Bye, Bye Binky

First night falling asleep without the binky  =) yay!

We decided it was time for Nelli it give up the binky.  I thought that the longer she has it the more attached she would become. It has been both sweet and heart-wrenching journey. I did a little research on helping a child give up their binki and I found a lot of ideas.  I started with cutting a small piece of the rubber tip off of the two binkys she had left.  The idea was that the baby would try it and realize it didn't work like before and give it up. This did not work for our Nelli.  She would hold it between her teeth and use it as often as before it was cut.  She was a little disappointed and say that hers had a "hole" and  would ask for he cousin Thayne's binky. We gave it a little over a week and it was just too hard to see her still trying to use it (I'm sure it wasn't comfortable biting it between her teeth for so long...).  I did a little more digging and decided to call my cousin, Amber. She had an idea that I really thought Nelli would relate to and as I tried it, I found that she did :)!  We decorated an envelope with some star stickers and put her last two binkys inside. I told her that babies need binkys when they cry, but Nelli's a big girl now and she doesn't need a binky (babies are a big topic around our house.  Nelli is a born little mommy, who's always feeding her dollies, taking them for stroller rides, or something of the sort. She also talks a lot about the baby in aunt Ali's tummy).  Nelli readily gave up her binkys (after one last suck/bite of each one in her mouth).  She suggested we throw them away.  I told her if we did that, then they were all gone, all done forever because the garbage is where diapers go and we will never get them out again.  She said "away" and I helped her throw them in our garbage can. That was Tuesday.  She's done wonderful since then. She has been falling asleep so well and not asking for her binky now that they're gone.  She did find Thayne's binky yesterday and that was quite the temptation for her. I distracted her and she gave it up.  

Yay for Nelli!  She's been extra cuddly and loving which Tay and I don't mind a bit =). After this experience I realized again that for Nelli's personality she likes things straight. She copes with it and gets over it.  It reminds me of when I weaned her off nursing. On her 1st birthday, I told her we were all done nursing. She asked a few more times and I told her the same thing and she did great. It's the same for any rule. If I am indecisive, she pushes and cries. If I'm clear and determined, she may cry a bit but most the time deals with it and is fine. Oh, my sweet little lady. I love her so much!