Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Bye-Bye Binkie

This was NOT an easy process. Nor was it a pretty one. Actually, the last four days in the Wiggy home have been a little bit (read: totally) crazy. But it is done. Binkies are gone. Now let me explain...

It's been a long time since binkies were used during the day in our household. T would get binkies at naptime and bedtime with very few exceptions. I would tell him it was time for a nap and he'd say, "Binkie. Blankie." and then he'd literally put himself to bed. He would never get out of bed on his own, and he would seldom make a peep after I left the room. It was awesome.

But the last few weeks have welcomed even more will (if you can imagine) and some awful temper tantrums. While before T would bring me his binkie when naptime was over (he'd say, "Here. Put in pocket." it was so sweet!) he was starting to scream, hit and throw things when it was time to give me the binkie. And then after I would put it away, I could count on at least an hour of tantrums and screams for his binkie. I finally realized that the added contention to our home was not acceptable, and that the binkie would have to say farewell.

My sistah told me about a method where you cut off the tip of the binkie and then offer it to the child. I read all about it online as well. The point is that the child doesn't like the binkie because there is no suction, and will not take it. We decided to go with this method, and although it was anything but easy, I actually think there were a lot of positive aspects to it.

Night One:

AWFUL! We snipped the binkie and gave it to him. He immediately knew something was wrong and at first he thought it was funny. He'd put the binkie in his mouth and then take it out and just stare at it. The humor quickly faded and he became enraged. The good part of this method of binkie-removal is that he was furious at the binkie, but not at me. He threw the binkie against the wall, he yelled at it, and then he just cried. He also destroyed his room--he even ripped books apart. It was a rough night. It took him 3 1/2 hours to finally get to sleep, and when he finally crashed it was on the floor. Then he was up constantly throughout the night, mourning the loss of his binkie. It was so sad and so hard. I am a hormonal mess anyway so let's just say I was crying just as much as he was, and regretting the decision. We were all exhausted and the next day was heck. Seriously. When T is tired he gets mean, and boy did we see that side of him. Oh the tears, by both of us!

Night Two:

It took him 2 hours to get to sleep, but only about 45 minutes of that was crying and the rest was just trying to soothe himself. The great thing and problem about a binkie is that it soothes the baby, but unfortunately they don't know how to do it themselves. When he was finally quiet I went to check on him and found that he had made his own bed on the floor. I didn't dare move him, he slept there all night. But after not sleeping the night before, and not napping that afternoon, he was too tired to care.


Night Three:

Yeah...he's sleeping like that. Really child? Is that better than your bed? It was actually a pretty good night. He didn't even cry when I left the room and although it took him a while to get to sleep, he totally soothed himself. Awesome! I ended up moving him to his bed though, 'cause that looked like a serious neck cramp waiting to happen!


Night Four:

Tonight was the fourth night and he actually fell asleep in his bed. WOO-HOO!!! We are still working on naptime, I have to lay down with him for a while to help him calm down or else he can't sleep...but night time is looking a lot better.

Although the process was ugly, I actually think there are a few positives to this method:


  • T's anger is toward the broken binkie, not toward me. Maybe for some people this isn't as important, but with a child like Talmage this is way important. He is super smart and understands everything, but refuses to reason or negotiate. He wants it his way or no way. He also never forgets and I would be the bad guy for a long time.

  • It's not just that he doesn't need a binkie anymore, he doesn't want one. There are still binkies around the house but because he's mad at them he hasn't asked. I can even talk about them around him and he doesn't care.

  • It didn't take that long. I actually think had he been younger it would have taken even less time.

Well, there you go. More than anybody ever wanted to know about T's binkie addiction and my form of baby-binkie-rehab!

4 comments:

  1. You are a brave woman! Jack and I have decided to do this sooner than later, especially after this last week. She has been sick and as I'm sure you have learned binkies and congestion do not go well together. I think you have inspired me. As soon as her cold is over, I am going to be ambitious and try this method. Hope all is well friend! When is baby boy #2 expected to arrive?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good for you and T! That is too funny he was mad at the binkie!

    ReplyDelete
  3. YOU ARE SO GREAT!! I love that you documented everything, it is very interesting to see this happen from thousands of miles away - especially when you don't have to hear the tears, but just see the sleeping baby on the floor! Great job for sticking with it! Whew! What's next? Don't ask! ha ha

    ReplyDelete
  4. Way to go! I haven't even attempted to take away the nap time/night time binkie. She's still really great about the rules and I just can't seem to want to take it away yet. My brother did the snipping thing and it's good to know it worked for you too.

    ReplyDelete