Peanut is 2 1/2 and still sleeps in a crib. She has only climbed out of it twice and hurt herself both times. That was months & months ago. Since she is convinced that she can’t get out, she stays in until I come get her. Therefore, I have decided that she will sleep in a crib until she is 18.
Allright, allright! I’m (mostly) joking! *sigh*
So, the hubs & I started talking about moving her to a big girl bed. First, we’ll convert the crib to a toddler bed. Then, after we help her learn that she can’t go wandering around the house during nap time, we’ll get her a big girl bed.
All of this discussion about Peanut + beds + sleeping led me to one thought: BABUS.
If you read this post or this post from a while ago, you’ll know that Peanut is rather attached to her paci. She liked having one. When we tried to take it away and it didn’t work (long story… no fussing at me, please), she went from clicking the “like” button under PACI to an obsessed freak-o. In fact, on any given night, this is what she looks like when she’s getting ready to sleep:
A pile of pacis right by her. But, she doesn’t call them that. She calls them babus. Like Bah-Boos. I couldn’t figure that out for the longest time. Then, one day I was running a bubble bath. She pointed at the bubbles and hollered “Babus! babus!” She’s calling her paci a bubble. Since the silicon end looks a lot like a bubble, this strange moniker actually makes sense.
Once upon a time when Bean was a teeny, tiny, brand-new infant. We were at the doctor’s office and I saw a kid around Peanut’s age with one babu in his mouth and one in each hand. “I won’t EVER let my child do like THAT!” I said, channeling my inner Judy MacJudgerson. Yeah. So, as you can see and count in the pic above, Peanut won’t go to sleep with less than 5. She has to have one in her mouth and one or two in each hand. Then, there have to be more sprinkled around the bed.
Breaking her of this habit is going to be tough. And what she doesn’t know: It’s coming. Soon. Very soon. Not sure when, but I don’t think we should have a 17 year old who has to clutch handfulls of babus to go to sleep. Then again, it would probably keep her from dating. Boys don’t really dig girls who need a paci….
But I digress.
The Great (And Successful!!!) Babu Take-away of 2011 will be coming in the weeks ahead. Like someone preparing for a marathon, I am already undergoing training. This will take everything this family has got. And, we intend to win. Now, my only question: Ditch the babus before or after switching to a big girl bed?
The mab Blab 
Elizabeth Johnson
I think ditch them before. That way if she is really upset she at least can’t get out of her bed. Kolay Gelsin!
mammaptheponderer
Do you remember my comment the first time you took babus away? The one about Madi’s Paci-Puppy. It is all about substitution. Good Luck!!
Momma G
Before, yes definitely before. Staci was the same way with the paci…one in the mouth and one or two in each hand. I started by throwing away one a day until we were down to one and then I cut the nipple with scissors so it didn’t work right. She threw it away because it was “broke, Mommy paci broke”. She cried at bedtime for a few minutes and after that everyday for a week or two it was..”Paci broke”, and that was the end of the paci. I know that transition doesn’t always work for everyone but might be with a try.
Keep us posted.
~hugs
Momma G