The point of no return
I’ve recently been asked at what point I realized that my little one had hit a point of no return. What was the moment I stopped seeing him as a man?
It is a great question and something I don’t think I have ever taken time to explain, so here we go.
First of all, I guess there were a lot of steps that made me realize he was embracing his new role in the house, and that he did not need to be considered a man anymore. Of course, the easy answer would be his first messy or sticky Pamp, but I’ll try to pick a few more interesting examples that clearly indicated me he had regressed to where I wanted him to be. When it all started we had both agreed that he would be regressing to a toddler’s age. It was very much exciting, but also a bit scary for him as he had no idea how or when this would be done, but of course Daddy had a plan 😉…No need to hide and pretend to be a man anymore, Daddy’s here to make it all better.
- Bedtime. At first, he always complained about his bedtime being “too early and boring because it’s not even dark out!”. After a few months, he had adjusted to it and even felt sleepy much earlier than before. Going to bed at 8:00pm is not an issue at all anymore and it makes it all easier. He gets his sleep, and I get some time for myself.
- Drooly bibs. 24/7-AB/DL is about letting go. The first step was of course to let go in his paddings, which he quickly did. But one of the very last (and quite recent) things I have asked him to do more was to let go and have a drooly chin as much as possible to “make Dadda proud”. You know that making Daddy proud means rewards… And rewards mean a very motivated little one. From then on, he started to drool a bit more, at first on purpose and then not even really paying attention to it. A large paci does help in those situations. I even had to add bibs to his day outfits as I would often find him with wet t-shirts or pajamas after a couple of hours spent in his playpen.
Probably not very comfortable, but oh-so cute!
- Babbling. When he got used to filling his Pamps, I could see that he was not embarrassed about them as much as before (and rightly so, because there’s nothing to be embarrassed about!)… but, you know I love a blushy stinker, so I had to find new ways to make his little cheeks flush a little. The solution was very easy: by adding a few simple motivational sentences such as “Smells like someone filled his Pamps in here… Daddy better hear some “babbly babbles” for a bit, or he may forget there’s a little boy in the house and forget to change him!”.
Oh you should have seen his face the first time, and the hesitation, probably thinking “Uhm…how do I babble?”. It was extremely cute, actually one of the cutest memories I have of him to this day. Then, came some tries and an adorable babble pattern that’s now unique to him!
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Of course you need to remember this all took time and did not happen overnight. If you were to ask a grown-up to do these kind of things, you’d probably get laughed at. However, my little guy’s regression has been gradual with a lot of efforts from him and support from me, so that he could be his true-self again.
So yeah, those would definitely be some moments I realized my kiddo was not a man anymore, but why fight it? He’s been filling Pamps for over two years now (over a thousand in 2025 if you remember our previous blog!). He is changed, bathed, fed and dressed up by me every single day.
An early bedtime, a drooly bib or babbles are just small elements in his life. Nothing unusual anymore. Just a little boy living a little boy’s life wearing larger pajamas than most 😉.
- Daddy
