First, I just wanted to direct y’all to my post over at the Dr. Smith’s Diaper Ointment blog that I made this morning. With labor day on monday, we’re discussing labor stories, and there are some really interesting stories so far, so check them out if you’re into that!
Now onto my mission. It’s operation binky annihilation. I think mommy’s mission is going pretty well so far. At first, the binky was just lost, and I felt a little hopeless, then it turned into mommy deciding that we need to get rid of the binky habit once and for all.
Even before I had my daughter, I told myself, and my husband that I didn’t want her to have a binky, or as we call them back home “chuppis,” as in a sucker. That was until we were knee deep into breastfeeding, three months along and it seemed as though baby was puking on me one too many times a day. We realized that she was overeating, and just using mommy as the binky. Tired, exhausted, and no longer wanting to wear eau de bebe vomit as my main scent anymore, I rushed to the store to buy the binkies I swore against. There went my second ideal in mothering. The first was to cloth diaper…that lasted about two weeks, and about 40% sanity.
Anyway, after the binky, there was no more vomiting, no more overeating, and things were good. Fast forward to present time….
If she found a binky, it would immediately go into her mouth, waking up in the middle the night if the binky wasn’t in her mouth, daddy using it if baby showed any sign of being upset, and one frustrated mommy.
It wasn’t all that bad, but I just wanted to avoid the inevitable binky battle if I let it go on for too long. Since Sunday, we lost the binkies, and even though I found them on Tuesday, they are no where to be seen.
Mommy’s on day 5 without a binky, and things are going well. Baby’s been falling asleep without it, doesn’t wake up in the middle of the night, and is even sleeping in a little longer each day. Cold turkey is definitely the way to transition, for us at least. I remember going from breast, to bottle, then bottle to sippy cup.
We nursed until 9 months, so she was only on bottles for about 3 months, then after her 1st birthday, we needed to switch over again, and I thought it was going to be so difficult to transition her, since she wouldn’t take her milk in anything else besides a bottle. Then we went to the doctor, and the doctor told us to make her go cold turkey off the bottle. I was worried about it, I didn’t want it to be a shock to her, but then I realized, we did that with nursing. We went from full on nursing, to all of a sudden full on bottle feeding, so it couldn’t be so bad.
One night, I decided to pack up all the bottles in a box and put them away. We’ve never looked back, and it seemed that she never noticed. She was a little hesitant at first, but since the bottles were out of sight, they were out of mind, and she just had to adjust. It also helped that I made a big stink about the pretty pink sippy cups I had bought her.
If you’re in the same spot as I am, I’d suggest cold turkey, or almost any habit you want your child to kick. Out of sight, out of mind, and consistency. Like the last few nights, I’ve been able to hold baby to fall asleep without the binky, and at first she fights, but I just stay quiet, and she eventually falls asleep. I think I’ve gained some sanity in just these few days.
It really does feel good. She doesn’t even seem to notice that the binky is gone, so we bid it farewell, and mommy seems to making great progress for her mission: operation binky annihilation.
How about you? Do you have a weening, or cold turkey story you’re dealing with, or have had to deal with? What is your best advice to making a transition that has worked for you and your child?
Have a great Thursday!
Erica
