Finally a Security Object

Here's a challenge, can you find Matilda's new security object in this photo? Did you guess Peaco, the pink Uglydoll in the top corner? Nope! The yellow baby blanket made by my Great Aunt Jane? Wrong again. The box of raisins that tumbled from her clenched fist as she drifted off to sleep? Third time's a charm; you got it! Matilda has an unnatural connection to boxes of raisins lately. Not one specific box thankfully, any little box will do.

We have tried in the past to get her to develop a security object. The pediatrician and books suggested it would make weaning easier. First, we advocated for floppy bunny for a while, and then two different baby blankets. But to no avail. Independently she settled on raisins. We think it must be related to her deep fear that we will let her starve.

We started trying to cut out Matilda's night nursing last week. When she wakes up at night, instead of nursing her back to sleep we have been rocking, singing, walking, patting her back, and singing some more. We had attempted this once before, two months ago, but were derailed by illness and then trips. The first night she was pissed off. Actually every night she is pissed off, and I mean yelling-that-could-get-us-evicted pissed off. In a desperate attempt to get her to stop yelling the second night we offered her a snack. It seemed logical that if she had been used to nursing she would be a bit hungry at her night time wake up.

Tim handed her a box of raisins and she calmed right down and relaxed back onto her pillow. After a few minutes of her not eating the raisins we tried to take them away, thinking she didn't need another distraction in the bed (or bait for the ant epidemic we are currently battling). She totally fell apart at mention of removing the raisins so we let her keep them. She slept all that night with the raisins in her hand - and then three more nights this week. Last night when my rocking her seemed to be failing, Tim offered her the box, she then asked to be laid in bed, and promptly rolled over and closed her eyes. The photo above is how I found her this morning. We haven't found her covered in ants yet so we are going to let her raisin bond slide for now. So strange and so funny.