This past weekend I thought we would get rid of the binky. He only has it for naps and bedtime but lately I noticed he would want to hang out more in his crib because that is where it is kept. I had a plan. We would snip of the tip of the binky and have him discover it was broken and then if Ethan got too heartbroken about it I would give him a second YaYa lovie. Well, that afternoon a few hours before bedtime we went to 'discover' that the binky was broken. He seemed fine with it. I told him I would throw it away and he let me. On to bedtime. He asked for his binky for awhile and I reminded him that we threw it away. He was distraught. I gave him his second lovie. He did not calm down. I gave back the 'broken' binky and he went to sleep immediately.
The next day I cut a bigger piece off the tip so now one third of the tip was gone. It took a long time for him to settle for his nap but he eventually fell asleep. When he woke up he wasn't using the binky and he announced it was broken. I asked if he wanted to throw it away. He said yes and threw it away in the trash can himself. That night he slept okay without it but took a long time to settle.
Third day. It took him one hour to fall asleep at naptime and he only slept for one hour as opposed to the two to three hour nap he usually takes. It took an hour to fall asleep at bedtime.
Fourth day. He did not nap. He spent two hours in his crib playing happily - talking to himself, singing songs, running around in circles in his crib. Bedtime he was overtired from lack of napping but went to sleep okay.
Fifth day. And note this is the day that Bob left for a business trip. Usually what happens is I put Ethan to bed. If he doesn't fall asleep and asks for binky or is unhappy Bob will go in there after a few minutes and rock him for a little bit and then put him back to bed and he is fine. If I go in there to check on him Ethan will never let me go. He asks for me to sing him songs, to sit in the glider with him or to lay down in the crib with him. If I hint that he should go to sleep or make a move for the door he gets very worked up. As opposed to Bob where he will usually say 'Daddy bye bye' and push him towards the door. Probably because he knows I am a huge softie and hate to hear him cry and therefore will do whatever he asks. So today after I put him down for a nap, I could hear him on the monitor asking for binky again. He complained for a bit then started crying at which point I went to check on him. He laughed as soon as I came inside probably thinking to himself 'Sucker!'. Anyways after each check when I start to leave he will start sobbing. I waited 5 minutes in between checks. Finally I gave up and gave him back a new not broken binky (after hearing all these horror stories on the bump where end of binky meant end of naps). He was not appeased but eventually calmed down. But as I am typing this I can still hear him talking on the monitor.
Sigh. So after 5 days and much heartache for my poor baby we are back to binky PLUS an extra lovey. I know I should stay strong and he will get over his attachement with the pacifier eventually but I can't bear to see him so sad and uncomfortable without it. Binky 1. Mom 0.
