The Binks. Binky. Pacifier, Mute Button. This little lifesaver has many different names for many different folks. Before Kelti was born I swore up and down that I would not let my child use a binky let alone be completely and utterly dependent on it. (I also swore that she would never sleep in our bed, eat sugar or drink bottles after 12 months of age.)
So back to the story... it all started with our stay in the hospital after Kelti's birth. Because she was born at 11pm we had to stay two nights at the hospital. The first night was a breeze, she slept, I kind of slept and we started the bonding process outside of the womb. It was beautiful. The second night was a different story. I was having a hard time getting her to latch on, she was upset and that made this new mom upset. Me and the hubby tried for hours to calm that new little baby down and with no success we were scared that we were doing something wrong. I pressed the nurse button and she came strolling in. "I was wondering if you were going to need something, I could hear that little girl all the way out in the hallway", the nurse so sweetly comments. She reaches out for Kelti and I gratefully lay her in her knowledgeable arms. First she tries to help Kelti latch (with no success), tries to stroke her back, comfort her, swaddles her, tries to ease her worries and mine. All the tricks these nurses keep up their sleeves was simply not working for this new sassy little girl of mine. So the nurse leaves the room with Kelti still screaming in my arms and tears streaming down my face. Thirty seconds later she pops back into the room, and removes a pacifier from the plastic wrapper. Without hesitation or asking if I was OK with using it she nudges the little green pacifier towards Kelti's lips. Kelti roots around and quickly sucks it into her mouth and swiftly falls asleep. We all take a deep breath and release any frustration we had twenty seconds ago and calmly wipe the tears from our eyes.
It was over from there. Kelti was a huge fan of the pacifier and we were not complaining. It soon became known as a binky in our house and we had one in every room. Kelti only used it when she was tired, so in the bed, her swing or in the car mostly. I then changed my plans on using the binky and decided that on Kelti's first birthday I was going to take away both her bottles and her binky. By this time Kelti knew that during a car ride she would get a binky or laying down for her naps we would place one in her mouth and she would quickly fall into dream-land. It was just such a comfort for her and a convince factor for us. Well we are a couple days shy of Kelti's 16 month birthday and within the last four months the binky situation as escalated to a whole new level.
She will walk around the house and if she finds a binky she will put it in her mouth. When she is tired or cranky she will scream, "BINKS!". If she sees her baby (her stuffed giraffe that has to go EVERYWHERE with us) she demands her binky as well. And the worst... if the binky falls out of her mouth while she is sleeping she will wake up, eyes still shut, and scream "BINKS". I swear I wake up 6-12 times a night to put the binky back in her mouth.
WHAT HAVE I DONE! Why did I let Kelti take a binky in the hospital, why did I give it to her for comfort for 12 months and why didn't I take it away when I had planned to. Well, I had to the face the music and realize that I did it all for my sake. For my sanity, my ease, all of this was my parenting.
So now I come to you as mothers, grandmothers, aunts, caretakers, what do I do? Do we take the binky away cold turkey? Do we only allow it in certain places or situations? Oh man, I am open to any suggestions that will be the best for my little bumblebee, even if I go without sleep for a solid week. Oh the joys of mommyhood. :)
Happy Thursday! (Note... the giraffe is in every picture ... and these pictures were completely chosen at random!)
