Today was the big day. We took all three boys to the mall, where we met George’s parents for lunch. (In eight years of knowing George, this is the first time I’ve eaten at a restaurant with his mom. She has celiac disease, but we went to PF Chang’s, where they have a gluten-free menu.) They were very nice there. The manager came to talk to us, partially because he has two year old twins. And right before we left, the host ran to the back and brought us this tiny gift bag with three ceramic good luck cats in it. So strangely thoughtful for a chain restaurant!
Anyhoo…after lunch (during which I had a sinking feeling in my stomach) we headed down to the Build-A-Bear store. After much dithering, the boys chose their bears. (At first, they all made beelines for the pink bears, but they ended up picking more, well, boyish bears.)
Miles was first up getting his bear stuffed. My tummy was doing flip-flops and when it came time for Miles to put his binky in the bear, I burst into tears. What a wuss. I don’t really know why I did, really. Is it because my babies are growing up? I don’t know, I think it’s because I feel sad and guilty for taking away something that gives them so much comfort.
Linus went next, with his bunny. He, like Miles, willingly put his binky in the bunny.
Oliver was last, and we let him put a binky in his bear too, just so he wouldn’t feel left out. After they were all sewn up, we found some cool Buzz Lightyear outfits for the animals, and we checked out.
I wanted to run to Gymboree for a second, so I took Oliver with me, while everyone else was going to hit the Apple store. But this was a bad, bad idea, because apparently when I left, Miles started freaking out, and didn’t stop until we got to the car. He desperately wanted his binky back, and kept screaming and sobbing “GET IT OUT!”
That was heartbreaking.
Anyway, we went to G&G’s house and dressed the animals in their new outfits, and everything was okay for a while. Eventually we left, leaving Oliver with G&G and taking Miles and Linus with us. I didn’t want Oliver to have to suffer through the screaming that might occur all night long, so we left him to be spoiled and coddled mercilessly.
The rest of the evening went okay. Miles and Linus were very crabby, but we didn’t put them down for a nap, and I think that contributed a lot to their mood.
We set up the “jumpy” in the backyard, but it only provided a few minutes of this, before the crankypants took over:
Before going to bed, Miles undressed his bear with the intention of getting the binky out, but I just explained again that he couldn’t get it out. Ugh.
Finally, we put them to bed, and, fingers crossed, there hasn’t been much screaming. I think they were just so exhausted. The big test will be to see if they sleep all the way through the night without waking up in search of their binkies…
pyjammy dot blog 
Kay
You’ve come a long way……….things will be fine…….just one bit of advice: DO NOT GIVE IN!………if you do, you will just have to do this all over again and that would be awful. Just keep praising them about what big boys they are and only “babies” have binkies. Good luck…(it will be worth it!)
Kay
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Lisa
I really hope tonight goes smoothly for you. I’m glad you have the monitor off, no reason to torture yourself. The boys will be fine, and they’ll never remember the battle for the binkies.
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Ann
hope everything is going well. dont worry, it is for their own good.
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Dodge34
Wish you the best luck, I guess 2-3 nights and they won’t even ask for it I remember a post that you wrote that they didn’t need binky at daycare at all so they don’t really need them anymore, maybe just a bad habit you kept at home for them, just explain to them that now they have their bear for comfort instead of baby binky.
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Amber
Good luck Mama! It’ll only be painful for a few nights 🙂
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amymarie
So brave! So dedicated! Way to go! I hope it all went well. You had a plan and went for it. The rest is just luck. As others have said, within a few days they will be over it. Now, go have some beers and cheer yourselves.
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Jessica Warrick
your children are adorable. i hope they do well without the binkies..
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Kristy
Oooohhhhh. I so dread this moment! After his sister was born JD went back to requiring his binky 24-7. I’ve had a hard enough time cutting it out during the day (there’s been some biting involved). I’m going to give him a couple more months of having it during sleep times and then take it away altogether (he just turned 2 a few weeks ago). Good luck and I’m very anxious to read how it’s going!
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emily
Please let me know if it works. I only have ONE almost three year old with the exact same pacifier addiction. His baby brother even taunts him by taking it and crawling away.
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Wendy
They can do it! It gets easier every day ❤
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Karrie
Great idea for getting rid of the paci. My husband’s grandfather has celiac disease as well. Its not something you hear of often.
Karrie (kmb7)
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