Is it time to say good-bye to baby? Whether you call them binkies, pacifiers, nooks or soothers, when is it really time to just dump them in the trash? I can state decisively right now that if your child is riding his/her bike and you're asking yourself this question; you've waited too long. And if your kid can climb up the playground ladders and slide down the slide on his/her own; again you've waited too long... and if your child has done both at the same time (riden his/her bike to the playground & played independently all while sucking on an oversized pacifier), it was probably me who was looking at you funny.
I hadn't really thought much about when to wean Joshua of his binky. And to be entirely upfront, Joshua doesn't just have one binky. He prefers three. One for his mouth and two for his hands. And then to be entirely gloating, we have already drawn the line at the crib and I'm happy to report that Joshua will most often even leave his binkies in there after sleepy time and/or throw them back into the crib after his diaper change. I think we have the binky thing under control. My mom-instincts (i.e. the voice that says, "It worked with the first one, it'll probably work with this one too.") tell me that we can wait until Joshua is a little bit older, say birthday #2, he'll drop one binky into the trash as a symbolic gesture and we'll never hear about them again. So then why am I starting to get so worried even though the day-of-truth is still four months away?
And what about this new trend? I hear moms are weaning their kids of binkies at 3-4 months! Now what's the point of a binky if you can't hush up a screaming six month old? And do they really want to face the I'm-a-manipulative-10-month-old (my child psych class taught me that at 10 months children do indeed learn to be manipulative) -who-cries-until-you-get-into-the-room-and-then-smiles-only-to-whail-again-when-you-leave without a binky?. What about the three hour nap? Isn't that only made possible by binkies? When I think of all of the grocery store trips where a binky came in handy; of all the times we had forgotten a binky and WISHED we hadn't... and to think these well intentioned moms are weaning so soon! Hmmmm... I'm forgetting something aren't I... the baby's benefit perhaps. Maybe there are psychological benefits to babies who are weaned of binkies at earlier ages. Maybe they're less likely to suck their thumbs? But herein lies a quandary... what if when they are deprived of a binky they actually become compelled to suck their thumbs... ooh. I just couldn't take that risk.
So apparently I've already waited about 14 months too long. So what's another 4? And I don't even have to worry about what other moms think because at least my kid riding a bike while sucking on a binky! He's enjoying his little baby-addiction in the comfort of his own crib... while drinking his bottle ("ba ba") of warm milk. Now can't we just enjoy our babies for a little bit longer and let them keep their binkies and bottles? What is the rush to saying bye-bye baby anyway?
I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Henry still uses his "fwah" (he decided that was it's name on his own and we kind of like it) pretty much only at bedtime. He's 19 months old. We still give him bottles at bedtime too, and in the car, to avoid messes. I think at this point I have to wait until he can understand the concept of throwing it away himself and remember that. --Annie
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