Houston, We have a PROBLEM!

Today, after i picked up the boys from Mema's & came home, i started the laundry. When i came back in the living room, this is what i found: This was the moment i decided to we had to start phasing out the pacifier.

We have sort of started this already. He only gets it in the car & in his bed, but he has become more & more attached & goes into his room & somehow finagles the pacifier out of the crib. Once he gets it, it is a fight to get it back in the bed. So today, i took it & put it in the bed & shut the door (as he was literally clawing to get past me!). And this is what happened during pacifier phase out stage 1: (warning, this isn't for the weak hearted -aka Nanny!)

He got royally ticked off & began a lovely little toddler tantrum complete with spitting (yes, you read that correctly), slapping the door, floor & anything around him....

then he started throwing the toys around him....

So, then i decided i would try what worked with Jackson all those years ago... i cut a slit in his pacifier & strategically layed it where he would see it if he calmed down for three seconds ( i refused to hand it to him, it felt like i was giving in!) Of course, he took the bait....

And was thrilled to have the pacifier, but couldn't figure out why it wouldn't stay in his mouth (if you cut it, it won't create a suction) So, after several minutes of taking it in & out of his mouth...He decided to give up trying & start "chewing" it & holding it to the side of his mouth. Who cares if it doesn't work, right- the point is "I HAVE IT!" Luckily, by this point, it was time for dinner & mealtimes are WAY more important than PACIFIER times, so he went & put it in his bed when asked. I think he forgot about it until bedtime which went MUCH better than i thought. He whined in there for about 20 minutes, but finally gave up & went to sleep. I just pray he sleeps through the night!

** todays edit: Eli slept pretty well all things considered. He was a bit restless but we didn't have to go in to assist him at all. So i will count that as a success. And to those of you who are upset reading this, let me make a final point: The child can keep the "broken" paci as long as he wants for comfort, but by doing the slit thing, he will lose interest & give it up on his own because it doesn't work. Will he be frustrated? Yes a little, but he still WANTS it, so he is happy still for now. This way, he can give it up when HE is ready & it truly is less traumatic than waiting until he is overly attached (well he already is really) & just taking it hard core. I couldn't do that to him. He loves it too much.