He has had a binky since he was 2 weeks old. He would cry in the middle of the night when he lost the darn thing. The last time he cried because he lost his binky somewhere in his bed was about 3 weeks ago. When he was a baby, binkies were great! I just put the bink in his mouth where ever we were and it calmed him down immediately and kept him happy any time, anywhere. It was awesome! (Annie sleeps with a binky but isn't nearly attached to them the way Mason was. She never, ever has one during the day.) He was very, very attached to his binkies. I tried to get rid of them a couple times after he turned 2 just because I thought maybe he was too old. When I told him we were getting rid of them he pretty much freaked out so each time I would say "We can wait a little longer." Who am I kidding? Binkies have always been great for Mason! They put him right to sleep for naps and bedtime. Basically, I was dreading the day that we would get firm and get rid of them for good.
Why did we decide now was the right time? Well, he is 3 1/2 which seems kind of old to me to have one. Also, he is almost a sunbeam and I didn't want my child to have one when he was a sunbeam (that's just my own selfish reason.) Also, I've heard that they can mess up kids teeth. His teeth look good to me, but I don't know-maybe the damage is already done? Hopefully not. But if so, we figure he'll just get braces one day anyway, right? So all of the reasons put together, we decided it was time.
For weeks I had been telling Mason it was time to get rid of his binkies. He always agreed happily, but I knew he would be upset when that time actually came. The other day we were in Target and there are these little toy bugs called "Hex" bugs or something like that, and Mason has had his eye on them. I've told him that the day we buy him a Hex bug is the day we say goodbye to his binkies. So he spotted them and asked if he could have one. I thought about it for a second and decided this was the time. Why not? Mason gets excited about stuff a lot, but this was some serious excitement. We're talking jumping up and down shouting, "Yay!!! Yessssss!!!" and me getting a HUGE hug and him saying, "Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU MOM!!!!" It was awesome.
Well, we bought the bug and he was in heaven. We got home and just as planned, we put the binkies in a box, wrapped it up and wrote "To Russ and Darcy's new baby. Love, Mason" on the box, and put it by the door. Mason liked the idea that his precious binkies were going to a new baby who would need them. Cutie.
That first night when we put the kids down at 8:00, Mason wasn't very sleepy. That was a problem. I made the mistake of letting him fall asleep on the couch in the middle of the day. (He stopped taking official naps in his bed about a month and a half ago but falls asleep on the couch every now and then still.) He kept stalling once we put him in bed. He cried a little and asked if he could stay up with me and Chris. Chris brought him in to our room and said he could sleep in there that night. A few minutes later he was crying again. I felt bad for the little guy because I knew he just wanted his binky. So we let him sit on the couch with us (he was so happy to be up with us playing with his Hex bug) till about 10:30. Then we put him to bed and he went right to sleep. I thought, That wasn't so bad!
Night #2....was rough. He asked to stay up again of course right at bed time. Oh great, I thought. Now he expects this every night. And that was NOT going to happen. He ended up crying for over a half hour once he was in bed. Chris and I took turns going up to talk to him. It was a long half hour. I think Annie just watched him and wondered what in the world was going on. Luckily, it never bothered her. Finally I went in there and gave him a back rub, which he liked, and finally fell asleep.
Night #3 was perfect. We put him to bed and no tears at all! Awesome!
Night #4 was not so perfect. Once in bed, he sat up, sat cross-legged and looked at me. With a very worried expression and using his hands a lot to get his point across, this was our conversation:
"Mom, I can't go to bed yet."
"Why not?"
"Because I really, really need a snack."
"Mason. It is very late and it is bed time. We don't eat snacks at bedtime. Ever."
"But mooooom! I really, reeeeeeally need a snack!"
"No Mason."
"But how can I go to bed if I just need a snack?"
It was actually hilarious but he was just so serious about the whole thing so I tried hard to hold back my laughter. So then I told him to lie down for a back rub or I would leave. He did not lie down so I left. He cried and cried and cried again. Eventually he cried himself to sleep. I think it was 20 minutes or so. Annie was oddly enjoying all of this. She'd flop herself around in her crib, jump up and down crazily and mess with the blind by her crib. She was cracking me up. She eventually would fall asleep once Mason did.
Night's #5 and #6 went great. No crying. Just quick back rubs and he was good to go. That's where we are now. I think as long as I don't let him nap during the day anymore so that he's really tired at bedtime, that helps a ton. Two perfect nights in a row is a good sign, right? So hopefully the crying is done and honestly, it hasn't been that bad at all. I was seriously worried about this moment in life....saying bye to the binky. He wants to be a big boy and he knows big boys don't have binkies. I was surprised that he never once asked for his binky once they were gone.
Here's to having another good no-crying night! :)
Mason has been into his muscles lately.
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