I chose not to give Cami a bottle or pacifier when she was a baby. She was nursing and rarely away from me so a bottle wasn’t necessary. I remembered what a hassle the pacifier was with my son and I did not want to repeat that.
I specifically remember when he was 2 years old he was having a fit in the back seat of the car, in his car seat, while I was driving. His window was cracked and he decided to throw his pacifier out of it. I thought about stopping to get it, partially to stop the tantrum I knew was coming once he realized it was gone. That was a fleeting thought because what I said instead was, “Well, it’s gone. No more pacifier.” He never used another pacifier again.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I thought not letting Cami have a pacifier or bottle would create more opportunities for her to verbalize. But my son used both and became a well spoken translator. So that’s not the variable.
The variable is the conversation. Not the pacifier. Not the bottle. Not the educational toys. Not the screen time rules. How much I talked with them and how I talked with them. That’s what made the difference. Everything else is secondary.
Before you worry about the pacifier or the toys or the screen time, just talk with them.
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