Friday, September 10, 2010

Binky Be Gone

In just two short months, my sweet, third-born, baby boy will have to relinquish his most prized possession.
















Oh, yes. That's right. His binky.

I'm not sure when I made it up in my head that two-years-old is when it had to go. For Caleb, I let him have it until he was two-and-a-half. Then one of my friends said her dentist told her to take it away from her son, and since her son and Caleb were the exact same age, I figured I'd just go with it. I hated seeing it in his mouth anyway, especially for pictures.

For whatever reason, I didn't give Sarah that much time, and literally on her second birthday, I pulled the plug...er...took away the thing. It was not fun. It was grueling at times. It took forever for her to take a nap, tears streaming down her face, bedtime was no laughing matter either. But eventually she made the transition, and now she has been binky free for two years. No relapses.

I suspect it will be the same for my little guy. For the most part, he only gets to have it for nap time and bed time. Oh, and sometimes for van rides if I want to hear what my husband is saying to me. But every now and then, he starts whining and fussing and pointing to were he knows I keep it. Smart little turd. Sometimes I give in, sometimes I don't. And as the binky be gone day draws near, I tend to stand my ground even more.

As for my choice to give my kids a binky, that was a conscious decision on my part. I know moms who are glad that their kids can pacify themselves with their thumb, and if that works for the kid and the mom wants to endure the end of thumbsucking, then that's her prerogative. I knew I wanted to pull the plug...umm...take away the thing, and for me, I felt it would be far easier than a thumb.

Even though I know he'll look like this














for several days.



12 comments:

Anonymous said...

GOOD FOR YOU!!! Not for pulling the plug necessarily, but for letting them have it in the first place! I tried so hard to make my girls take one, but they found their thumbs at 6 weeks!!! AAAHHH, it was a nightmare with my first, and my last is still sucking-at 5 YEARS OLD! So, needless to say, if it weren't child abuse I would indeed cut off her thumb! Oh well, I guess the orthodontist and I will :)

Laura said...

You're right about the last part. The binky is so much easier to get rid of than a thumb. I have two that used pacifiers, one that at eight still occasionally sucks her thumb, and two that were able to pacify themselves without either the binky or the thumb. (These two were such good babies, but we're paying for it now.)

Jess said...

Hope Gabriel makes a smooth transition, I know Alexis had a tough time and it totally changed her personality for awhile too. I'm thinking I might try sooner with Isabel than I did Alexis. I think it will depend on if she is still teething or not...it's such a comfort when they are cranky during that time.

Nel said...

I soooo wish Libby would have taken a pacifier.. I tried several times! And it took her till she was 4 to stop sucking her thumb... now I only catch her sucking while she is sleeping sometimes and I just take it out of her mouth and she rolls over and is fine.
Abby - took a paci for a while... but then found her fingers... Boooo but! She stopped sucking her fingers over a month ago and never went back :o)

And I will try a pacifier with our next baby as well!

Karen said...

What a lovely blog! I remember Binky withdrawals days with my kids. I usually did it at a year, but it's different with each kid. Good luck with that:)
Saw you on Friend Fridays. Stop by if you get a chance:
www.karismaheartsavannah.blogspot.com

mountain mama said...

man, he's cute.
it's a tough adjustment to make. i cut the tip of our oldest daughters when she wasn't looking, gave it back to her saying it was broken and that was the end of it after one night of crying.

not so sure that was the best way :)

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

Yah, I don't think I'm ready for that yet ;)

Amy said...

Ivie never would take a paci, even though we tried. When I realized how nice it was not having to break her of it (thankfully, she never cared about her thumb, either), I didn't even try with Macie. And she was fine without it. Until 15 months, when she found one in a toy bin. Went straight to her mouth, and the rest is history. She turns 2 today, so I'm about to have to go down that path, too. Probably will start with taking it away just during the day, letting her keep it at night. For a week or so, and then doing away with it altogether. NOT looking forward to it...

Mary said...

Cute pics!
new follower from FF!
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Causey Fam said...

We pulled the plug at 1 year with our first and the second never wanted one. I have several preschoolers that still suck their thumbs :o/ It is definitely the harder of the 2! Good luck!

K. Elizabeth @ YUMMommy said...

Good luck. Thankfully, Moo never got hooked on blinkies or sucking her thumb. Now if only I can get her unhooked off trying to skydive off the couch. lol.

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