Pacifier connoisseur

Rahul knows pacifiers! The fact that he is almost a year and a half and is still hooked to one is another story; but since I brought it up here is an interesting little thing. A friend who recently moved to Switzerland said she sees three and four-year olds there still sucking on them. Continuing with the “other” story, my cutoff with Rahul is eighteen months partly because our pediatrician suggested that. She said the “mouthing” stage, when everything in sight must be touched and tasted stops. That leaves us three weeks to figure it out. Leila was about seven or eight months old when she decided it was not her style anymore and simply dropped it. I don’t see R doing that. He is too much of a pacifier expert now to just give it up. It has become a pleasure for him!

A few days ago we had four pacifiers in the house. Today we could only find one. Things are always disappearing, like straws from water bottles, milk bottle lids, teethers, socks… We find them under beds, pillows, cushions, in toy boxes and other nooks and crannies around the house. These days we have hundreds of little toys and other children’s objects. It’s no easy task to keep track of everything, so we don’t fuss over it too much; which means we have more and more stuff around and more stuff missing.

When we were out shopping today, I bought a couple of new pacifiers. Rahul tested and rejected them! They are the same brand, shape, and size that he normally uses but these were latex not silicone. I bought them in a hurry and would have never noticed it if he hadn’t spat out the new one, and rushed back to his old one. Even within the silicone type (which are better for children by the way) there are two different models. It’s the funniest, cutest thing to watch him test the two. He has one in his mouth and the other in his hand. He concentrates as he sucks on one for a while, spits it out and puts the other one in his mouth. Sometimes he decides right away, other times he repeats the process until he is sure which one is just right.

A couple of days ago we were at my friend’s daughter’s one year birthday party. Rahul noticed her pacifier and that it was different from his. He swiftly picked it up, sucked on his first as if to remind himself what it felt like, then switched. By then we shared a laugh and managed to give it back.

In his one and almost a half years, R has experimented with many pacifiers and has a strong preference for some. It’s funny to watch him test them, and choose some over others. Of course it must be a matter of taste like anything else. How he will drop this pleasurable habit I don’t yet know. Two of his grandparents quit after many years of serious, heavy smoking. This should be possible!