I think most parents have something they don't talk about that often - an issue that worries them, but that they can't discuss for fear of judgement.
That topic for me? Soothers.
Here's a secret. I hate them.
Well, I didn't. And I think they are great for screaming babies who need to suck.
But the whole weaning thing. Brutal.
For us it has been particularly awful.
And, no I'm not discussing our 18 month old.
Chloe has some soothers. In fact she has about 25 because when I was pregnant I was oddly obsessed with finding every single available soother style so that if she needed one I'd have the perfect one for her.
weird.
I know it's weird.
Also weird, and somewhat predictable? She's never been interested.
She likes to play with them. She likes to steal other babies' soothers. But, really they aren't her thing.
But we also have a 5 1/2 year old. That's like 66 months old. Seriously.
And he loves his soothers.
we have attempted to rid our house of his soothers (and he will only use a specific purple one) and we haven't. His soother is his security blanket.
We have driven long distances to buy these soothers in mass quantities since they were discontinued.
And, when you get to a certain age (i.e. anything over age 2) you become a soother snob. That is what happened to Matt.
He loves them. He smells them. He touches them.
It's weird.
Last year when we met with a psychologist to have Matt assessed we brought up the whole issue of soothers. And, our beloved psychologist told me that he would self-wean, but to let him have them because they are his security blanket.
Our dentist didn't agree.
Our family doctor didn't agree.
The psychiatrist didn't care.
So, we decided that he could have a soother only in his room. At first Matt would go to his room during the day for his fix.
Then he was okay just at night.
Then I convinced him to keep it under his pillow and if he really needed it - it was there. That has been pretty effective.
And ... this week the soother went missing.
How my 5 and a half year old could lose such a beloved object is beyond me. But he did.
And he is okay.
Sure he'll wake up in the middle of the night and ask about it.
But, he doesn't have it.
We've gone days without a soother anywhere to be found.
Thank goodness.
I think we're done.
I also think that I need to go to my hidden stash and throw them out also. Because I'll admit I'm a little terrified what this world holds for us when we don't have that bandaid solution at our fingertips.
But, I think we'll all survive.
