I have mentioned a few hundred times that Rhett(3) has had a bit of an addiction. He could be the poster boy for Pacifiers Anonymous (PA).
It started out so innocently...he cried and we needed a quick fix of peace and quiet so the binky pushing began.
Unlike the other boys, he actually took to the pacifier. It was pure heaven at first, but then he needed more, more, more.
More binkies.
More pacifier time.
More urgent cravings.
It was an ugly out of control spiral...
We had a binky intervention...twice. There are even family members who refuse to associate with him when he is using.
Tough love.
Tough times.
Tough side effects.
At one point I began strict pacifier rehab. He resisted treatment. I caught him stealing moments with his binky. I saw him sneaking hits. I saw him hiding the evidence.
He had to shake this habit before it ruined his life.
Ruined his life?
It isn't like his drug of choice is illegal...
At that point we cut him a little slack.
Enablers.
At that point we decided to ignore the problem and hope it goes away.
Denial.
That was several months ago. We have given Rhett free and unfettered access to a never-ending supply of pacifiers. Slowly the pacifiers have been wearing out. Slowly the highs haven't been as high.
Tonight as Rhett went up to take a bath blog-Stedman asked him if he wanted to take his binkies upstairs while holding out a handful of pacifiers.
Rhett turned and said "no".
I asked him during his bath why he didn't want his binkies.
He said "because I am not a baby".
And he went to bed cold turkey.
He woke up about 45 minutes later shaking from withdrawal, but his resolve was firm. I am scooping him up and taking him to my bed.
This could be a rough night, but it is the first step...
9:15 PM
Just 11 more to go
Posted by
Texasholly
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Out of the mouth of babes,
plain old mom stuff,
Totally random
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39 comments:
What a great story, I think of binkies in my sleep! I have a 2 month old and the binkie fest has started would love for you to join my blog :)
www.MomMeVille.com
brave brave rhett. admitting you have a problem is half the battle.
Stay the course, big boy! You can do this... Isn't there some sort of gum or sucker that can kill the craving?
Geez this was a good post. Mine wouldn't take a binky at all. and I think I'm grateful, but those LONG LONG car trips where the 4month old screamed for 6 hours straight. I dunno. I'd trade. I would.
What a sweetie! Lollipops might ease the shaking.
My oldest sucked his fingers until his fifth birthday. (Really? Gross.) And then he said, "I'm not gonna do this anymore." And that was it. Maybe he could be Rhett's sponsor.
We had pacifier problems with our youngest too. We were worse than you though, he slept with it til he was FOUR! (I wouldn't let him use it in public -- we kept it our dirty little secret.)
Ben did the same thing. One night, after a string of many like it, I said, "hey, wanna try sleeping without this thing tonight" and he shocked me by saying "Okay." And, he's been without it ever since.
Cold turkey is the way to go. But, it has to be THEIR idea. They have to WANT to quit. Just like with all addictions! ha.
I was lucky that my daughter did not like it when I tried one with her as a newborn to "pacify" her. My girlfriend's daughter liked the pacifier and how my friend broke her of it later on was to cut a bit off the end every few days. On the last day, Jessica put it in her mouth and there wasn't enough left to suck on or grab hold of. Problem solved.
Good luck and hang in there.
We always gave our patients jonesing from withdrawals cigarettes. I am thinking maybe you should do something else. Lighters are dangerous and playing with matches make you wet the bed.
In my experience, cold turkey is the only way to go. Son bit through the end of one of his binkies, cried because it was broken, watched me sadly as I threw it in the trash, and then had to live with the knowledge that the binkies were no more. I had to stealthily collect up all the others lying around the house, so he wouldn't realize that there was not one single UR-binkie but really many replicas. It took three nights of tears (night two was the worst; night three was just for show), and then it was over. The scenario happened differently with Daughter, but again, cold turkey worked. Good for you. Congratulations!
What a great post!
We never had a binkie addiction. My Indians were indifferent to them, but it sounds like your boy is on the path to recovery!
Congrats!
Wow! Sounds like my son, except substitute the binky with a bottle. He can't sleep unless he has 1 before bed and another in bed. The good news is we only fill the bottle with water so nothing yucky sits on his teeth. The bad news?? He tends to wake up with a very wet diaper and sometimes clothes. He's 19 months and I'm hoping to break him of his bottle so that we can potty train when he hits 2.
