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 a factor.
The conversation is what made the difference. 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. Everything else is secondary.
Before you worry about the pacifier or the toys or the screen time, just talk with them.
The unfiltered version of these stories lives in my emails. That’s where I say the things I hold back here.
If you’re looking for a simple starting point, I put together a free guide on building vocabulary through everyday moments. You can start with that here.
If you’d like to read more, you can find my book, Your Daughter Is Weird…, here.
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