It started out so innocently…he cried and we needed a quick fix of peace and quiet so the binky pushing began.
Unlike the other boys, he actually took to the pacifier. It was pure heaven at first, but then he needed more, more, more.
More binkies.
More pacifier time.
More urgent cravings.
It was an ugly out of control spiral…
We had a binky intervention…twice. There are even family members who refuse to associate with him when he is using.
Tough love.
Tough times.
Tough side effects.
At one point I began strict pacifier rehab. He resisted treatment. I caught him stealing moments with his binky. I saw him sneaking hits. I saw him hiding the evidence.
He had to shake this habit before it ruined his life.
Ruined his life?
It isn’t like his drug of choice is illegal…
At that point we cut him a little slack.
Enablers.
At that point we decided to ignore the problem and hope it goes away.
Denial.
That was several months ago. We have given Rhett free and unfettered access to a never-ending supply of pacifiers. Slowly the pacifiers have been wearing out. Slowly the highs haven’t been as high.
Tonight as Rhett went up to take a bath blog-Stedman asked him if he wanted to take his binkies upstairs while holding out a handful of pacifiers.
Rhett turned and said “no”.
I asked him during his bath why he didn’t want his binkies.
He said “because I am not a baby”.
And he went to bed cold turkey.
He woke up about 45 minutes later shaking from withdrawal, but his resolve was firm. I am scooping him up and taking him to my bed.
This could be a rough night, but it is the first step…I have mentioned a few hundred times that Rhett(3) has had a bit of an addiction. He could be the poster boy for Pacifiers Anonymous (PA).
It started out so innocently…he cried and we needed a quick fix of peace and quiet so the binky pushing began.
Unlike the other boys, he actually took to the pacifier. It was pure heaven at first, but then he needed more, more, more.
More binkies.
More pacifier time.
More urgent cravings.
It was an ugly out of control spiral…
We had a binky intervention…twice. There are even family members who refuse to associate with him when he is using.
Tough love.
Tough times.
Tough side effects.
At one point I began strict pacifier rehab. He resisted treatment. I caught him stealing moments with his binky. I saw him sneaking hits. I saw him hiding the evidence.
He had to shake this habit before it ruined his life.
Ruined his life?
It isn’t like his drug of choice is illegal…
At that point we cut him a little slack.
Enablers.
At that point we decided to ignore the problem and hope it goes away.
Denial.
That was several months ago. We have given Rhett free and unfettered access to a never-ending supply of pacifiers. Slowly the pacifiers have been wearing out. Slowly the highs haven’t been as high.
Tonight as Rhett went up to take a bath blog-Stedman asked him if he wanted to take his binkies upstairs while holding out a handful of pacifiers.
Rhett turned and said “no”.
I asked him during his bath why he didn’t want his binkies.
He said “because I am not a baby”.
And he went to bed cold turkey.
He woke up about 45 minutes later shaking from withdrawal, but his resolve was firm. I am scooping him up and taking him to my bed.
This could be a rough night, but it is the first step…
It started out so innocently…he cried and we needed a quick fix of peace and quiet so the binky pushing began.
Unlike the other boys, he actually took to the pacifier. It was pure heaven at first, but then he needed more, more, more.
More binkies.
More pacifier time.
More urgent cravings.
It was an ugly out of control spiral…
We had a binky intervention…twice. There are even family members who refuse to associate with him when he is using.
Tough love.
Tough times.
Tough side effects.
At one point I began strict pacifier rehab. He resisted treatment. I caught him stealing moments with his binky. I saw him sneaking hits. I saw him hiding the evidence.
He had to shake this habit before it ruined his life.
Ruined his life?
It isn’t like his drug of choice is illegal…
At that point we cut him a little slack.
Enablers.
At that point we decided to ignore the problem and hope it goes away.
Denial.
That was several months ago. We have given Rhett free and unfettered access to a never-ending supply of pacifiers. Slowly the pacifiers have been wearing out. Slowly the highs haven’t been as high.
Tonight as Rhett went up to take a bath blog-Stedman asked him if he wanted to take his binkies upstairs while holding out a handful of pacifiers.
Rhett turned and said “no”.
I asked him during his bath why he didn’t want his binkies.
He said “because I am not a baby”.
And he went to bed cold turkey.
He woke up about 45 minutes later shaking from withdrawal, but his resolve was firm. I am scooping him up and taking him to my bed.
This could be a rough night, but it is the first step…
Buy his pinky for $1, then when he wants it say remember Mommy bought it and then get his mind off of it. If he has 11 binky’s, buy them each time you see him use one and trade evenly binky for a dollar. When you’ve bought up all the binky’s let him go shopping. It worked on my niece. I hope that works for you and him.
Yay! What a HYUGE step. MP was big into the Nuk too, but once she was done, that was it. Hard to believe that was two years ago — it’s never come up once since the day she kicked the nip.
Sheri and George took my joke, but that’s what I get for getting here late. I was gonna say something about going from one vice to another.
dang.
– Margaret
My boy used pacifiers, and my girl didn’t (though I wished, hard, that she would). Good luck with this! Hope the shakes end soon. 😉
Wait, am I not suppozthed to be ththucking thith thing?!
This is one of the best posts I have read in a long time. Thank you for sharing it. I gotta stumble this. “You Go Girl!’…really that was funny and very entertaining. It just highlights to fun of being a mom and sharing cute little stories like these
Wow, this story just made my day. Binky withdrawal. Cold turkey. Such a great take on a subject that is so close to many 🙂
I have a just turned 3 paci addict, too. We’re doing okay in weaning him but he has some secret stash someplace and every so often we’ll realize Hey! Si has a juju!
What a sweet big boy!
Keep up the hard work. That is very grown-up of your son to make that decision!
Great post!! I hope going cold turkey isn’t too tough on him (or you for that matter), but it’s really the only way to go with things like this!