Bye-Bye Binky

Andrew has been a binky-boy since his first days in the hospital, when even the itty-bittiest binkies covered half of his face.

Andrew soon became a pro at all sorts of binky manipulations. He has always been so easy to put to bed. Just plug in a binky, and he would be out. He has regularly slept through the night since he was about 4 months old. On the rare occasion when Andrew would wake up in the night we would just need to find his binky and give it back and he would go right back to sleep. As he got older he became very talented at locating it himself.
Oh and car-binkies were just the best! They must have been coated in sleep-dust or something because he would doze off as soon as we got going. This little guy would seriously sleep the entire 350 mile drive to southern California!
However, I knew that the day would come when we would need to end the binky days. I'd read that this should be right around 12 months. When the time came, I just couldn't do it. I mean, it was one thing to have him give up his bottles in favor of sippy cups, but I just couldn't take away his binks too.

Recently I'd been better about only letting Andrew have a binky while napping, or in the car, or at bedtime. After Christmas I did try one night to get him to give it up. I lasted through about 40 minutes of tears and crying at bedtime before giving in and giving the binky back to Andrew. Finally, when I had Andrew at the doctor a couple of weeks ago his doctor said, "You know, that thing (meaning the binky) really needs to go." You see, I'd let Andrew get very attached to his binky again (at all times) since we had traveled to Omaha, and then he had been so sick.

Last week I randomly picked a night to take away the binky. I caved after about 20 minutes of tears and crying. He was calling for his "bink" and pointing to the bookshelf where they were kept. Then, last Friday night I made another attempt. Andrew was distracted by a telephone right before bed, so when he wasn't looking I removed all binkies from his room. Before he even knew it he was in his crib, his music was on, the turtle constellation nightlight was on, and I was out the door. Andrew went right to sleep. The same routine was repeated on Saturday night. And Sunday night. And tonight.

I think it's safe to say now that binkies are in our past. Andrew is absolutely fine, and hasn't uttered a single "bink" since their disappearance. He doesn't look for them, he isn't sad, he hasn't started sucking his thumb. I'm so proud of my boy, and so happy that it was so easy.

And so very, very sad that my baby is growing up. I have to admit, I loved the sight and sound of him "nuck-nucking" away on a binky while sleeping. I liked to watch him play with it in his teeth while he was concentrating on something else. And I love my boy being my sweet baby, so it is with a bit of sadness that I say "Bye-bye binky".

I never imagined that this would be harder for me than it was for Andrew.