on the dummie….i would say hold off on taking it away….i agree with other posters. and it sounds like it is being used for the right reasons (to go to sleep at night, naps, etc). we do the same with lachlan. he definitely doesn’t have it all the time. when he falls asleep with it, he eventually spits it out! i say give it a little more time. it definitely is better than the thumb!!!

good luck with pumping and donating. that is AWESOME! xoxo

I think we’re hoping for the same timeframe for abandoning the soother. I don’t know why they bother me so much, but they do. Seeing four-year-olds walking around with them always sends me into a bit of dismay.

It’s so good to hear from you, and I think you’re negotiating the mummy blogger role very well. xoxo

When it is very hot (we were in the 100’s F or ove 37.77 degrees C recently), we also run the ceiling fan in the nursery and JAG spends a lot of time in just a diaper. I haaaaaate nursing when I am sweaty, but it is often a necessity.

JAG loves stroller rides in the park, but we haven’t had one in weeks due to heat advisories. We are both getting a bit stir crazy, I suspect.

Okay, enough complaining about the heat in N.O.

BB is adorable. Good luck with the dummies.

er, having a baby doesn’t invalidate the right to bitch – it’s often really really hard and to say that in no way negates the joy and privilege you feel in having them. We didn’t have the tough journey you guys did, but did have one miscarriage along the way, so it wasn’t entirely painfree as a process. I felt sometimes when we were trying that we were starting to idealise what having a baby would be like – I don’t know, but I think it’s great that you are so thoughtful about this. But I think anyone who knows your story would see anything that you said in context. You are also in a different place now – you are parents responding by the minute to you son, not counting your life in cycles and pee-sticks.

I always enjoy reading whatever you decide to share and I know I’m not alone.

Oh, and kudos to you for the milk donation. That’s a really special thing.

I wouldn’t worry too much about the dummy. If weaning him off it now works, then go ahead, but if it doesn’t, don’t stress. TBB had one for sleep til he was nearly 3yrs old I think. He was old enough then to understand when I explained that it was falling out and waking him in the night and the sucky noise was driving me crazy so in x number of nights we’d be getting rid of it.

Awesome that you are donating your milk!

BB is so tiny still. If its easy to get him off it then good for you, and I woulod totally do it, but he may pick something else (ie: boob) to replace it, if he has that intense need to suck. then you just have a different problem on your hands…

And WOW– good for you, for donating your milk! I hated pumping. I hated it A LOT. I don’t think I could ever have been a bog enough person to do it. I totally admire even just the intention to do it. I really hope it works out. What a lovely think to do for sweet babies that need it!

My new baby is 11 weeks old and I would KILL to get her to take a pacifier. She refuses and instead insists on sucking on her fist. My fear is that she will end up a thumb sucker. We can always take away the dummie, but we can’t take away her thumb. That’s why I would prefer her to take the pacifier.

I have a good friend who took away her daughter’s binky at about 6 months of age. Her daughter wasn’t “done” with it yet (I remember being amazed that she had weaned her off of it so young when my son was still going strong with his) and became a thumb sucker as a result. Now she is jealous that I was able to take my son’s binky away and she is getting evil looks from her dentist and doctor about her daughter’s habit of sucking her thumb.

Just my two cents on things…I would let BB keep the dummie for a while longer…otherwise he might decide to suck on something else that you can’t take away from him later.

Good luck!

Good luck with the pacifier and the milk donation – that is a wonderful thing you’re doing.