Wednesday, November 18, 2009

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)


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16 comments:

Selene said...

I hope Ryder and Kyndall do well. It's nice when they adjust to sleeping the new way.

We had Adam give up his pacifiers about 6 months ago, when he chewed through one and oh, no! now the pacifier is broken. But he still has this terrible oral fixation and almost always has his finger or two fingers or whole hand in his mouth and he never sucked on his fingers before. Sometimes I get so fed up with the hand sucking that I want to give him his pacifier back!!

Anonymous said...

If it turns out that they do have sleeping issues in a few days (mine gave his up this easily too initially), know that it can take up to a month to get the sleep sorted out without that binky. We had some rough spots but are on the other side binky-free.

Stephanie said...

Congratulations on being binky-free! I'm sure this is very exciting for you guys!

The Frisks said...

You are such a strong woman, we broke my now 3 year old when he was 2 1/2 down to just having it at night. I really need to just suck it up and get rid of it for good. Thanks for the encouragement.

Erica Frisk

Anonymous said...

It was certainly interesting for me to read that blog. Thanx for it. I like such topics and everything connected to this matter. I definitely want to read more soon.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad it worked out so well. We did this with my daughter, and she started sucking her thumb instead. Much more difficult to stop!!! In the end she stopped herself....when her own daughters were little!!!! I kid you not. Luckily it was her right thumb so she didn't suck it when she was busy or at school.

alli said...

I think I saw this idea on Super Nanny one time. I love it. Definitely going to do it when I have kids.

I laughed when I read the part about Ryder saying "Bye, bye binkys. Give it to a baby, bye, bye." That's adorable!

MDtripmom said...

Cute idea to get rid of the binkys! My triplets are 17 months old and I want to be free of them as well by 18 months. I hope it goes as smoothly!

Anonymous said...

It is extremely interesting for me to read this article. Thanx for it. I like such topics and everything connected to this matter. I would like to read more soon.

Apis Melliflora said...

We waited until our kids were much older. So give yourselves a huge pat on the back! I was absolutely amazed at how quickly their teeth moved back down. Children heal, change and adapt so much faster than adults!

Allison said...

Lurker here - love your blog, you are so organized and inspirational!

I have twins and had the same experience when we took the pacifiers away. SO much easier than I expected.

Congrats on the binky-free kids! I always love how much older kids look without them.

Capturing Joy with Kristen Duke said...

Awesome. Our binkie farewell for Alyssa went much smoother than I imagined, too. Mailed to strawberryland.

Crazy Granny said...

I'm so proud of all of you, including the cute rascals.

Wendy said...

We have triplets and were dreading this as well, ours went to the dummy fairy so she can build her furniture with them! She paid the kids a dollar for each one and they got a new book. Every now and then they comment that they are big kids now and don't have a dummy (binky).

Shane Meredith Mason and Kendall said...

When we had our kids give up the binkys, we went to Build a Bear and put them in the bear's tummy. They put less stuffing than normal in them so the kids could feel the binky if they felt like they needed it and now they sleep with these bears. And, like yours, it just wasn't a problem.

Rachelle said...

Meredith--What a great idea!