The Binky Fairy, Final Chapter
Anyone who has read this blog for a few years knows that Soren hasn't been overly eager to give up his binky.
Several friends suggested introducing a binky fairy who would magically bring presents if he left his binky out. Great idea. Unfortunately, I botched the execution. Soren was quite happy to give up his binky but to make it less traumatic we said he could give up one binky each night until all the binkies were gone. I thought this would be a great reward to have multiple treats.
He cried a lot on the first night without it, but was thrilled when he awoke to a new train for his collection from the binky fairy. I thought we were home free.
The next night he said "I have enough presents, I'm going to keep my other binkies."
Sigh.
We didn't really push it, but when given the chance we consulted the experts. Soren's pediatrician didn't really care one way or another. Peter's dentist said that there might be some shifting of the baby teeth but that would sort itself out when the big teeth came in. My dentist seemed to think that binkies were the work of the devil and actually had a huge wall dedicated to all the binkies that his mini-patients had brought in to him. So, the vote was 2-1 that binkies aren't harmful.
Every once in awhile we'd bring up the subject and Soren would get really excited. "Tonight I'm leaving my binkies out for the binky fairy!" But then the moment his head hit the pillow he'd change his mind and run out to retrieve the binky.
Many people suggested that he'd give it up when he was ready. But really, I didn't see any indication of his ever being ready. The binkies were getting old and nasty (and I certainly wasn't going to buy new binkies!) and so I decided it was time to go cold turkey.
We told Soren that if he brought his binkies to Toys R Us the binky fairy said he could get a new part for his train set. When not in the moment of truth at bedtime, he was thrilled to agree! He and I headed to the store. While he was playing with the display train table I quickly hid the $130 Knapford Station that I knew he'd choose.
"Oh drats. Looks like they don't have Knapford Station. Why don't you choose something else instead?"
Soren quickly found Rocky the Crane (a relative bargain at only $30) and off we went to the cashier stand where he gave her his handful of binkies (and I shelled out the cash.)
His face wasn't quite so smiley when he got ready for bed 7 hours later. Waaaaaaaah. Poor kid. He had no idea how to fall asleep on his own. He regretted his bargain and promised that he'd bring Rocky back to the store. Kind of heartbreaking actually. But with the binky gone in not retrievable, we were committed.
We had a nice talk about the things he could do instead of sucking on a binky to fall asleep and when I left the room he was smiling. And he drifted to sleep on his own.
Thank you binky fairy!
Several friends suggested introducing a binky fairy who would magically bring presents if he left his binky out. Great idea. Unfortunately, I botched the execution. Soren was quite happy to give up his binky but to make it less traumatic we said he could give up one binky each night until all the binkies were gone. I thought this would be a great reward to have multiple treats.
He cried a lot on the first night without it, but was thrilled when he awoke to a new train for his collection from the binky fairy. I thought we were home free.
The next night he said "I have enough presents, I'm going to keep my other binkies."
Sigh.
We didn't really push it, but when given the chance we consulted the experts. Soren's pediatrician didn't really care one way or another. Peter's dentist said that there might be some shifting of the baby teeth but that would sort itself out when the big teeth came in. My dentist seemed to think that binkies were the work of the devil and actually had a huge wall dedicated to all the binkies that his mini-patients had brought in to him. So, the vote was 2-1 that binkies aren't harmful.
Every once in awhile we'd bring up the subject and Soren would get really excited. "Tonight I'm leaving my binkies out for the binky fairy!" But then the moment his head hit the pillow he'd change his mind and run out to retrieve the binky.
Many people suggested that he'd give it up when he was ready. But really, I didn't see any indication of his ever being ready. The binkies were getting old and nasty (and I certainly wasn't going to buy new binkies!) and so I decided it was time to go cold turkey.
We told Soren that if he brought his binkies to Toys R Us the binky fairy said he could get a new part for his train set. When not in the moment of truth at bedtime, he was thrilled to agree! He and I headed to the store. While he was playing with the display train table I quickly hid the $130 Knapford Station that I knew he'd choose.
"Oh drats. Looks like they don't have Knapford Station. Why don't you choose something else instead?"
Soren quickly found Rocky the Crane (a relative bargain at only $30) and off we went to the cashier stand where he gave her his handful of binkies (and I shelled out the cash.)
His face wasn't quite so smiley when he got ready for bed 7 hours later. Waaaaaaaah. Poor kid. He had no idea how to fall asleep on his own. He regretted his bargain and promised that he'd bring Rocky back to the store. Kind of heartbreaking actually. But with the binky gone in not retrievable, we were committed.
We had a nice talk about the things he could do instead of sucking on a binky to fall asleep and when I left the room he was smiling. And he drifted to sleep on his own.
Thank you binky fairy!
AWESOME!!
ReplyDeleteWow! Congratulations! Sounds like you figured out a great way to handle this. Has it been one night now or more than that? I remember it took Lorelei about 3 nights to settle into a non-binky routine. The first was the worst though-the twitching and flailing like a crack addict!
ReplyDeleteBtw, what did the cashier say when Soren handed them a handful of nasty used binkies???
Courtney - We've been without the binky for more than a week now. He's mentioned it (longingly!) a few times, but that is pretty much it!
ReplyDeleteAnd, I think they must see that sort of thing at Toys R Us fairly regularly. The clerk just looked at me for a nod of approval and reached under her counter to put them in her special "binky fairy box." :-)
Wow, way to go!
ReplyDelete