Monday, September 13, 2010

Bye Bye, Binky!

Since he was just a few days old, Simon has always had a close relationship with his binky (his pacifier). He seemed to like it so much more than Harmon did and it never failed to soothe him. Lately, though, he's become less dependant on it - using it only at nap time and bed time - which has made us start thinking about when it should go away forever.

Harmon gave his up relatively easy at 18 months but I anticipated more of a battle with Simon. Not only because of him but also because of me. He's my baby and every last big step like this for him is the last big step like this for us.

So, on Monday, Aug. 2, 2010, as I got ready to rock him to sleep, Kevin asked him for his binky as he covered us up in the rocking chair. Simon willingly gave it to him, as he always does, so I decided to just see what happened from there. Side note: Kevin did sneak it back to me before he left the room. As Simon's eyes got heavy, he looked up at me a few times and and said "Binky? It's coming?" I said, "No, honey, it's all gone" and he would repeat this as he put his little head back down. After a few minutes, he was snoring ... and I was crying!

Now, he may very well need again but, on this night, for the first time in 20 months, he fell asleep without it.

Since that night, Simon has done a great job without his binky, only needing it a couple of times. And, as of Labor Day, Kevin and I are finally calling the binky dead. Sure, he doesn't sleep as late in the morning (at least so far) and he might wake up during the night every now and then but it's nice to know he no longer needs it. He's getting to be a big boy now.