I made my 2-year old give up his binkie on Saturday. What really made me decide that it was "time" was seeing a girl who was about 6 years old with not one, but TWO binkies in a restaurant the other day. She had one in her mouth and another in her hand. Are you kidding me? Thankfully, my son was not that attached to his binkie...he used it for naps and at bedtime. Nevertheless, I didn't want him to still be dependent on it when he was that age and so I figured there was no time like the present. Unfortunately, my husband didn't share my horror and wasn't so keen on the struggles that were to come, but thankfully was willing to support my decision that it was time for the binkie to disappear.
The first night wasn't awful. We told our son that he was a big boy now, and named all of his friends who were his age who also didn't use a binkie. Then I rubbed his back and got him to stop screaming, and he fell asleep pretty quickly. The next day at his nap time, he was so tired that he didn't even realize that he didn't have it. At bedtime he cried for a little while, but again I rubbed his back and named his friends and he fell asleep without it. Then on Monday he went to school...this is where it got a little messy. He managed to convince his teachers that he would die if he didn't have his binkie for his nap, and is so smart that he started naming his friends who still DID have their binkie. Ei Yi Yi. And, unbeknown to me, they had one of his binkies squirreled away at school for just one of those occasions, and he got them to relent and give it to him for nap. This created a monster. That night he screamed and yelled for his binkie and tried to get me to stay in his room with him all night. He'd fall asleep and then jerk awake to make sure that I was still there (and then scream if I wasn't). This was NOT GOOD. But, Tuesday was better. I made sure that school had no more binkies hidden away and he managed to nap without it. Dad put him to bed for the night, and although he cried for a bit, he managed. Today at nap time he fell asleep in his teacher's arms. I don't know if this is a good or bad thing, but at least there was no screaming for a binkie. I think it might be working. PHEW.
Am I winning the battle? Well, we've made progress, and ultimately I think this is the best thing for my son. Nevertheless, I still lose the Mom of the Year award by a landslide in my son's eyes. Hopefully he'll forgive me by the time he goes to college!
No comments:
Post a Comment