It's just short of a Christmas miracle. I have been cursing for weeks that Nicholas's binkie HAD TO GO! I vowed I'd never be "one of those parents" that let my child walk around with a binkie in his/her mouth when they were two, let alone talking. I now regret passing any kind of judgement because of A) how hard it is to take away and B) how much comfort it brings these little tikes who get so attached to them. You pick your battles and that battle was never worth fighting for me.
Nicholas has had an intense love affair with his binkie. It has brought him so much comfort in his short life; that, along with his blanket. The two go hand in hand. I can't tell you the number of times Mark and I have gone searching for that DANG binkie. The count has to be in the thousands. It's a MUST where ever we go since the boy only knows one volume...and that is extremely LOUD! His high pitched scream pierces your ears. The binkie at least muffled it.
So, yesterday, Nicholas came to me with the saddest look on his face. His binkie was broken. It was the last binkie in the house since the others have all disappeared and I have refused to buy new ones. It was beyond repair - broken. I told him we'd have to throw it in the trash. He said, "No way" to that in his whimpering voice and continued to suck on it. I could tell he wasn't liking it but he wouldn't put it down.
When Mark came home, I told Nicholas to show dad what had happened to his binkie. He sadly showed Mark. I had kind of given Mark the heads up. Mark asked him if we should throw it in the trash and surprisingly he said "Yes!" and went and threw the binkie away himself. We both could not believe he did it. Believe me, I've been thinking of very creative ways to get rid of it and this was not one of them. Could it be this easy?
He asked for his binkie before bedtime and we kindly reminded him that it was broken. He whimpered sadly to himself. We put him in bed and closed the door. We could still hear him whimpering softly for it but then the most amazing thing happened....he went to sleep. It was amazing! He WAS up at 4:00 AM asking for his binkie but seemed to understand when we told him it was in the trash. He's asked for it a few times today but instead of throwing his usually tantrum, he just gets a little sad thinking about it. We left it in the trash and he's gone in to look at it a few times. I really think he's given it up. Even though I couldn't be happier, I have a feeling the next few days are going to be a little rough as he goes through withdrawals. I'm so proud of him, though. Growing pains are never easy!
6 comments:
Oh Lindsey - we had to do the same with Bryton when she was Nick's age. It is amazing how well they seem to cope when you know it's going to be a struggle. The hard part for me wasn't the bedtime or time at home. It came at stores when she started throwing scene-making tantrums and I didn't have a binkie to plug her up !!!;-)
Spencer and I sat giggling over this post... we went through a very similar situation with Evan's one and only bottle. The day that the nipple got a huge hole in it and told him we had to throw it away, you would have thought his best friend died. It was pretty sad. Sounds like it wasn't as dreadful for Nicholas, thank goodness!!!! Hopefully it only gets easier for him. Habits that comfort are HARD to break. RIP binkie!
You are a inspiration. I too have been cursing the stinking binkies that my 2 1/2 year old has gotten so attached to. Like you said, I wasn't willing to pick this battle. After reading your post, it makes me want to bite the bullet and say "Bye-bye, binkie!" :)
We had the same thing with Grant and that was it. You should be home free!
you go girl!!! We, too, are down to our last "mimi" and are trying to pick the RIGHT day to have the last one mysteriously break. I hear ya on the 4am, we'll be right there with you. So proud of both of you!!
Hi Lindsey! I was so happy to see your comment on my blog. You are so sweet as always! I loved this post...we took away Jack's binky cold turkey style right when he turned two and it was hard! I can totally relate! Wow, your family is beautiful. It looks like you guys are doing so well and have an amazing life. I'm happy for you :)
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