Bye, Bye Binkys!

It has been a long time coming, but we finally got rid of the binkeys this weekend! Both Ryder and Kyndall were REALLY attached to their pacifier. Ryder's was almost a permanent extension of his face and anytime he lost it, MANY tears were shed. Kyndall seemed slightly less attached than Ryder, but she would wake up in middle of the night 2-3 times a week and cry for her pacifier. I was sure that taking away the binkys would lead to days of endless crying and torturous tantrums (the whole, "get worse before it gets better" idea) so it has taken me months to work up the courage to take the binkys away. I have always been able to come up with some excuse why we should wait.....illness, vacations, out of town visitors, etc. Last week, we finally decided enough was enough---no more excuses---it was time!

Sunday was D-Day and we talked with the kids all week about how we were going to say "bye, bye binkys". Sunday night we invited a few people over for dinner and managed to talk a few of them into staying for our "Bye, Bye Binky Party". This party was pretty similar to the "Bye, Bye Bottles Party" we had a few months ago. All the kids gathered around the table. We told them that it was time to say bye, bye to the binkys and that we were going to give all the binkys to Cassaundra, who would find a baby that needed them. We are big kids now and don't need binkys. Then each of the kids took turns throwing a binky into a big plastic bag, saying goodbye and cheering. Surprisingly, Ryder really got into it and thought it was great fun. Kyndall thought it was fun until we told her she had to throw the binky that was in her mouth into the bag also.

Next we sang several good-bye songs and took pictures of everyone saying goodbye. Finally, we had treats and ceremoniously handed the bag of binkys over to Cassaundra.

At bedtime both Kyndall and Ryder were distraught to not have their binkys. Ryder cried on the way to his crib, but I gave him a hug and reminded him that he was a big boy and that we said bye, bye to binkys. He looked up at me with a sad face and said, "Bye, bye binkys. Give it to a baby, bye, bye." Then he snuggled right down in his bed and went to sleep.

Kyndall cried for about 3 minutes when we put her down, but then she went right to sleep as well. We did not hear from anyone the whole night. We were so surprised! We had been anticipating meltdowns and struggles, so we were completely AMAZED by how smoothly things went. The next day Ryder and Kyndall each asked for a binky a couple of times, but as soon as we reminded them that we had said bye, bye to binkys, they accepted it and moved on.

I would never in a million years have guessed that it would be this easy to get rid of the binkys! Ryder actually seems like a much happier kid now that he doesn't have his binky. It is such a relief to be rid of them :-) If there are any of you out there who have been thinking about getting rid of the binkys at your house, my advice is DON'T WAIT!!!

Ryder, Kyndall, Rustin, Kaydence

Kaydence putting a binky into the bag.

Ryder and Kyndall put their binkys into the bag

Party treats

Bye, Bye Binky Party---group shot (Back: Cassaundra, Mimi, GG, Riley, Jayson, Ronnie, Front: Ryder, Kyndall, Rustin, Ellis, Kaydence, Kassidy and Kaiya)

Bye, Bye Binkys!