after numerous attempts and sleepless nights, i am so happy that aliyah has been pacifier-free for over a month! we'd tried a number of techniques and efforts were interrupted by trips, new places, colds and jet lag, but what finally did it was the appearance of Sleeping Fairy. this orange-haired fairy doll that i'd bought at the dollar store in oklahoma turned out to be just what aliyah needed to get through the transition. sleeping fairy would come out of her drawer with three accessories: a brush, a purse and a wand. with the brush, aliyah first had to brush sleeping fairy's hair. with the purse she had to sprinkle magic sparkles onto sleeping fairy. then sleeping fairy would hold her wand and tell aliyah she had to do three things: "number one, aliyah must put her head on the pillow" and the fairy would wave her wand and aliyah would do it. the second thing she had to do was go under the covers. and the third was to close her eyes.
miraculously, the first night sleeping fairy came out, aliyah closed her eyes and slept with not so much a whimper or a whine.
that first night sleeping fairy stayed in alyah's hand while she slept.
the next morning aliyah was so happy about her own accomplishment.
night two: sleeping fairy came back, immediate shut eye, but sleeping fairy had her own covers and sat while aliyah quietly fell asleep.
