Scout was obsessed with his plug (AKA binky, pacifier, etc.). To the point where he needed to have it all day long, and all I would hear was “Buggy…Buggy…Buggy!”. I actually think it started when he got a hold of Ezra Zimmerman’s 12 month plug, and realized how great it was compared to the only ones he has which all boast the sizing of 0-3 months. This happened for two reasons. #1 - Too lazy and cheap to constantly buy new sizes when the old ones were working fine. #2 - the only good colors come in the small sizes, and I refused him the right to walk around with some crazy, ugly, and bold color all day long.
I realized something was going to have to give since I could see his teeth starting to shift. I tried the “taking away” technique on our venture to LAX last week, but three headaches later it failed miserably. I also figure that when his little sister has one, he would revert. So I came up with the idea of having a plug drawer. It is in his room, and I told him about a thousand times over the course of a few days that he gets his pluggy when he is in bed or when he is in his carseat. I had him repeat it a few times with me, and it seemed like he got it.
My theory has been tested over the last week, and it is working like a charm! Not only does he only take his plug in bed and in the car, but he has had a total paradigm shift on naps and bedtime. He wasn’t bad before, but now he runs to bed to get his pluggy out of the drawer. Another interesting thing has happened also. Up until this trial, he was pretty restless during his nighttime prayers. He would fold his arms and close his eyes for a few seconds, but then he wanted down to get into everything. Now, I give him his plug, cover him up, ask him to fold his arms and close his eyes — which he does the entire length of the prayer now. (And these aren’t three second prayers. We have a lot of ground to cover and they are fairly lengthy.)
The only other thing I have noticed is that his sleeping pattern is longer. I don’t know if I can attribute this to my trial, no night terrors, or whatever else …..but I won’t complain! Yesterday, after a full 12 hours of sleep the night before, he took a 4 hour nap in the afternoon. How can a girl get so lucky! Just to think….I am finally getting a bit of sleep…..all to have another newborn within the week to wreck it all! That’s alright. I have always bragged that I am like my dad, and don’t need much sleep to function. He is a little more ridiculous than me — I think he survived on 5ish hours a night (and on every Thursday he pulled an all nighter at his law office) each night for many years.
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