Dilemma

I had it all figured out. Armed with my Parents magazines and What to Expect the First Year I knew exactly when I was going to start weening Sammy off of his pacifiers. Everything by the book. LOL At six months he only gets it when he naps and at bed time and then gone completely at one year. I bought such cute little pacifiers and I bought some of each kind. Things were going well. Then Sammy found his fingers. Now I cannot keep them out of his mouth and he hates pacifiers. My pediatrician said to get him hooked on pacifers because they are better and you can take them away. If he keeps sucking his fingers you can't take them away. So for a good two weeks I spent all day taking his fingers out of his mouth and putting in a pacifier only to watch him spit them out.

I started reading a ton of articles online. I read everything I could find. Most said there won't be any permanent damage unless he continues past age 4. I also read a lot that said if we try to stop him from sucking his fingers he may do it longer than he normally would if we just let it be. Sam and I have decided to just let him suck his fingers and hope he stops at about a year like we read. If he doesn't we will worry about it then.

I am not writing this so that I can get everyone's advice or opinions although you are free to give it. I am writing it to acknowledge and remind myself that parenting is not always going to go by the book. I get these updates from these parenting websites and also the book that I am reading all tell me what Sammy should be doing. I found myself worrying about it. I am trying to relax a bit. I just want to be a good mom...not like anyone wants to be a bad mom. I have worried for most of my life that I didn't have those motherly instincts because my mom was not really motherly. I wish I could say that I would stop obsessing over the things I read but I probably still will. I am just going to try to remind myself that people have been raising children for thousands of years without the information that is available today. Here's to taking it one day at a time. :)