night night blues

Before I was a mom, I kept my opinions to myself when it came to kids.  Mainly because I didn't have any kids and didn't want to give my opinion on something I didn't have a clue about.  I was good at keeping my mouth shut while my head filled with random "why" questions. 

Now I understand what it was all about.  Now I see how hard it is to be a parent.  Teaching your child the "right" way and have them follow without complaints is no easy task! I've learned a lot about raising children so far and I'm sure I still have tons more to learn.

Here's my most recent dilemma. Sebastian and Natalia are 19 months old and I couldn't stand to see them sucking on their pacifiers (or what they call their "night night") and was on a mission to take it away.  I tried everything from hiding it, to telling them I couldn't find it, to giving it to them until they fell asleep and then taking it away, but nothing seemed to work.  They still remembered they had a "night night" and gave me the saddest (and cutest) faces ever to get me to give it to back.  I fell for it every time, and so did Sal.

I was a little ahead of the game a few weeks ago when I only gave them their pacifiers at bedtime (7:00 p.m.) but then we went to Chicago and gave it to them whenever they asked for it, just to save us the embarrassment of a crying baby on a flight, in a restaurant or in a store.  We messed up.  When we came back they wanted it all day long!

A few days ago I tried a new trick. It was nap time, so I put them in their cribs.  I left the room, cut the binkies and gave it to them "broken."  I felt horrible. Confused, they analyzed them and quickly threw them as far as they could. I was so happy! No tears! But that only lasted until I walked out of the room.  Then the tears and whining began.  I went back in their room and reassured them they would be ok without their "night night" and walked out again.  Natalia fell asleep quickly.  Sebastian cried for about an hour! I couldn't help but go in there and try and calm him but he was only happy while in my arms.  I put him back in his crib and told him he would be ok and walked out.  About 30 minutes more of crying and two more visits from mommy, and then he finally fell asleep.  I think I cried about the same amount of time.

Yesterday was a big day, I asked them if they wanted to throw out there binkies and they both agreed and rushed to throw their binkies away in the garbage!

Three days have gone by and I think I may have successfully broken the binky habit! I'm so happy and proud of all of us!!  So, if you are trying to take your child's binky away, don't loose faith! I think I thought it was going to be a lot harder than it actually was.

Now, we are left with only the memories...