Pacifier Free

This week has marked our first week of pacifier-freeness. While Reese did not use her pacifier often during the day, unfortunately she came to rely on it as a crutch to help her get to sleep. After our trips to the pedi for ear infections (our doctor explained why pacifier use has been linked to increased ear infections), and reading countless sources on breaking the habit, we decided to give it a go. From other parent-friends we had heard that if it wasn't gone by now than it was only going to get tougher to break the habit as she got older. Reese wasn't (and still isn't) very happy about the transition. Instead of drifting quietly off to sleep and sleeping on a fairly predictable schedule, she now screams and throws tantrums each time she's put in her crib for a nap or at night. What we thought would only take a few days (like maybe 2 or 3?) of crying has continued to stretch out into this week. Let's just say she's stubborn and she comes by it honestly.

Adding to this sleep drama are some issues with her sleep positioning. When we lay her down for sleeping we lay her on her back with her elephant. Before we can even leave the room, she rolls herself over, pulls up to standing and starts screaming at us. She then proceeds to crawl all over her crib (still screaming) until she ultimately falls asleep in whatever position she exhausts herself in. Lately this has meant that she's been doing a lot of sleeping in a semi-sitting position. (Imagine sitting up straight, then bend at the waist until your head and chest touch the ground--that's our girl.) I couldn't figure out why she kept waking up after 5 or 10 minutes of sleep on Tuesday, so I peeked in her room and found her trying to sleep sitting up. When I moved her back onto her back she slept for about another 15 minutes before calling it quits. Last night when Kevin and I went to check on her, she was sitting up, slumped over her elephant asleep. We gently rolled her over. It's put us in a tough spot: she won't go to sleep right away and starts crying, but she can't stay comfortable in her sitting position, and if we go back in and help her into a more comfortable position before she's asleep she'll get upset that we're leaving her again and her tantrum will persist even longer. (She's a master at the manipulation already, and I'm sure she'd put together that "crying = parents visit" real quick.) Ahh...did I mention this is also leading to shorter naps and earlier mornings? She's been an all around grump, really, and I'm trying not to let it rub off on me.