Story goes I needed binky intervention when I was a kid, too. My mom told me I could only have it when in my bed so off to my bed I went. One afternoon I escaped with one in my mouth and went out into the neighborhood to play. One of the teenagers decided to grab it and it broke. I went back home crying and mom gave me a new one. I tried it and then spit it out and said "It dosesn't fit." End of binky.
Good luck!
Best of luck to Rhett & you.
What a sweet little baby : ). Let him be little as long as possible. How bad can they be for you? Life is short. He is the cutest thing ever : ).
With my grand daughter it was her thumb not a binky. She will still stick that thing in her mouth when she is extremely tired and she is 8! At least with a binky you can throw them away- pretty hard to get rid of a thumb!
Good luck just don't trade one addiction for another (letting him sleep in your bed at night).
So hilarious!
Ok, so neither of my two eevr took to a pacifier. But, i acutally thought I may push it with this one, just for some silence when I am otherwise preocupied with two other monsters...bad decision? Should I just tough it out?
I wouldn't worry about it.
I have yet to see a child standing at the bus stop with a binky in their mouth...........
OMG! That is my kid! The binky obsession! It's awful. So bad, and he knew it was so bad, that he would tease people with it.
"Pop!" as he waved it around, "See my bink!"
It was horrendous.
*Notice I am using PAST tense!* We have been binky free for a week! A week!*
My older two weren't into binkies, by the five month old is. And I've been wondering if this story is my future. I can only hope my little guy is as brave as Rhett.
That is so funny! I love your writing. I know, I say that every time I comment. Give the boy a shot of tequila before bed. That'll fix him.
You know what... I'm a firm believer that they will give things up when they are ready. And he will. Sounds like he is!
That is the way Landry was.. Non stop until he was 3 1/2 then just decided he didn't want it.. Stay strong Big Boy.. poor holly.. your baby is a big boy!!! WAHHHH
Gotta leave it to the kid. My parents stool my "sucky" when I was 5! THEN...I sucked my thumb! YIKES! My niece, when asked what she wanted more than anything else in the world (when she was 3), replied, "a bowl of 'tossies'". I almost don't want my daughter to give it up. She looks so cute with it! ;)
Well yes, the first step is admitting you have a problem. (so I've heard). Sounds like he's on his way.
I love this post! It really is like that with binky addicts! My daughter is a recovering binky addict. We did exactly what you did and boom! It was over just like that!
awwww what a trooper and cold turkey at that...I am LMAO@jill jill bo bills comment!!
My money is on Jill Jill Bo Bill for peep of the week.
What a strong little sweetie! Hope you had a good nights rest...
Great post!! I hope going cold turkey isn't too tough on him (or you for that matter), but it's really the only way to go with things like this!
Keep up the hard work. That is very grown-up of your son to make that decision!
I have a just turned 3 paci addict, too. We're doing okay in weaning him but he has some secret stash someplace and every so often we'll realize Hey! Si has a juju!
What a sweet big boy!
Wow, this story just made my day. Binky withdrawal. Cold turkey. Such a great take on a subject that is so close to many :)
This is one of the best posts I have read in a long time. Thank you for sharing it. I gotta stumble this. "You Go Girl!'...really that was funny and very entertaining. It just highlights to fun of being a mom and sharing cute little stories like these
Wait, am I not suppozthed to be ththucking thith thing?!
My boy used pacifiers, and my girl didn't (though I wished, hard, that she would). Good luck with this! Hope the shakes end soon. ;-)
Sheri and George took my joke, but that's what I get for getting here late. I was gonna say something about going from one vice to another.
dang.
- Margaret
Yay! What a HYUGE step. MP was big into the Nuk too, but once she was done, that was it. Hard to believe that was two years ago -- it's never come up once since the day she kicked the nip.
Buy his pinky for $1, then when he wants it say remember Mommy bought it and then get his mind off of it. If he has 11 binky's, buy them each time you see him use one and trade evenly binky for a dollar. When you've bought up all the binky's let him go shopping. It worked on my niece. I hope that works for you and him.
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