Monday, July 20, 2009

Ode to the Binky

BIG NEWS!!!!

Today marks one.entire.week. without a binky. We survived, he survived, the sun continues to rise! I waited to post about it in case we turned back. I was determined not to but then they got colds, of course and I doubted my determination. So here's the scoop: Alex was what some might call completely addicted to his binky. He didn't only like to have one in his mouth but his preference was to have one in each hand. They got him through the troubled times of his youth. ;) They comforted him on rainy days. They nursed him back to health if needed, etc. etc. etc. Truly they were his first love.


The Pediatrician told us at his two year well visit that we needed to get him off the pacifier. As you can see in the pics he was still addicted to his newborn binky which is not orthodontically correct and was causing crowding due to the roof of his mouth conforming to the binky. Anyhoo, we agreed and then decided a few more months (approximately 6 or 9 more if I had anything to do with it) wouldn't change the future of his mouth too much. Fast forward to now and he (after weeks of staying in bed) has been hopping out of bed during nap and at night which leads to us putting him back approximately 3 million times AND then having to grope around for his binky in the dark. Well, Monday night I was exhausted due to the fun day we'd had with Stacey and her boys and the fact that they skipped nap, and we couldn't find the blasted thing. We searched and searched and searched. Mind you we have 3 and not a single one could be found. I decided he was going to go it alone. We'd gotten him down to just using it to sleep MONTHS ago and just dreaded the next step.

So long story slightly shorter, he is binky-less. He isn't napping as well at all (total bummer) and it takes him a while to fall asleep at night because he has nothing with which to "pacify" himself, but he hasn't even asked for it since the 2nd day. He is a trooper and I am a proud Mama! I get a little sad when I think of him being completely done with the thing. I am always reminded of the excitement we felt when he first started using it in the NICU. This meant that he was learning to suck and that he was even closer to leaving there and joining us at home. Oh well I guess they need to grow up sometime. I was beginning to think he'd take it to kindergarten with him. Now they are out of cribs, off binkies and you know what that means...dum, da, da, dum, dum potty training is next.....in about 6 or 9 months from now, that is! :)

7 comments:

Alicia said...

those pictures are adorable!! 3 binkys!! good luck with the potty training!

Crazy About My Boys said...

Congratulations Mommy! That is awesome he is "binky-less"! YEAH! Let me know if you have any special tricks about keeping them in their beds...we are having the same issue with Luke! HA! Thanks for hanging out with us last week too! We will have to do it again soon!

Mercy Filled Mama said...

WOW~ congratulations to everyone in your home!!! This is truly a milestone and it sounds like you have come through it wonderfully. I can understand your emotional attachment to the binky... I am that way with my kids "comfort objects" too. They still have their own blanket and pillow that they MUST sleep with at bedtime and I find it just precious. Man, we have to find a way to slow them down though... they are all growing up too fast!!!
Good luck with the future potty training time! (i agree... 6-9 months sounds good) hehe

Genny said...

Such a milestone. I remember when we finally got my daugther off the binkie...we gave it as a "present" to the garbage truck and watched it drive away. :)

Then she cried for about an hour.

Stephanie said...

Great job. They are growing so fast. Hope naptime gets a little easier. Have a great week. Love ya!

Liz said...

aw I feel sad for you. I know it's a good thing, but really makes you see that they are big kids now.

Rhonda said...

I have never seen another little one doing the three soother thing!! My daughter did that too! That's so funny.

I was really sad too, when we had to ditch it. We told her they went to the soother playground and she was okay with that. But that was our second attempt that worked. The first time she would just cry at night and tell us that she wouldn't be bad anymore and could she please just have them. "I'll be good, I promise!" Oh, that broke my heart!! I gave them back to her immediately. lol

The next two were thumb-suckers! So it is more difficult!