Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Sleepless Nights

We are all a bit sleep-deprived here at Casa Rebecca. This is because when Jeff took Vinny for his tooth checkup last week (the tooth's going to be fine -- it's not dead and it will eventually descend back to its original location), the dentist said we needed to take away Vinny's binky (pacifier) because it was shaping the front of his mouth in the wrong way.

This is a very difficult undertaking because Vinny has used a pacifier since a very young age. He was actually prescribed to use a pacifier to strengthen his mouth and his sucking reflex. We'd already reduced his usage to only when he was napping or sleeping at night, but now we have to eliminate it all together.

He doesn't know how to fall asleep without it, it seems. I've sat in his room and held him until he finally falls asleep, for several nights in a row. Also, we've noticed him cramming his hands into his mouth, as if to get that binky sensation. I've observed that he tries to put more things in his mouth than he used to.

I feel awful that he's so miserable without it. Last night he was screaming for binky at bedtime, and I had to hold him down and stroke his hair gently until he fell asleep. Tonight was a little better, perhaps because he wasn't quite as tired as he was last night. I'm hoping that he will soon find another way to soothe himself.

2 comments:

Madeleine said...

Oh, oh, oh. Pacifier weaning is no fun at all.

I hope he gets the hang of it soon!

Susie said...

Ah, the curse of the pacifier... We also started Ethan on it at a very young age, and have managed to use it now just when he's napping or sleeping, but I'm dreading the day that we have to take it away all together.

As a side note, the other night he was banging his pacifier on his crib at 4am (running it across the bars like he was in jail). I got tired of hearing it, so took the pacifier away. And he went right to sleep. So maybe it won't be so hard! Yeah right...

PS glad to hear Vinny's tooth will be ok :)