I honestly never thought I would be pondering this question. I swore my kid wouldn't be this kid. I told myself I would be a better mother than this. Then I had CJ.
When I was pregnant, I read books that said babies who sucked on pacifiers didn't latch as well when they were breast feeding, so I made the decision, CJ wouldn't have a pacifier. That worked the first two days in the hospital. When the pediatrician came to release us, CJ was fussy, and the doctor found the horrid, huge pacifier they give you in the hospital and crammed it in his mouth. It was love at first suck.
In retrospect, letting him keep it wasn't the worst parenting decision we have made, nor will it scar the little man long term. That is, unless he goes to first grade with it firmly in his mouth. I have been trying to get CJ attached to a "lovie" to take to bed with him at night in hopes of taking the nook away. You can even see it in the bed. While he thinks it is OK, he has decided his "lovie" will be nooks...lots of them.
CJ also goes from sleeping to crying in about 2 seconds. There is rarely a peaceful wake-up for this little man. Sunday afternoon he was down for a nap, and after an hour or so, we heard him playing over the monitor. Scott and I were puzzled, and I went to check things out. Here is what I found. One nook in the mouth, two nooks in his right hand, and one nook in his left hand. He thought it was the greatest thing.
So I am left to ponder the question. Is it worth taking the nook away from him now when we are going to have a baby who will have a nook in his/her mouth in 7 months? Right now, I'm exhausted, and anything that helps my sleep-hating baby sleep, it OK with me. So all you who think, "I'll never do that when I have kids," beware. It will come back to bite you in the butt.
