The bink

Over that past few months I have been thinking about the dreaded day of taking away the bink. I wasn't sure how to do this with the least amount of tears from McKenna. I knew I wanted to have it gone before this new baby came, but was just dreading it. Her bink is her love, its her safety, its her comfort. How can someone take that away from an almost 2 year old and feel good about themselves? Striping her of all her comforts. She goes to her room to grab her bink when she is tired, sad, if she got hurt, or mad. Just about every emotion she has, she will share it with her bink. So to take that away was something that I didn't want to do and that I didn't take very lightly.

3 nights ago, July 1st, Tucker, McKenna, and I were playing in the bedroom. Tucker likes to steal away McKenna's bink and pretend to suck on it to make her mad. But this time he decided to "swallow" it. So this is how we got rid of the bink. The bink is no longer with us because it is in daddy's tummy. The past three days/nights have gone better than I have expected. Here is a little day by day play book for everyone to enjoy, mostly so I can remember.

Night 1: Since we took her bink away in the late afternoon, we didn't have to deal with the loss of the bink during the day. Just at the critical part of bedtime. When bedtime rolled around, we did our normal routine. She got in her Pjs, she got some milk, we said prayers, and then it was off to bed. As we were putting her into her bed(btw..she is still in the crib. I'm glad for this because she can't get out while we are going through this transition) she asked for her bink. We told her that daddy ate it and that it was in his tummy. She then proceeded to open tuckers mouth to see if it was in there. We put her in her bed and left. She wined and cried for a few minutes but nothing to extreme. After a bit of this I went in to comfort her a little bit. After a little talking it was determined that she wanted to sleep with her Jesus book. So I brought that in and placed the picture of Jesus right next to her head. Then I left. This didn't last for very long. She started to cry again. I was outside walking the dog so Tuck went and got her. Gave her some milk and calmed her down, then put her back in her bed. After this there was not a peep from her again this night. I was thinking, "How could it have been so easy? What made her believe this story that is impossible to be true?" But non the less it worked. She didn't wake up for the rest of the night.

Day 2: That morning she woke up at 7:45am. This is early for her because she usually sleeps until 8:30-9:00. I know, I'm spoiled. I knew this sleeping in was partly due to her bink. So I was expecting it. That morning she didn't ask about her bink at all. When nap time rolled around I was nervous again because I wasn't sure how she would react. When I put her down for her nap, I put something in her bed to keep her occupied for a few minutes. She only cried for about 5 minutes and then was fast asleep. That night she again asked for her bink and we told her it was in daddy's tummy. She probably cried/wined for about 10 minutes and then went to sleep. I'm thinking, this is a piece of cake.

Day 3: McKenna wakes up at 7:00am. The times are getting early and early! She was in a good mood. The day went by pretty smoothly. I took her to a 4th of July festival right before her nap time, so she fell asleep in the car on the way over. No wining about her bink. Then night time comes. We did out normal routine and put her to bed. Immediately she starts to cry and she doesn't stop. I eventually go into her room after about 15ish minutes of hysterical crying. I couldn't stand hearing her cry anymore. She is on day 3 with no bink and she is all alone in her room crying. I felt so bad for her. How could I just let her cry all alone when she is having a tough time tonight going to sleep? I couldn't so in I went. Right when I went in to her room, she wanted me to pick her up but I wasn't going to do that. So I did the next best thing....I climbed into her bed with her. lol That can be pretty scary at times. Never knowing if this crib will hold you up. After getting adjusted in her crib and Mckenna getting someone comfortable in the little space that was left, she started to calm down. About 5 minutes or so later after she was able to speak again, she looks up at me and says "thank you." Talk about melting a mothers heart. I was glad that I came into her room when I did. She apparently needed someone to be with her and calm her down. It was a special moment for me. After singing to her for about 15-20 minutes she was asleep. It was now time to attempt to get out of this small crib without making to much noise. I was 98% successful. I was standing up and had one leg out of the crib, when my foot, the one hanging out of the crib, cramps up! I was trying to stand still but it hurt and I needed to un-cramp it. So needless to say, she woke up. It looked like she was having a panic attack when she saw that I was leaving. She was still half asleep and trying to stand but not having very much success as it and starting to cry at the same time. She wanted me back in there. As much as I love her, I wasn't going to climb back in. So I sat on the floor and that was good enough for her that she calmed down and laid back in her bed. I sat on the floor for about 10 minutes waiting for her to fall back asleep. She wanted me to hold her hand, all while holding her baby and her elmo doll at the same time. After about 30 minutes I was able to leave the room with out her waking up. Thank goodness. She didn't wake up again after that. Tucker says day 3 is the worst day when you are changing a habit. So I guess he was right.

Day 4: She wakes up at 6:30am! What is going on here? Thankfully she fell back asleep until just before 9:00am. The morning was good because we were at church. Many distractions to keep her from thinking about her bink. After church she ate a little lunch then went down for her nap. It was the WORST nap ever. She slept for like 1 hour or less. Cried for a while before she fell asleep. It wasn't a good nap at all. She was a cranky pants after she woke up until we went to our friends house for dinner. She LOVES their little baby so she was glad to be going to their house. We stayed up late and watched the fireworks. By the time we got home it was about 10:30 and Mckenna went right to bed with out any problems. Until about 20 minutes later, she starts seriously crying. So I go in and try to figure out what is wrong with her. Soon to find out her foot is caught in her bed railing. Poor girl. So I get that out and she went right back to sleep. Easy night compared to the night before, thank goodness. I'm not sure how many of those nights I can handle.

Day 5: She woke up at 8:15am! Yeah. Actually we woke her up. That day went off without a hitch. She cried a little bit at nap time, but took a good nap and was happy. Up to this point, she has only asked for her bink a handful of times. I am so surprised about how this process is going. I thought it would be a lot harder. At her bed time, 8:30pm, we put her down for bed. And she cried and cried. So I went and got her. Got her something to drink. And we watched tv for a bit. I don't think she was very tired. At about 9:00pm, I put her back in bed. She cried for a few minutes, then off to sleep.

Day 6: Woke up about 8:30am, very happy. She did good throughout the day. Nap time comes and I put her down. I put her in her bed about 1:30 and I still hear she is awake at 2:30 and she is starting to cry. I figured she wasn't going to go to sleep so I went and got her and put on a movie and give her a few snacks so I can finish up what I was doing. She is still pluggin along. Acting like she is not very tired. It really made the day seem so long without that break. Dinner time rolls around and while she is eating she determines that its a great time to take a little nap. She falls asleep in her highchair. I would normally not let her sleep this late because I don't want my child up until 10 or 11:00 at night. But I let her sleep for 45 minutes. I figured it wouldn't hurt. We went swimming, which she loves. I decided to wait until about 9 to put her to bed. I layed her down and she was happy as a lark. Not one word about the bink, not one cry, and off to sleep she went. Amazing. For the next 2 nights she is staying with grandma, so we shall see how that goes without the bink.

She did wonderful at Grandmas house. Slept great, no problems at all. She is now bink free!

P.S. I wrote this back on July 4, 2010. I wanted to wait until the week was over before I posted, but then I forgot about it. Oh well. So she has been bink free for a month and a half now. It seems like the bink we never in our lives.