Binkie No More

We have been fearing the removal of Henry's 'Binkie' for months.  This weekend the process began.  On Friday the sitter told us that Henry had not used the binkie all week.  My first response 'How did you get him to sleep??!!'  I was shocked.  Then I realized it was time for us to begin the much dreaded transition as well.  I knew it would be hard, and hard it has been. 

Andy and I have made leaps and bounds with the amount of time Henry gets the binkie lately.  He went from having it pretty much all the time, down to only having it in his crib and in the car, then most recently down to only having it in his crib.  We did all of that within a months time.  Now the transition to removing it completely.... 

We received several recommendations on how to proceed from other parents that went through the same transition.  There is the 'binkie fairy', cutting off the end of the binkie, giving it to the baby, cold turkey, etc.  We made the decision to cut off the end of the binkie.  I handed it to Henry, he puts it in his mouth, took it back out and hands it to me and says 'broken'.  So my response is 'Sorry bud, the binkie is broken.  You don't need a binkie anymore anyway, you are a big boy.'  I thought it would go a little smoother than it did. 

He then proceeds to cry for 30 minutes.  During this time I pace back and forth in the kitchen and tell Andy I'm not ready.  Andy tries to talk me out of it.  I instead grab a back up binkie and go back into his room.  He had thrown his binkie on the ground.  I picked him up and rocked him for a few minutes, with the back up binkie in my hand.  I consider giving it to him, but he calmed down quite a bit while I rocked him.  I didn't give in, thank goodness.  I then put him back in his crib, tiptoe out of the room, and I listen.  Silence!!  He finally gave in and went to sleep.  Night one was pretty bad...but manageable. 

Last night was pretty much the same.  He was over tired from playing with his cousins all day and trick or treating.  He only got an hour nap on the early ride to Carroll.  I was hoping we would luck out and have him fall asleep on the ride home.  We didn't get so lucky.  We get home and go through the same routine as the night before.  I head back in his room after he had been crying for awhile.  He had thrown his binkie behind the crib, between the wall.  This is a popular place for him to throw his binkies.  So I take him out of his crib to have him help me retrieve it.  Major mistake!!  I had forgot to check this area for binkies that are not 'broken' before moving the crib out of the way.  So Henry screeches with glee as he finds two more binkies that are not broken.  I panic...  I yell at Andy not knowing what to do.  He tells me 'Take the binkie from him..' Duh... I do it.  He cries even harder.  But he got over it.  I rocked him for a few minutes and he went right to sleep.  He slept great last night. 

We still haven't searched the house for binkies that are not broken.  So I am still worried that Henry will cross another one at some point.  But hopefully it isn't for a few days.  They say the first nights are the hardest, and thankfully they are now behind us.  It is only supposed to get easier.  Let's hope so...