Sesame Street
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Parenting
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Parenting
Elmo Party
Honestly, we've been meaning to do it. It's been in the back of my mind for a while, but what with potty training and moving into the big boy bed and starting preschool, taking away one of my son's absolute favorite things in the world forever kind of fell by the wayside.
Yes, our three-year-old still sleeps with his pacifier. After we read books each night, he climbs into bed, says good-night and sucks happily on it as he drifts off, gazing into his tattered stuffed Big Bird's eyes. There's no fuss, no tears, no demands. You can see why we haven't really been all that motivated to come up with an exit strategy.
So I was kind of relieved to hear that Sesame Street has designated Friday, November 4 as Put Down the Pacifier Day. And there's a new DVD Bye Bye, Pacifer to help kids and parents break the binky habit. (Anyone who scoffs clearly doesn't own Elmo's Potty Time. Say what you will about Elmo, but that video works.)
Mercifully, there isn't a hard and fast rule about when kids need to ditch the habit, though some doctors and dentists say that babies should give up their pacis by two or three years to prevent paci-related speech delays as well as dental issues.
We'll be trying all the things that Elmo does. He puts all of his binkies in a box for a new baby. Chris from Hooper's Store tries outright bribery. (To test the waters, I asked our son if he'd like to give up his paci and get a big fire truck: He immediately handed it to me.) Elmo even gets a dollar from the Binky Fairy -- but, a true addict, he uses it buy another one. Finally, he decides he's ready after singing the song below with Gordon. We'll be singing that, too. So we'll see how it goes. Wish us luck.
