oh, my heart is aching! i feel like such a mean mommy.
asher's comfort is to suck on two of his fingers, but he does this
so much that it has caused them to become terribly chapped and it's starting to cause problems with his little fingernails too.
i've worried about this since the beginning and tried to give him other forms of comfort instead. we've tried the traditional pacifier and
finally found one that he tolerates, but spits out as soon as i put him in his bed. we always have his special blanket that he likes to rub on his face, and recently i found a puppy dog
that feels a lot like his special blanket and he really likes that too.
in the last few days his fingers have become so chapped, swollen and red that i felt like i really needed to do something before they split open and became infected. so, after a few failed attempts to gently coax him away from this habit i finally went to my cousins house and we sewed some socks on the ends of his pajama sleeves.
i tried so hard to make it all okay. i even picked the socks that feel like his special blanket and puppy dog so that he can still rub his face. i put
vaseline on his fingers and got him ready for bed in his new mean-mommy-altered pajamas. he was doing great and we enjoyed some singing/snuggle time. then, i put him in his bed, said goodnight, and told him how much i love him (this is when he usually puts his fingers in his mouth...) he cried, he screamed, he shrieked. it only lasted for 8 minutes, but to me it felt like 8 hours.
now, he is sleeping. we'll have to see how the rest of the night goes... (i have a feeling it won't be good), but right now i'm feeling thankful that babies don't remember everything. sigh.
