Phasing out the Binky

Late last week, we decided it was time for Annika to be weaned from her Binky habit. That thing is like crack to her at times and it making it difficult for us to always understand what she's saying. Our approach is to start out with the binky only when she's sleeping and then not at all; out timeline is to get this done long before the baby arrives, so she doesn't think he's stealing her binky. On Saturday, we had a few meltdowns that were prompted by us not giving her a binky when it was requested. It really does take a lot of willpower on our part not to give in, but we know it is the right thing to do. Yesterday, we had fewer tears over the binky and found that the promise of a binky made going to bed a bit of a smoother process. During mass yesterday, Annika was more of a handful than normal - very wiggly and there were two occasions that I ushered her out to the outer area until she could pull herself together. Previously, I would have given her a binky and she would have calmed down almost immediately. This is truly a lesson in patience and perseverance for all of us. Fortunately, Annika's day care only gives her a binky at nap time, so I think that will ease our transition at home. Fingers are crossed!