I said I would never give my baby a pacifier, but you say a lot of things when you are childless and idealistic that do not mesh with actual insano crying babies. But now that our little Oscar Dragon is here, it’s time for me to exercise a little parental realism.

The pacifier is a last resort baby prop for me.  He’s not going to become another Suri Cruise, who has been spotted with her pacifier recently at 5 years old!  At that point you’re just begging for braces.  No thanks.

I still don’t like to see the pacifier in his mouth, but it’s the lesser of two evils.  Pacifier or crying?  That is a pretty easy choice for me to make at this point, and most times he rejects it outright anyway.  Oscar has never been given a bottle, so this is a little confusing for him at nearly 2 months old.  He has no idea how to hold the pacifier in his mouth for any length of time so I either have to hold it in his mouth or replace it a hundred times.  I’m okay with that because it means he won’t be sucking on it for hours – nor will he be sleeping with it!  That’s a recipe for mommy sleep deprivation, and I’m already halfway there without having to get up solely to replace his binky.

Next step:  Attempt to give him a bottle!

I bought some bottles yesterday when I was deep in love with the dream of getting a little bit of freedom back.  I could just imagine getting out of the house for a couple of hours without feeling that Oscar was crying and starving without me!  But then I woke up and realized that I’m not really ready to give up our exclusive breastfeeding streak.  I’m sure giving him a bottle here and there of breast milk will not end our breastfeeding days, but I’m a new mom so it’s my job to worry about everything isn’t it?  I’m sure we’ll try it soon, but I’ve got to get a freezer stash of breast milk going and I don’t want to starve Oscar in the meanwhile.  Thankfully, I can take my time and attempt the bottle when we’re both ready.