Bye Bye Binky!

One of the biggest challenges LT and I have had with the kidlet is getting her to give up her binky. We worked on it until she was able to go without it all day, and only gave it to her when she went into her crib, and even then only once she asked for it (which she always did). The last time we tried to get rid of it altogether, she was 14 months old. It was a Saturday, and we had left her one remaining binky at my Mom's house, so we really had no choice. LT and I put kidlet to bed, and then pulled out the couch downstairs so that we could better ignore the screaming and maybe get some sleep. Six hours (SIX HOURS!) of continuous screaming later, I drove to the 24 hour Walgreens and bought a new binky. She has had that same one ever since.

When kidlet started daycare last October, she was still using the binky at naptime at home. We sent one to daycare with her with instructions to only use it in an "emergency", and a week later, the teacher told us she had just thrown it out. Kidlet never asked for it, and always went right to sleep without it. At home, however, she refused to either nap or sleep at night without it. The intensity and duration of the screaming was really quite remarkable.

Until Sunday night. LT brought kidlet up to bed, put her in the crib, and kidlet fell asleep almost immediately. She never asked for the binky, never woke up looking for it, and slept soundly through the night. Same thing last night, although she did whine halfheartedly for an hour or so before she lapsed into her usual coma. She woke up this morning, pointed to the spot on the shelf where the binky always went, and said "Binky all gone?". I said yes, she said "yogurt?" I said, "yup, let's go have breakfast", and off we went.

Bye bye binky!