DN's absolute, most favourite thing in the whole world is his nyeh-nyeh. Believe it or not, he never graduated from the Pigeon Step 2 pacifier for 9 month olds because the Step 3 one is of a dramatically different shape compared to the Step 2 one and he refused to have it in his mouth. So yes, up until yesterday, my 3-year old toddler was sucking a pacifier for 9 month old BABIES.
We've thought about weaning DN off the pacifier since he was a year old. Obviously, for 2 years after that, we did squat because we were too chicken. And the task just got more and more difficult as DN got more and more attached to his nyeh-nyeh. We might as well have started compiling a wedding guest list for the happy couple. -__- But I'm happy to announce that there will be NO wedding and NO happy couple! There will instead be a very disgruntled toddler, extremely unhappy with his parents and whose main goal is to turn all their hair white in a week.
He's not doing a very good job with that. Our hair's not turning white. It's falling OUT!
The days are actually alright. We've already weaned him off his nyeh-nyeh during the day. It's weaning him off sucking it in the car and at night that we needed to work on. So far, getting him to go without his nyeh-nyeh in the car has been pretty easy. We just keep him really occupied in the car - talk to him, sing with him, let him watch videos on the iPhone...
The nights are a totally different story. That's when our hair starts falling out in clumps. (Some of it is pulled out.)
Night 1 : DN wakes up at 1am WAILING for his nyeh-nyeh. Totally inconsolable for an hour. Tells PF between sobs and wails, "Papa, I don't want to be like this!" *piang piang piang* (sound of PF's heart breaking) Finally calms down when I bring him downstairs with me to watch me pack the milk I'd just pumped. Continues to wake up every 2 hours after that, wailing every time.
Night 2 : DN wakes up wailing again. Only asks for his nyeh-nyeh a couple of times and then gives up. Then starts asking for things that he knows we cannot give (just so he can kick up a bigger fuss I believe). Asks to eat "rice and fish" and then "rice and meat". Wakes up 2 more times (wailing) after that.
Night 3 : The wailing continues. Wakes up at 12am and his crying wakes DS up. (ARRRRGH!) It's not "rice and fish" today, but "I want to go out and buy bananas! Now!". Wakes up again at 3am. At 6.30am, DS wakes up for a feed. PF and I look at the sleeping DN and breathe a sigh of relief AND start counting our chickens before they're hatched. PF then (foolishly) brushes his head and that sets him off again.
The funny thing is, DN has been able to fall asleep quite easily without his nyeh-nyeh every night since the weaning started. What he can't do is soothe himself back to sleep when he rouses from those periods of deep sleep.
It's Day 4 and I feel the same as DN on Day 1 - "I don't want to be like this!"
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