Bye Bye Binky

Pacifier, paci, nuk, binky; whatever you call it it means the same thing. It's amazing how something that seemed so innocent and so necessary when Addy was an infant could become so addictive to our 2-year old. For the past 2 years and 4 months Addy has indeed been so attached to her binky. She doesn't use it at daycare, which was a major accomplishment in itself, but automatically grabs it when she walks in the door, for nap time, for bedtime, and for all other times in between. She often has one binky in her mouth while holding at least one other in her hand. Its safe to say she really feels she "needs" her binky to feel secure and safe. It definitely helps her calm down.

This all changed over a week ago. We only had two binky's left in the house as they were often getting dropped and thrown leading to an emminent disappearance. One binky had been lost for a day and we were down to only one. It was nighttime and the lonely last binky was nowhere to be found so Addy had to go to bed without it. It actually went over OK but we awoke in the middle of the night to her screams for her binky.

It was terribly hard but we decided to hold our ground. Doug had been saying all along to Addy that if she lost her binky she wouldn't get another one. This was the true test. I think at some times its been harder on Doug and I then on Addy. It's hard to hear her cry for her binky. You can tell from her face she questions why the baby gets a binky and she doesn't. If she mentions her binky I just say to her matter of factly that "unfortunately your binky is lost and so you can't use your binky". She seems to understand.

Despite our little girl being so obsessed with her binky, she has done AMAZINGLY well with not having one. Most days she doesn't even mention her binky. I often tell her how proud I am of her. The first couple of nights and nap times were hard but she is such a trooper, so determined, that she has really hung in there and shown us she can do it. We're proud of you Addy!

Without her binky, Addy has occassionaly found solace in her blankets, pictures, or dolls. Here is a sweet picture I took of her during a nap one day holding her Dora doll..

One other MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENT... Addy now falls asleep on her own without Mommy or Daddy in the room! Yes, since her infancy, Doug and I have stayed with Addy in her room until she has fallen asleep during nap time or bedtime. You may be thinking, "What?! Are you guys crazy?!" Why, yes we are :-) We now realize how liberating it is for us to not be spending so much time in her room...and how important it is for Addy to be able to fall asleep on her own. She gets her color choice of a sticker star on her hand each time she is able to do this, without screaming. I'll tell you, she's done it almost every time since we started :-)