The Soother Fairy: How To Take Away A Soother – FOR GOOD!

07/20/2012

Ahhhh, soothers. My kids LOVED them! But as a mom to 3 year old twins who’ve shared a room since they were 4 days old, I’m not sure who loved them more, them or me! The last thing I wanted each night was for one to wake the other and have 2 crying babies awake in the night. Trying to soothe 2 babies with only 2 arms, especially when tired, is really hard. So truth be told, the soothers were for me, just as much as for them. 😉

All that said, I knew they couldn’t use them forever and at their first dental appointment, their dentist confirmed that the soothers were starting to affect their bites.  So my husband and I decided it was time to introduce our kids to the “Soother Fairy”.

I had heard about the idea of the Soother Fairy from others but I had no details, so we made them up.  I hope our story can help some of you.

The Soother Fairy came to our house when our kids turned 3. We started talking about the Soother Fairy about 2 months before they turned 3 so they would be good and ready. Then about 2 weeks after their 3^rd birthday, we really built it up. One week before, they received a card from the Soother Fairy:

“Congratulations!! You’re 3!! You’re officially BIG kids and as big kids, it is time to pass on your soothers and bottles to other babies who need them. Please enjoy them for 1 more week and on Friday night, while you are sleeping, I will visit you and collect them all and bring them to babies who need them. You’ll see my trail of pixie dust and presents as a thank you Saturday morning. Thank you in advance for your donation.

The Soother Fairy.”

The excitement was building!! The next Friday, they collected ALL of their soothers and bottles and put them into a bag for the Soother Fairy. They both found it really fun and exciting…until they realized they couldn’t take them back out of the bag. I ended up letting my son use one to fall asleep and then the Soother Fairy took that one too when she took the whole bag.

When they woke the next morning, I made a big deal of the pixie dust on their bedside table and the fact that the bag was gone. We all ran downstairs and found a Police Truck for my son and my childhood Cabbage Patch Kid for my daughter all surrounded by pixie dust. They were so happy! My husband and I kept making a big deal about what big kids they were all day. Night one was successful.

The next few nights, my daughter did surprisingly well. My son on the other hand had a tougher time. He was used to sleeping with one soother in his mouth and one in each hand and he would rotate them throughout the night. He woke a few times each night and cried like he was in mourning for about 3 nights. All I could do was hold him and comfort him and try not to cave myself (I made sure to really throw them all out so this wouldn’t be an option).  In his mind, he had lost his best friend…but then that was it!! Three tough nights and the habit was broken. It was much easier than I expected it to be.

I hope if your kids use soothers, The Soother Fairy helps you out! She definitely helped my big kids.

– Written By Julie O’Toole, Mom Of  Twins, Participant In Our Toddler Connections Program, And Independent Team Leader For Discovery Toys