No more binkies?

My little girl is a binkyholic.And I think I have been her enabler.

It all started when Hannah was about a year old and started waking up at 4:30 a.m. every night. EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Why? Because she had lost her binky. So after a month of my getting up to stick it back in, I had the brilliant idea of throwing in a few more. That way if she lost one, she'd have more to find.

When that didn't work, I put the crib bumper back up and threw in a few more. She began craving them and couldn't go to bed without them. But, yes, she slept through the night. THE WHOLE NIGHT!

But her bedtime routine was so funny I had to capture it on video. She'd get in her crib, put a pacifier in her mouth, slowly put one pacifier in between each of her big toes and the next toe, roll over to her belly and hold a binky in each hand. Plus she had two extras by her head - just in case. SEVEN BINKIES!!!

Now that she is about to turn three, I've been talking to her about giving up her binkies. She wasn't quite sure about the idea so we talked about giving the binkies to the babies at church and keeping one to put inside a stuffed animal from the Build a Bear store.

We went to visit the store this weekend and scope out the selection. And she decided it was time. Sigh. My big girl - no binkies? I could hardly believe it. So we picked out a pink bear (appropriately named Pinky), stuffed the pink pacifier inside, sewed it up, picked out a purple shirt and flip flops, paid and returned home. We put the extra binkies in a ziploc bag to take to church.

First night - she went to bed and after a bit, began to cry a little. But she never asked for the binky - it took her almost 2 1/2 hours to fall asleep. At naptime today, she only slept 45 minutes - she kept calling for me and crying a bit. I told her how proud I was of her and that it would take a few days to get used to, just like potty training.

Tonight it took her just 1 hour 15 min to fall asleep - which is pretty normal for her. She was clutching a couple of small "friends" and was probably pretending they were binkies. Sweet dreams, my big girl.