Letting Go of Binky

Grandma Karen gave Nicky this sinister looking toy kitchenette last month when she came to visit. The microwave unexpectedly became Nicky's binky receptacle. Let me explain. About six months ago Dr. Venubi (Nicky's dentist) gave Nicky's binkies the death sentence. She told me that Nicky was getting an overbite and it was due to too much binky sucking. She said that we could do a gradual withdrawal or a cold turkey method to get rid of the pacifiers. I knew that cold turkey would be too hard on all of us so I chose gradual withdrawal. I hid the binkies up in a high place and told her they were only for night night time. For months Nicky would cry for them all day long. She asked for one in the car, when watching TV, when she got hurt, when she was bored, etc. Last month when she was having a tantrum every day, it was the worst. She needed one constantly in her mouth and what we were doing was not working.

The thought came to me that maybe my being in control of the binkies was what was causing her to want them so much. I thought of myself, when on a diet, when I tell myself I can't have a Take 5 or a bowl of ice cream. Suddenly the goodies are much more tempting and it is much more hard to withold treats from myself. So a few weeks ago I brought out all the binkies down from the cupboard and I told Nicky she could take care of them. I randomly said, "maybe you can put them in your little microwave." What a hit that was! Now it is like she doesn't want to suck on what she calls her, "binkyia" too long because she doesn't want to keep it away from the collection. The first thing she does in the morning is run and put the binky she is using in the microwave with the others. She says, "I'm happy" and shoves it away. Anyway, binky problem solved for now. It is amazing how creative one must get in parenting. I laugh at how this girl never seems to go by the book. We're all on our own here.