My older son Brendan has been dependant on his binky since day 1. He had reflux issues as an infant and the binky helped soothe his tummy aches. Now, at almost 3 years old, he is still waking almost every night looking for his binky and waking the whole household in the process. I've been talking to him for a little while about how it's time for him to start thinking about packaging up his binkys and letting the mailman take them to the babies. I told him that if he was brave enough to do that, that I would take him shopping and let him pick out a prize. Yesterday he decided that he was ready and he knew exactly what prize he wanted too. I really think he had thought this through! (Well... almost) So, we get all of the binkys together and put them in the mailbox. Luckily, we have a special mailman that does pick-ups and deliveries on Sundays (wink wink)! Shortly after that, it was nap time. That didn't happen... he just laid in bed. After nap time, we had a birthday party to go to. After the party, we went shopping for his prize at our favorite store, Target! He picked out a set of flashlights and a new soccer ball. We came home and played with the new toys and everything was great! ..... until bedtime.
My poor baby just couldn't do it. He couldn't even lay down. He sat down on the edge of his bed and just cried. He was exhausted, but just couldn't lay down. Every other second, he was calling for me and in between those calls he was crying for binky. It was so sad. I've never felt more sorry for anyone. Finally, I told him to come lay on the couch with me and he was out like a light in less than a minute. I picked him up and carried him to his bed on my way to bed and about an hour later he was up crying again. Poor baby. He slept the rest of the night in my bed while I tossed and turned trying to get comfortable with a toddler wedged between me and my husband.
Tonight is the second night without binky and it's been 20 minutes, a cup of juice, and two M&M's since Brendan was put to bed. I've gone in to cover him twice (per his request) and I've answered about 16 calls of "Mama?". It has to get easier... for both of us. I hate to see him in so much pain over this and I'm just exhausted!
3 comments:
It will get better. Abby didn't give hers up until she was three. The first night was tough but it was much better after that.
Hang in there. We had to work on my daughter to stop sucking her thumb and it was tough. You can't take away a thumb. She eventually weaned herself (having the dentist talk to her helped too). Sometimes I think it's tougher on us than it is on them.
Great posts! Regarding the binky, my friend absolutly raved about the cut method, and the psychology behind it. She emailed me a link to a site that has a free publication (supported by advertisements). Very cool stuff, worked like a charm for me as well; wouldn't do it any other way. The link is www.bye-bye-binky.com for anyone who is interrested. If you do, let me know your thoughts… Bella
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