Eleanor was so fussy when she was small. We tried everything to calm her down the first few months, including several different types of pacifiers, which she vehemently rejected. At about four months, for whatever reason, we offered the paci to her again and she decided she LOVED it. The Mam paci to be specific. From that moment on, she used it for bedtime and nap time and for rare occasions during the day such as sickness or long car/airplane trips. It has soothed her (along with Giraffe and Blanket) on many occasions and I am thankful for it. I know we are getting to the phase where she really should give it up, but I find myself wanting to hold on for just a little longer because it comforts her.
Henry is at least as fussy as Eleanor, if not more so. I don't know why we thought that baby number two would be easier -- maybe because we had done it before or maybe because we have seen friends with babies who are calm and happy from early on. Not the case though. We love our little howler (yes, he as graduated from squeaker to an official howler) but I was hoping that he would take to the paci a bit more quickly than Eleanor did in order to give him, and us, some relief from the constant colic-y wail.
We tried the Mam pacis with him but he did not seem to think they were that great. And, I had some reservations about getting him hooked on them. When Eleanor was little, she managed to get it stuck sideways in her mouth a couple of times and I lost a lot of sleep worrying that she was going to choke. Also, they have several parts, which I always worried might come apart and, again, pose a choking hazard. More recently, I have been reading about Bisphenol-A (BPA) a chemical used to make plastics for products including baby bottles, sippy cups and pacifier shields, which also sort of freaks me out. (There seems to be much dispute over this issue but here are some examples of the resources I've been reading: blogs - click here and here, news media - click here and here.) I was a worried first time momma with Eleanor and now I am just as much of a worry wart with Henry. So, I decided to try another kind of paci, the Soothie, for him. It is large and round (eliminating worry #1), all one part (eliminating worry #2) and made of silicone (eliminating worry #3 - as far as I can tell). I am sure I'll come up with something else to worry about, but for now I feel rather at peace. He seems to really like it so far. I am hoping this will lead us to more peaceful days and nights. Maybe it will.
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