure that I am the bad quy, taking away the beloved dummy. I see my role in the situation as the heroine of the hour, facilitating one of those rare 'magic moments' between a Daddy and his princess.
P.s Olivia has gone down for her nap today with a 'broken' dummy (one of the many tips I got in my hour of need). I cut about two thirds off the teet, and asked her if we should just throw it in the bin, as it 'seemed' to be broken. She tried it out a couple of times, and decided she would keep it- good luck I say! She's been asleep for about 2and a half hours now :D
Beautiful Neets (do I start every comment I make on here with 'beautiful neets' :) probably, but it's always true!! cute story - I have no idea how we're going to 'wean' jazzy off her bottle.... we've started reading her a book called 'bye bye bottle' we'll see how the propaganda goes :)
ReplyDeleteThe other night she woke up in the middle of the night and was really unsettled for ages (she said she had a sore foot - anyway after ages of trying to cuddle her to sleep (so not working), letting her cry for a while etc I picked her up and she asked for some milky - I said no, but after her asking again I said 'OK just a little bit' she then said "YESH" in her sleepy voice and threw her fist in the air in a victorious way.....oh I am so weak!!! I'll have to remember this little story to give me strength next time :)
gorgeous about Justin and livy cuddling to sleep!
How is it going? I hope it's coming along nicely!
ReplyDeleteI'll look forward to the update.
Loved the heroin of the hour! Such a beautiful insight sweet lady:)
I do love reading your after thoughts, you are such a great mother. I also love how it reminds me of my children when they were small.....Your lucky that Livy is only a dummy sucker and not a thumb sucker, you can't cut a hole in that and tell them it's broken. Keep up the good work. Poor Jacob, when he turned one I kissed him good night, said happy birthday, no dummy, no bottle and you can go to bed on your own tonight, your a bid boy now. To my delight he never looked back. Love you guys :)
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