Operation Stop The Thumb-Sucking

I was writing a post on how motherhood is such a blessing and how it enriches my life, but right now my four month old is screaming at the top of his lungs and I have no idea what to do. "Blessing" is the last word that comes to mind. ("What the heck should I do!?" is at the forefront.)

Due to pressed nerves, Scott has an incredibly difficult time sucking and keeping a pacifier in his mouth. Although he loves the rhythmic comfort of sucking (especially when putting himself to sleep), he is constantly spitting out the binky-- no matter the brand. Weeks ago, I got sick of retrieving the abandoned pacifier every two to three minutes and finally just took it away. Almost immediately his right thumb replaced the plastic. Life was blissful. He would self-sooth and sleep for ten hours each night, but I had nightmares of him turning into a kindergartener with a pink, winkled, and smelly thumb. So I put a mitten on his hand and have gave him the orange, plastic pacifier the lactation consultant had specifically recommended. Then he spit it out and cried, and I gave it right back to him. And he spit it out and cried, and I gave it back to him. Now we've done that dance about one hundred times and I'm the one who's about to cry.

What's a mamma to do? Where's the textbook? I think I'll pray about it and cry some more (and then give him his thumb back).