Well, I will assume partial responsibility...the other half of the blame goes to THIS:
Both of our kids took this "soothie". This is the pacifier that was given to them in the hospital and I never really tried to give them anything else. Unfortunately, Maddie was way more attached to her paci than Jacob was. When Jacob was 2 1/2, he started going to preschool at PSE in Texas and they didn't allow him to have it. That, my friends, was the end of the story. When I realized he didn't need it at school, I stopped giving it to him and he never looked back.
Maddie had a dentist appointment back in January and upon examination, the first question out of the dentist's mouth was "How often does she take her pacifier"? ARGH. I may have thrown in a little white lie and said "Only during naps and bedtime". I forgot to mention any time she's in the car, or whenever she was upset, or if I just needed the child to stop talking (the child never. stops. talking.) She pointed out the big "O" that formed with her teeth and that the top 4 don't even come close to touching the bottom 4. I had noticed that when she needed to bite into something, she'd have to move the piece of food to the back of her mouth so she could break it in two (poor thing.) The dentist used some formal dental jargon to diagnose the issue and said, definititively, "she will need braces when she gets older." ACK! Just because she's had this paci?! Jacob, however, apparently has the most perfect teeth on the planet and she couldn't be more pleased. I quickly pointed out that he took that same paci until he was 2 1/2. But truth be told, he never wanted it as often as she did. I knew it was a problem, but her attachment intimidated me and I wasn't ready to fight another battle. The dentist said that I should break her of it by the time she's 3. That made me elated, actually, given that she had just turned 2!
Mark and I decided that we should try and wean her by 2 1/2, like we did with Jacob. Since his teeth managed to find "perfection", we hoped hers would too. Of course, we had LOTS going on at the beginning of the year...and then sabbatical. Who wants to deal with a cranky toddler being denied her only soothing mechanism? We procrastinated...but finally decided to pull the trigger after our trip to Disneyland. Yes, we did need it to survive Mickey's house.
At Mickey's House back in April (the last week she had her paci.) Notice how her top teeth don't touch her bottom.
Our good friend Millie just had twins and we decided it would be a good idea to have Maddie take all of her pacis to the "new babies that really needed them." I explained over and over again how she was "such a big girl now" and how "the new babies need pacis!" She was excited and didn't even hesitate. We gathered them all up and delivered them to the babies. I was proud of her for not even blinking an eye at the whole idea. Then, nap time came, and I wanted to sprint back over to Millie's house to come get them. Crying, not sleeping, crying, not sleeping...there were days with no naps. And days it took her over an hour to fall asleep at night. Days where she shoved her blanket in her mouth, trying to simulate the same soothing effect as the paci. There really isn't anything more heart breaking than that. But, we stuck with it and didn't turn back. After about a month, she finally figured it all out.
And guess what? Her teeth are starting the take a normal shape. And she can bite into things now! That, along with her now pooping in the potty, are 2 major milestones I'm glad we survived. Take a look at that smile now.
Do you SEE the difference?! I really can't wait to take her back to the dentist in hopes that whatever problems were caused by that paci have dissipated, and I don't need to waste any more emotional energy on it.
I tell all new moms now that they should expect to stress about teeth. For at least 10 years. Cutting them, forming them, brushing them, them falling out, more coming in...it's a neverending battle. And don't even GET ME STARTED on the wisdom teeth. That's another post for another time.
Wish us luck at our next dentist appointment!!
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