Operation Bye Bye Binky
I remember when I was so happy that Mr. T would take his paci, binky, or "Beday" as he now calls it. It was our moment of silence. Yes...I fully admit...it was a plug. But it definitely helped him soothe which was our savior. I can't complain having a little one sleep through the night at 8 weeks. But look at him...he was just so tiny and small then!!
But not too long ago, we were out to dinner with friends and we all saw what looked to be a six year old sitting at the table with a Binky in his mouth. I mean, the kid could cut his own steak, but still needed that pacifier. I know I know...all parents are different, but for me...no thank you.
And so, it is operation Bye Bye Binkie. Any thoughts on a plan?? So far I have the following:
Plan A: Cut the Binky out Cold Turkey over the holidays while we are home more and there's tons of excitement & new toys.
Plan B: Wait until Mr. T's 2nd Birthday (March 2011). Make a big deal of it, either a little goodbye moment or explain about the Binky Fairy.
Plan C: Take it tonight...just because.
Plan D: Let Mr. T have it for as long and as many years as he wants. Maybe his first girlfriend will dig it.
What has worked for everyone else? Any brilliant ideas??
Posted in: Only a Mother Would Say, Toddler on Friday, November 19, 2010 at
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Well Owen gave up his paci at 4 months, much to my dislike. BUT i was a daycare worker for a bit and reasoning with the child seemed to always work well. Either at the holidays or in march at his birthday would work well. You can use christmas as a time to give them all away to a baby in the family (ok ty, we need to give all your pacis to baby Eva because she needs them, and you are a big boy) and make a big deal out of it. or at his birthday the same sort of thing. Definitely dont cold turkey it or pretend it is not happening... talking and reasoning seem to work MUCH better!
Oh we have this dilemma, too. We've chosen the 2-year mark as the "date" (although the hubs wants now) and I don't look forward to it at all! Only because of little man's reaction. But Amy has great suggestions that I'll definitely use! Whatever you choose, best of luck!
I would recommend doing it sooner rather then later - only because now that you've decided it's time YOU will worry about this way too much until it's over with. This is one of those things that is SO MUCH worse for the parent then the child. With Lily we spent a few days talking about things being "broken" and then throwing them away. Then one day I cut the tip off of her pacifier and when she brought it to me I told her "uh oh, it's broken!" And we threw it away together. That night at bedtime was very hard - about 1.5 hours of crying!!!!! But it was ONE night and after that she would cry for just a few minutes and in less then a week it was no crying at bedtime at all. This was at about 18 months old.
The method is not important. Just be strong and get it over with. He will not remember if you do it now!
I agree with sooner than later. The younger they are, the easier they forget about it. And as they get older, they become more attached to it. We've been dealing with this recently (I was actually going to do a post on it;). What has worked for us (with Reganne and Christian both 2+, Marryn gave hers up before 1): At night, when they're sleeping, we cut it, so they woke up to it *broken* and cut all others (except one backup). And just kept telling them it's broken and they're a big kid now and don't need it, "it's for little babies". Even let them go get their own so they saw they were all broken and let them throw them out.
I won't lie, naps and nighttime are tough, but within a couple days, nighttime got better although naps are still iffy... But of course Christian got a terrible cold and would wake up throughout the night crying so between him and the baby still getting up, we gave it to him, but hid it during the day. But even now after doing that, we've taken it back away and it's no big deal. Well, that's not completely true. I have found him with Kellen's plugs a time or two...but he just thinks it's really funny.
Every kid's different, so be prepared, but one thing I feel pretty strong about is not taking it away when there will be any big changes (like a new baby, moving) or if traveling. But I'm so on board with Alison, now that you're decided, just do it. Try putting him to bed tonight without it (saying nothing about it, but if he asks, says you can't find it, and if he's really upset, find it;). Who knows, he might be just fine. If not, start talking about it and work up to it. Good luck!