This past weekend, we had our second visit from a fairy for Abbers. This time, it was the Binkie Fairy. (The Bottle Fairy made an appearance a little while ago.)
This is something we’ve been discussing for a while. It was more difficult of a decision to make than the bottles. This (aside from diapers which I will not miss at all) felt like her last tie to babyhood. She still used it for naps, bedtime, car rides and general soothing. And MY GOD did it ever work. With her binkie and blankie both in use, her eyes would almost just shut in a Pavlovian response, unable to stay open. It made her so happy.
However, she’s getting to the age where I just didn’t want to see her tied to the binkie anymore. God forbid we leave the house without one (and it happened on occasion) and it’s meltdown city. Not to mention, she more times than not just held it in her mouth like a cigar, and one of her front teeth is showing the real damage – it’s crooked and seems like it just isn’t coming in all the way.
The stogie hold. She's got it down to a science.
The crooked tooth. "Shrek teeth" as Uncle Ernie calls them.
So the decision was made. Again, we would plan it for a Friday night. (You know, so we could potentially not sleep all weekend while she cried a sadly, lonely cry for her “binkie-bink.”) We could collect all the binkies from the house, and put them in a bag. This time leaving them at the back door. Then, in the middle of the night, the Binkie Fairy would come and collect all the binkies to give to new babies who needed them (totally gross and not hygienic at all) and in turn, she would leave a present for Abby. Or he. Who am I to judge.
The binks, the balloons from the Binkie Fairy and leaving it by the back door.
The hubs and I decided this gift needed to be huge. This is a big deal and probably difficult to give up cold turkey, so it needed to be something she couldn’t just throw at us yelling “GIVE ME MY BINKIE-BINK! I DON’T LIKE ANYTHING!” With spring in full bloom and only an empty, unused dog kennel as a totally unsafe plaything in the backyard, we opted for a playhouse. And then grabbed a slide as a second gift.
When settling in for the night, she did pretty well. She was exhausted, so it went much easier than expected, although right before falling asleep, she was pretty much crying, saying “I don’t want any presents! I want binkie-bink!” Like I said though, fell asleep anyway.
The next morning, the first words out of her mouth were “I don’t want presents.” Typical. So, the hubs and I took turns getting up and arranging things in a pretty manner, and then I came into our bedroom, where Abby and the hubs were laying.
“Abby – I just looked. The binkie fairy came. You’re going to be so excited!”
She finally got up, and saw a couple smaller things we got her, a bubble gun and a new box of Aden + Anais swaddle blankets – her blankie of choice. Then we showed her outside. She went down the steps in her little pajamas yelling “A PLAYHOUSE! SHE BROUGHT ME A PLAYHOUSE!” SO stoked.
The happy lady. If you look hard enough you can see our neighbors dried up Christmas tree.
We spent the morning putting everything together. And spent the whole weekend binkie free. She struggles at nighttime, naptime, or when she’s exhausted and wants to soothe herself. She gets by though.
I consider us lucky. She’s getting a cold, and this is usually when she wants it the most, but she’s been okay. I know not everyone will have the same, low-key results we did. (We still hear “I don’t WANT my clubhouse, momma. I don’t want ANYTHING!” on occasion. So we’re not whine-free.)
Best decision we’ve made in a while.
Has anyone else tried this tactic? I would love to hear more results! Or let me know if you decide to try this!
