So, when Lilly was a wee baby I saw a picture on another mommies blog of her daughters with this stuffed animal that had a pacifier attached to it. After googling "soothies attached to stuffed animals" all day one day I found the "Wubbanub".
I can't tell you how big of a lifesaver it was! Lilly LOVED it and was able to keep her pacifier in her mouth on her own and put it back in her mouth on her own from such an early age. We started off with the duck and frog wubbanub. 2 was not enough so we ordered another frog and another duck. Then, I saw that they had come out with a cute puppy, well she hated the puppy so we put him away and only used him in emergency situations. Lilly nicknamed the frog "ibbit". It really was sweet, she would rub "ibbit" on her face at night to sooth herself to sleep. She really loved him. She also loved duck, but just not as much. Well after 16 months of having Ibbit, Duck, and a little of Puppy in her life, they are no longer. Dave and I have had numerous conversations about how it was going to break our hearts taking them away from her. Numerous people had told me that you don't see a 6 year old walking around with a pacifier...point being that they eventually just get rid of them. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind Lilly having a pacifier at this point, but I do feel that we need to start the weening process. It started by my mom losing one duck in Marshalls when her and Lilly were shopping one day. Then, she bit a hole in ibbit and I had to cut the soothie off and just give her back the frog. She was a bit confused. Then, the second ibbit had the same thing happen. We began to panic, but not too much because we still had duck. But then, I noticed a hole in that nipple too. I pulled it to make sure it was still ok and wouldn't pop off....and sure enough it snapped. GOODBYE DUCK! Oh No! We were really in a panic. Thankfully she settled for "PUPPY". But then yesterday, Dave and I wondered if we gave her a new lovey to love instead of duck, puppy, or ibbit, if she would love it too. We spent a good half of the day searching for the perfect lovey. A bear lovey with a pink bow in it's hair just like her bow she wears in her hair. She immediately took to it and carried it around with her the rest of the day. It is no "ibbit" and will never take the place, but she still loves it!
Last night was the true test. We gave her 2 regular soothies and her new lovey bear. We said her prayers, gave her kisses, said our "I love yous" and closed her door. Dave and I looked at each other with the same look wondering how long it would last. Well, ALL NIGHT! She had a little harder time falling asleep, but she did it! Nothing major! She even had a successful nap today without ibbit, duck or puppy. And, she is really not even that interested in having the pacifier during the day anymore either. We plan on taking baby steps. We will first let her get used to not having her wubbanubs. Then, we will start only letting her have her pacifier in her bed and in the car (it's hard to drive with a toddler throwing a tantrum, and the pacifier always soothes). Then, just bed. At that point hopefully she will be ready to give them up to a new baby that needs them more!
Ibbit has been many places with us and has been a huge lifesaver. I was recently nervous about taking them away from her (a 17 month-old looked silly having a frog hanging out of her mouth) But, I think it has all worked out! Will we give a pacifier to baby #2?? I don't know. I personally think it's better than the thumb, because you can't take that away, but whose to say that baby will "find" his/her thumb and want to suck on it if we don't give them a paci. I guess we will cross that road when we get there!!
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