The post below was written last Sunday. As you can see, I ended it by saying essentially, we are going to tough it out.
Well....I never posted the post, and here I am Friday and Ayden now has his binkie back (but only in his bedroom - for whatever face-saving that is worth).
I think we would have all killed each other...... over what??? Not letting a 2 year old use a binkie at night???
As I say below and still fully agree with. Let the kids give you signs that they are ready to move on from their security items....
We are not quite back to the normal night time routine (still one wake up in the middle of the night too), but my goodness it so much better I could run to the store and buy a costco size bag of binkies for the kid =)
Sorry Ayden!!!
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OK...it has officially been a whole week since Ayden had to say "Bye-Bye" to his binkie. Ayden has been a binkie junkie since he was born. This past year or so we have cut his usage to primarily sleepy or relaxing time.
We started the past few weeks talking with Ayden about eventually giving up the binkie. He was fairly receptive, but I'm not sure he was actually ready. And in all honesty....I don't think we were either....
BUT...last Sunday (while mommy was out of the house) Ayden lost his last binkie (I later learned that daddy found it), but instead of making the call to pick up another one, daddy put Operation No Binkie in motion. And so here we are a week later...a little more sleep deprived and certainly more frustrated than ever with Ayden at nite-nite time. Like anything, this too is a learning process. After two days, Ayden stopped asking for it. And after three or four he goes down for his nap like normal. But...after seven, we are still struggling with bedtime.
Bedtime had already become more of a challenge for Ayden to quiet down, but generally our routine worked just fine. This past week....not so much!
So, while I wish I had some wisdom to impart...I think the best I can come up with is....
Don't worry too much about binkies or thumb sucking..... realistically they won't still be doing it when they are 30....so let the child ease out of it on their own. At least a little more than we did......
You might be thinking...Why don't they just give it back to him...?
Our thought [right or wrong] is that the damage is done and inconsistency is not a good message to send. We will just have to help him (and each other) through the transition period.
[Ayden - someday when you read this...you can probably explain away any issues you have by the trauma you experienced losing your binkie!!] - sorry!
2 comments:
I totally feel you! We put Shyla though Binky Bootcamp and she did great (this meant she was only allowed to have it for sleeping). But...we have recently allowed her to have it for long car rides (like to San Diego and Vegas) and, therefore, it has made its way back into our lives. I agree, once she is ready to give it up she will. I am (fairly) confident that she won't go to college with it. RIght?
For the record... Ayden came to me (and this was after several days of explaining that if he loses his binkie again that it was the last one and it was going to help another baby and all that jazz that is important to say at this age) and told me that he lost it and it went to another baby. So the Operation was put in motion by him and him alone. I just held him accountable for his decisions... and I was wrong.
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