Looking on the bright side

When R was born, I was terrified of giving her a pacifier, and tried to avoid it at all costs. However, she took to the pacifier like a fish to water, and we grew to appreciate how easily the pacifier helped calm her down in public and helped her fall asleep easily and quickly. I was nervous about getting rid of it, but even that turned out to be much easier than I expected.

So when RUS was born, I was prepared and totally fine with giving him a pacifier. We had two different kinds at the ready. He NEVER took one. We tried on a bunch of occasions-- not SUPER hard but we did try. We bought three more different kinds. He didn't like any of them. He would spit it out and gag like he was choking to death on it.

He slept great though, and we haven't had a lot of issues (aside from the "you must hold me throughout my naps", an issue that we had for 7 months and thankfully is gone) with no pacifiers with him.

Except. He is now developing a thumb-sucking habit. He sucks his thumb in between bites of food and to calm himself down when he's upset or tired. On the one hand, it's really sweet. He's such a sweet baby. I love him so much! But on the other hand, I was a thumbsucker for a long time and I know my mom worked really hard to get me to stop. You can take away the pacifier, but you can't take away a thumb.

But I'm coming to terms with it, and trying not to borrow tomorrow's troubles today.

Here's the bright side of having a child who sucks his thumb:

1) he puts himself back to sleep in the middle of the night when he wakes up.

2) he puts himself to sleep in his car seat when he's tired.

3) having a tired baby cuddle with you while calm and relaxed is on my list of sweetest things EVER.

4) it really does help calm him down.

5) I don't have to worry about the pacifier at all!