Carter is not the bravest of children so when we scheduled his first dentist appointment I was scared to death of how it would go! We talked for a while about what to expect and I think I prepped him as much as possible. The day came and even sitting in the waiting room I was so anxious to begin. Carter could not have surprised me more! He strutted back to the exam room like he owned the place and sat like an angel for all his x-rays. The hygienist showed him all the tools that our dentist, Dr. Bak would be using and talked to him about how it would feel to clean his teeth. Carter really was the perfect patient and I was so happy with how he did at the appointment.
Sitting perfectly still for x-rays!
Testing all the instruments before Dr. Bak cleans his teeth
All clean! So excited to pick a prize from the treasure box!
Unfortunately, seeing the dentist for the first time brought up the issue with Carter still taking his pacifier to sleep. Not a huge deal in my eyes, but after seeing the x-rays and the damage it had already done to his jaw we decided cutting it off cold turkey would be the best way to rid him of the bad habit. I was going to give my little some time to come around to the idea but knowing how stubborn he is, this was not something he would be excited about. Immediately after leaving the dentist we went to the car and threw his beloved “sucky” away. We had a long talk about how he wasn’t a baby anymore and Dr. Bak said it was time to get rid of it. There were many, many, many tears shed that day and almost constant requests for his favorite bedtime companion. I am happy to announce though, that it only took about three days of pure hell and the habit was broken. The biggest bummer is that my awesome sleeper went from a solid 12hrs at night to more like 10, very interrupted and choppy hours. Not a night has gone by that I haven’t had to go in there and help calm him down. Between him and Nolan (who still wakes up 3-4 times a night) I am quite exhausted! Hopefully he will figure things out soon and we can all get some much needed rest!
