As his addiction increased, so did our resolve to break him of the habit. We toyed with the idea off and on all summer, but there was always some little trip or event coming up where we thought it might be handy to be able to give Simon his pacifier to help him sleep or deal with long car rides.
But, our trip to the beach marked the last of our summer adventures, so we made a plan that when we came back from the beach, we would cut Simon off. We'd been debating if we should just cut him off cold-turkey, or poke holes in the bo (a strategy I'd read on the internet) rendering it ineffective.
Zac said he just wanted to see what would happen if we poked holes in it, so we decided to go that route. Zac took a pin and poked several holes in it. But when I tested it (because I'm the scientist in this relationship), it still worked just fine. I suggested that Zac poke a hole in it with a knife.
Zac, overcompensating for the measly pinpricks, essentially cut a slice off the tip, making a large hole. Then, he gave it to Simon. Oh, how I wish we had a video of this moment! Simon was happy to have his bo, but then when he tried to suck on it, it fell right out of his mouth and on to the floor. He did this three times, utterly surprised each time. After the third time, he picked up the bo and examined it. Then he declared, "Bo got a hole in it! I can't eat it!" This was repeated many times throughout the day and in the days to come, as he worked through his trauma.
This was on Monday afternoon. We had removed all bos except this one with a hole in it. Simon kept looking at it and squeezing it and talking about how it had a hole in it. He seemed more surprised and betrayed than upset.
And then it was time for bed. This was the part we worried about most. Simon has always been so easy to put to bed. After reading some books, we would turn out the light and rock him a few times, then he would lift his head up, say, "Go night-night" and we would chuck him in his crib, which was littered with about five bos.
So on the first night, when he was put in the crib, he realized that there was only the bo with the hole in it. He stood up and cried and said he wanted to go eat breakfast. Zac took him to the kitchen, gave him a bunch more food, then put him back down without any problems.
Then, on the second night, he looked at the crib, saw the lack of functional bos, clung to me, and said he wanted breakfast. I took him out to the kitchen, he ate a little bit, but then still refused to go to bed. He clung to me and cried whenever I tried to put him in his barren crib. I spent about a half-hour trying to get him to go down, then I gave up and let Zac try. Zac eventually got him to go down.
On the and third and fourth and fifth nights, no matter how many times he protested, saying, "It's morning time! I want go eat breakfast! No, mommy, it's not night time, it's morning!" or "Where's one, two, three bos?" we held him for a few extra minutes, then just put him down and let him cry it out. I should add, here, that it probably didn't help that he had a cold this week, and was likely more uncomfortable than usual.
At some point in the week, we convinced him to put his broken bo in the trash can. We thought it would be helpful if he did it himself. At some point we also put some toy trains in his bed, thinking if he had something else to fiddle with, it might help distract him.
On Saturday, the sixth day, we had to face our first nap time without the bo (he naps at school without it every day). He cried for twenty minutes. Well, maybe slightly less than that, but it felt like forever.
An then, magically, on Saturday night, he went to sleep without crying. He has had no problems since then. So we are officially bo-free.
This video is from Tuesday, the second day of his bo-less life. He was talking all about losing the bo, but then when I started recording it, he stopped. But it's still cute to watch as he tries to wipe his face off.
Here's a partial transcript of the first part (Simon's lines only--I'm assuming you can understand what I'm saying).
-Bo's got a hole
-What happened to bo?
-It fall down. Mommy, it fall down!
-Where's the owl?
-Where's Alice?
-Can I get out and play?
-No, it's not bathtime....it's bathtime!
-Play with toys in the bath?...I play with toys in the living room!
at the end...
-Bo's got a hole!
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