Pacifiers

When Aiden was a baby we didn't deny him the pleasure of sucking on a pacifier, but he never really got very attached to it, and we were fine with that. He had learned to soothe himself in other ways. His "other ways" usually involved Kenny or I rocking or cuddling with him, but we were just fine with that. We were actually a little relieved, because we didn't want him to be one of those three year olds walking around with a pacifier in his mouth. I handed him one of his old binkies a couple of months ago just to see what he would do with it, and just as i thought, he had no idea what it was supposed to do. Finally after a few minutes of inspecting it, he shoved the rubber part into the back of his mouth, and chomped on it with his giant molars. Close, buddy, but that's not quite what it was meant for.

When he started teething, the thing that soothed him the most was chewing on a folded up corner of cloth, and most of the time, it was the burp rags that I had handy, so that is what he got to chew on. Now, a year later, he still has that habit, except now it is more just for sucking on. He is very picky about the "rag" he will suck on, and he has his favorites. It's getting worse, as he is now talking and can ask for it by name, and he also knows which cupboards hold his precious "wags"

People that see him running around with his rag hanging out of his mouth look at him a little funny, and I find myself thinking, "Hey, it's his pacifier. Leave him alone." Now I'm wondering when we need to start weaning him from his rag!