Binky free!

I think it is safe to declare that we are a pacifier free house! Jack hasn't been taking one for about a month now, so I've packed up most of his. Maddie has been preparing, much to her dismay, for this day for months. I knew we needed to break her of the habit but also didn't want to go through hell to make it happen. 

In August, I planted the seeds by telling her that because big girls don't use pacifiers, they would all break when she turned 3. And then every time she found a new pacifier that was fully intact, I would pop a small hole in the tip. She couldn't see it, but I could tell she knew they felt different. We could also start to see her internal struggle as we got closer to her bday. I had no intention of taking them away on her birthday, but two days later as we were putting her to bed, she told me that she was a big girl and didn't need the binky anymore. We'd heard this before but it never stuck. So I offered to take the binky and put it on the counter where she could see it. Luckily, she was tired enough that she managed to fall asleep without it! We were amazed! One nap turned into two, days turned into weeks, and here we are, 16 days later and she hasn't used one once since then! She's also stopped asking for it as much, and I don't think she's mentioned it at all this week. It's super handy that Jack quit using one as well bc she doesn't see him sucking on it and getting jealous. I had secretly hoped that we could convince her to get rid of it on her own, knowing it would be so much easier on everyone. This is one time where having such a strong willed little kid paid off!