So Far

I wanted to document Jayci's no-more-binkies progress thus far. We are on the ninth day. I won't lie, it's been hard. But at the same time it hasn't been harder than I geared myself up for so to me, thankfully, it hasn't been overwhelming. I'm actually really proud of her. I know it's been hard for her but she's done really well and is continuing to progress. I'm hoping that when we reach our 2 week mark things will start feeling "normal". As of today she's only had 2 naps and 2 full nights of sleep since we started, but on Monday night she fell asleep without crying and has almost every night since, so we're making good progress!

After my last binky post I decided to try some of the ideas in the comments. The first one I tried was Heather's. I asked Jayci if she was a big girl or a baby. Of course she said she's a big girl. I then tried to explain to her that big girl's don't need binkies, babies do, and that it's time to give the binkies to the babies. Of course a trade was involved; if she could send her binkies away so that babies could use them she could choose a big-girl prize from the store. Ya right. Every time we'd talk about it she'd whimper and cry, then end up mad at the babies, shouting, "NO! THE BABIES. CAN'T. HAVE. MY. BINKIES!" Since we do want more babies, and I would like Jayci to like them, I decided that may not be the best way to go. She'd probably end up holding a grudge toward all babies.

Then I tried the whole 'binky fairy' thing. If she could put her binkies in a box and leave them on the porch, the binky fairy would come and trade the binkies with a big girl prize. That didn't work any better. She just ended up frustrated, sad, scared, possessive, and angry. I even took her to the toy aisle at Target and let her choose any toy she wanted for the fairy to bring. She looked and looked but wouldn't pick anything up. Nothing there was worth the trade I guess!

While we were at Target I saw my bishop's wife and told her what we were doing. She said her daughter also had her binky until she was two and a half and finally she just snipped them. This is what I did with Jack, but he was almost a year younger and just accepted it. He looked at it and said "oh-oh, it's broken" and got over it very quickly. I was afraid to do the same thing with Jayci because not only is she older than he was, her personality is so different than his. He's this laid back, easy going, sweet and gentle spirited boy while she's not so much. However, I knew there was no convincing her to give them up on her own, so yes, that is exactly what I came home and did. That very day. I made sure to do it when she was downstairs, and I put them back exactly where they were, really hoping she'd just accept that they were broken. Ha. Ha. The very first thing that came out of her mouth when she found them was "Why did you cut my binkies?!"

I searched the whole house and cleaned out the toys and still could only find two. Sure enough, three have turned up since. Two by me and one by Jayci. Somehow she just had one in her mouth in the middle of the night. I know she didn't go to bed with any so she must have found one in between her mattress and crib.

She cried her whole nap that first day and, poor Jesse, I had a meeting that first night so he was left to put her to bed. She cried for an hour before falling asleep but at least slept all night, something she's only done once since. I did promise her a big girl prize in return. As soon as she could fall asleep at night without crying we'd go to the store and she could choose something. As I said above, she did that after only 5 nights so on Tuesday during Jack's preschool, she and I went on a date to choose her prize.

Jayci with her big girl prizes: a kitty blanket and a my little pony she chose so she could "comb her pretty pink hair". She's kind of extreme on both ends of girlie and tom-boy. All she really wanted was a car (lightening Mcqueen) or Thomas the train, but I said no because we already have tons of both, so then she chose the girliest stuff there. Oh ya, she REALLY wanted this white "fur-real" cat, but it was $50!

Nap time and night time are the hardest. She has cried nearly her full nap time everyday and only twice has she fallen asleep (after an hour of crying). For me, that's the most difficult time since I am in the house and have to listen. Believe me, it takes about all of my will-power not to get her out and snuggle her. It's heart-wrenching to lay her down and hear the saddest whimpers as I leave, and then full out crying for 2 more hours. I know if I don't though, she'll probably stop napping.

On Wednesday (day 7) she cried her whole nap time and then fell asleep on my lap after I got her up. She slept for almost 2 hours in the lazy boy! Crying wears me out too.


And here's some more random pictures from this week.

Jayci wearing 4 tutus.


Jayci bending over in 4 tutus.