Friday, May 11, 2012

The Pacifier Chronicles: Part 1

On Monday we decided to allow Max to have his pacifier when he is in the crib, but that is all. No more walking around the house all day with the pacifier. No more having it at parks, in the store, in the car, etc. He pretty much had it with him all day long. To the point that some days it was with him when he ate and he would pop it in between bites. It was really getting ridiculous.

This week has been pretty darn challenging. I'm realizing how effective the pacifier was at keeping this kid calm. The screaming - oh the screaming - makes me crazy. He hits decibels that take over your brain and you can't even hear yourself think. Before, I would just pop the paci in his mouth and that would calm him down. As of today, he has screamed so much that he is hoarse.

Car rides on Monday were horrible. Since then, those have gone a little better. We try not to take too many.

Our walk on Monday only lasted about 15 minutes before he was screaming in the stroller. All of his cheerios had run out and he wasn't taking it anymore.

My trip to Target yesterday - forget about it. I realized that I have that kid. The one that is running through the store, collapsing on the floor. You ask, "Why not just put him in the cart?" Yeah right. If I can get him it in, that lasts for about 2 minutes before he is climbing out hurling himself towards the floor. I even attempt to hold him while I shop. He doesn't want that either. I've resigned myself to the fact that for the foreseeable future I'm not going to any type of store with him.

He makes me second guess every choice I make. Makes me feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't know at times if I'm being too hard on him. If I'm not being hard enough. I haven't felt this feeling in a while. I really just don't know what to do other than just let this phase run it's course.

With the second child, I haven't felt that feeling of desperation too much. The desperate feeling you feel when you are in the throws of an unpleasant phase and you think it's never going to end. I felt that with Charlotte a lot. With Max, I knew that this too shall pass and I'll forget all about it. This one I'm not so sure.

One up side of this week has been hearing his little voice much more. He is actually saying more than we thought he was. We are hearing a lot of first syllables of words. He doesn't have too many full words, but there is a lot of things he knows that first syllable. I'm hoping that there is a big jump in his talking progression soon. I'm hoping that will calm all of us down. He'll be able to tell us what he wants and we'll finally know what all of this screaming is about.

2 comments:

Alison LeBlanc said...

Wow, that sounds really hard. I feel like with more than one child I am often in a phase with one of my kids that I am clueless about. Luckily, with the baby I don't have time to linger on them too much yet! Good luck- I hope this at least means he is choosing to stay in his crib past 5:30??

*Jess* said...

my son screamed from 15 mo- 2 and a half years old. My ears would ring by the end of the day. And he didn't even have a pacifier. You have my sympathy!