I breastfed my son until he was 2 years old, at which time, I never really weaned him. Instead, I took the parenting low road, and corked his loud little mouth with a “nook” for his suckling pleasure. I thought he would, eventually, quit the nook, but that never happened. He is now 4, and finally, on Sunday night, we decided to call it quits.
Actually, we lead up to the big “Q” for months. We had many conversations with him about quitting the pacifier. Nada. Then, a friend told me to gather them, put them in a box of some kind and try to get him to give them to a baby who “needed” them. Nope. Another mom suggested putting them under the pillow and having the “nook fairy” replace them with a small toy. Yeah, right.
The truth is, I kept putting it off because I knew quitting would mean a few nights with little sleep for all of us, and after years of insane sleep deprivation, I am loving my eight hours. But, every time I saw my son all plugged up, I felt guilty, knowing it was up to me to help him kick the habit.
Then, last week, he showed interest in a piece of silk, so my husband told him he could have it as his “blankie” if he quit the nook. He actually agreed to this on Sunday afternoon, so we nervously plowed ahead with the plan.
I actually saw a person detox during college, and lemme tell you, watching my son quit the pacifier wasn’t much different. His pain came in much shorter spurts and his vocabulary wasn’t as colorful, but his writhing body and crying out was eerily similar.
It truly hurt my heart to watch him want something so badly and not be able provide it for him. I kept remembering the big picture, and soldiered through the screaming. Yesterday, one friend joked, “Maybe he should just start smoking.”
It’s now Thursday, and I think we made it through the roughest patch. I learned a huge lesson about procrastination in the world of parenting. As a person, I might “work well under pressure” (as we procrastinators prefer to say), but as a parent, I must force myself to take immediate action. Just as soon as Mommy finishes her cup of coffee.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
