How We Said Goodbye To The Bink...

Why and Preparation:
So the time came where Connor would loose his Bink (pacifier) in the middle of the night and then whine until on of us (most of the time me) ran into his room to search through his blankets, under the bed or along the floor to find the missing Bink to stop the whining and put Connor back to sleep.

This started to get OLD. We had a toddler not an infant. I should not have to be getting up in the middle of the night to try and get this kid back to sleep with something a baby uses. So I decided it was time to say good bye to the Bink.

I decided it would be easiest to pull the Bink when we were home on our Staycation so he can get his addicted self off the Bink without having to involve daycare at nap time. I printed off a calendar from a template in Word and put a star on the date that the "Bink Fairy" was going to come to our house. Yes... we lied to our child and invented the Bink Fairy.

I then put the calendar in Connor's room and explained to him that he was fast approaching becoming a big boy and that the Bink Fairy was coming to the house. I explained to him that the Bink Fairy would ask him for all his Binks and in return he would receive a present. He liked this idea. 

He was so excited he wanted to see her right then and there for his present. Since I did not have his presents YET I explained to him that she wasn't here just yet and he had to wait. He demanded to see a picture of her.......... um.... he's way too smart for mommy! I opened my lap top and started to think about where I would find a pic of the Bink Fairy..... then it popped in my head.... FlyLady.com! Hehehe!! He believed me and all was well.

Each night we crossed off a day on the calendar and counted how many bedtimes we had left until the Bink Fair came. Through the week he would talk about how she was coming to our house and he would get a present if he gave up his Binks.

Day Of:

The Letter from the Bink Fairy

The morning of I left a letter from the Bink Fairy explaining to him that today was the day he stepped in the shoes of a big boy and gave up his Binks so she could give them to other babies that needed them and put an empty basket beside the letter.

He woke up and came out to the living room and I read him the letter. Immediately he ran to him room and gathered all the Binks in his room and put them in the basket. We placed it on the front porch like the letter asked.

While we were eating breakfast, I snuck out the backdoor through the backyard and pulled the presents out of my car. What presents did he get you ask??? Well... he got a Cars themed scooter that I found on Craigslist (the big boy toy), a Mobi Glomate Junior so he had something at bedtime to replace the Bink (we call him Buddy), Cars stickers and the Professor car from Cars (yes I spoiled him). I took the Binks and hid the in the glove box of my car. I snuck back through the back door. After breakfast we peeked out and saw the presents. He was very excited.

Checking out his scooter...
The basket is empty!

He played around with his scooter in the house for a little bit and then it was time to get dressed and go bowling for the late morning/lunch time. We figured if we went and did something that would wear him out MAYBE nap time would go smoothly....

We had fun bowling (I'll post pics of them later), but once we got home and nap time arrived... he was not a happy camper. It finally sank in what he did with his Binks. I felt bad because I feel like I tricked him into giving up his Binks for a dance and a song... and he did.... but at the same time it needed to be done. He screamed for a good 45 min, we went in every so often to console him and then all of a sudden it was quiet. He went to sleep!

An hour later he was up again screaming. UGH! Nap time cut short!

Then came bedtime. We adjusted bed time routine a little different. He got a bubble bath and I lathered him up with lavender lotion. Instead of reading books in his room with one of us, we read books as a family in the living room. After books he got into his bed but didn't ask for his Bink. He was whiney and sad looking so talked with about which friend he wanted to snuggle with and after he was settled down with his new Buddy and snuggle partner I was out the door. It took him an hour to fall asleep and he slept through the night.

Days Following:

Nap times can be a bit of a struggle sometimes. I think the Bink just helped him fall into a relaxed state and he hasn't figured out how to do that yet. He now prefers to sleep on the floor instead of his bed or tries to talk us into random things when he should be getting ready for taking a nap. We noticed his naps went from two hours to one. Slowly but surely they've been getting longer again.

Bedtimes a fairly easy but again... he's trying to talk us into sleeping on the floor of delaying bedtime as long as he can. Bedtime is a little more hard work than reading a book and getting into bed these days. You never know which Connor you're going to get. Happy helpful Connor.... or "I don't like my bed" Connor..... I guess it all goes with that thing called parenting that we signed up for. MOST nights he's sleeping through the night again.

He really hasn't asked for the Bink flat out. Every once in a while he mentions the Bink Fairy and how she took his Binks. I remind him that he gave them to her. The other morning he asked when she was bringing them back and I told him she wasn't. So far its been almost 3 weeks and we're moving along fine.... ***knock on wood***