There are some things, I think we can all agree as parents, that are hard to let go of. For me, it was the binky. Cora has been attached to that thing from day one. I remember the day at the hospital when she first took to it and I told my husband that it had to be gone by the time she was three. That was my cut off date.
Fast forward to last March where we cut the binky time down to just naps and then just bedtime without any real issue. Her turning three was still forever away, in October, so I didn’t think much of it. Slowly though, that nighttime habit became well, annoying. She didn’t need it, we all knew that but suddenly I was having a hard time cutting her off from it. I wasn’t sure why. Actually I did know why, it was the last “baby” thing she had.
Cora has been fully potty trained for some time now. She sleeps in her toddler bed. Bottles were long gone years ago. She has conversations. We have been working on preschool workbooks and writing her name. Hell, the kid can make her own waffle and is a pro at doing her own laundry. For a kiddo who hit all the milestones early and acts much older than she is, I was holding on to the last little piece of my baby.
So we had a talk, Cora and I. The binky had to go and bribery was our plan. I took her to Target to pick out a new baby doll that she wanted and explained that it had to replace the bink. She was on board. We printed out a picture of the bribery, I mean, baby doll and stuck it to the fridge. Three nights. That is how long she had to go without bink and then we could head back to Target and pick up that new doll. She did it with zero questions, complaints or whining. Doll purchased, binkies in trash and we moved on with life all before that three year mark.
It was bittersweet for me. Non kiddo people look at me like I’m nuts but we all have our thing. That kid went and grew up on me, so fast, just like they say they do. I think part of me struggles with not knowing if we will have that chance to do it all again. Do we even want to do it again? Who knows?
How did you end your binky habit?
Through My Mistakes 