binky junkies

Hi all!

My girls love their "bibi" (binky) and "bay" (blanket) ... though I don't have a problem with either now, my SIL told me that now is ideal to start taking the binky to only naps/night (she is a Pedi) b/c it will only get harder as they get more attached (they don't walk around with it all day ... they only use it when they sleep and when they are upset). One of my favorite books (Touchpoints by Brazelton) says the second year is not the time to take the pacifier away as it is a hard year on the little ones.

So, we are moving in 5 months and TTC #3 ... so there are a lot of changes in our future. Should I take the binky to night/naps only NOW (before we move) ... they are 18 months now. Or do you think it is OK to wait until they are 2 or so ... which will likely be between moving and arrival of #3.

My mind tells me it may be good to fight the fight before all the changes and my heart tells me to let them take it to college if they want to ... =) =) ... can you see I am conflicted?

They are emotional little girls and a lot of the time the go to bibi and bay instead of me when they need to soothe ... which is sooooo nice seeing as they need soothing ... OFTEN!

I would like to wait until after we move and they settle in then work on night/naps only and after a while give it to the bibi fairy or whatever. They will be 23 months when we move. I would like to have it all the way gone by 3 at the latest. They really can take the blanket to college =) I'm not worried about them keeping that, at all ... does this plan seem OK or, in people who have been there's experience, would it be less of a battle to just do it now? TIA!

And, just on a side note, one of my friends went to Build-A-Bear with her little one and they put all her pacifiers in a bear that she could snuggle with when they were ready to take it away ... I thought that was a good idea! Even though she warned me that she has known kids to rip the bear open! LOL!

 

Now might be a good time. Otherwise you may have to wait til they are 3. I think it is entirely possible that they will become even more attached after your big move. If you take it away now their memory isn't as long, and it will easier. From 2 on, it becomes very difficult. At least IMO it was. :hug: Good luck... you sounds like you have a lot on your plate these days. :hug:

 

I would do it now, personally. I don't think it will get any easier and in fact harder the longer you wait, then as they approach 3 it may get easier again but not sure you want to wait that long!!!
FWIW, mine still have them for naps and bedtime and I am in no rush to take them away, but I stopped allowing them to have them during the day around 12 months.

 

We did it at two and it was a breeze. I personally wanted to wait till they were verbal enough to listen to simple reasoning. We had the pedi tell Sarah that binky was not good for her and it was time for no more binky, and as long as it wasn't at my insistance, she was ok with the idea. She kept repeating to me and herself, "Docker sez no more binky cuz its no good fer me". Good luck whatver you decide!

 

I did it at 23 months and it went smoother than I ever thought it would! We had a little bye bye binkies ceremony. I told them we were going to send them to new babies. They willingly put them all in a box, we taped it shut, and then I went and stuck the box in the trunk of my car and (don't tell them!) secretly dumped the box in a trash can. The first night they fussed a bit, took maybe an extra hour to get to sleep. The next few days they would ask for them, but when we reminded them that they went to new babies, they were fine. Seriously, my girls were binky addicts, I thought they would never give them up without a big drama!

 

QUOTE(TraciF @ Jan 24 2009, 06:13 PM) [snapback]1160458[/snapback]
They are emotional little girls and a lot of the time the go to bibi and bay instead of me when they need to soothe ... which is sooooo nice seeing as they need soothing ... OFTEN!

I would like to wait until after we move and they settle in then work on night/naps only and after a while give it to the bibi fairy or whatever. They will be 23 months when we move. I would like to have it all the way gone by 3 at the latest. They really can take the blanket to college =) I'm not worried about them keeping that, at all ... does this plan seem OK or, in people who have been there's experience, would it be less of a battle to just do it now? TIA!

My preferance is to limit binky use to nap/bedtime only between 12 and 18 months. I have no problem with letting kids keep on using them for sleep way past that (if it helps N&L kept theirs until they were nearly 4 at which point they decided to give them up on their own, and we had no stress/fuss/binky fairies at all).
They will still have their blankets with them during the day and they will probably do just as well self-soothing with only those for minor upsets. I'd encourage you to at least try it.

Having said that if you really want to wait then wait. The "battle" will not necessarily be worse because you wait 5 months (assuming they continue to only use the binky when they're upset) and if that's what works for you then do it.

 

One of mine was a serious binky addict. We too did the Build a Bear. Nathan was 2 1/2, everyone at Build a Bear made a really big deal about what a big boy he was, etc, even gave him a free music CD. I had visions of waking up at 2 am with stuffing all over the room and Nathan happily sleeping with binky in his mouth, but he never so much as shed even one tear for his binky. I don't think he liked "Binky Bear" too much though LOL

 

I'd take the binky down to naps/nighttime now. We did it around 15 months, and it was hardest on me because if she had a meltdown in public I didn't have MY tool to get her to quiet down. But we got past that phase really fast and now we're getting rid of the paci at naptime/bedtime by using the paci fairy, which she can finally understand the concept of.

 

Jack was addicted to his dummy! He would have had it in his mouth 24/7 if we let him. So about 20 months we took it down to just nap and bedtime which was hard but he/we coped lol. We took his dummy away completly at christmas time and gave them to santa and in turn santa left him a giant scooby doo which seemed to take his mind off the dummy! I thought he would be absolutley awfull but he was great he only cried a little for the first day and then seemed to forget about it. So IMO i would do it now so they dont have 2 many things to stress over at the same time. x