Austin is 2 years and 5 months old.
I've desperately wanted to wean him off the Binky (otherwise known as Bink) since he turned 2. He was only getting the Bink during nap time and bed time to help him sooth into sleep.
I wasn't sure how to wean him and have read many articles on the "Binky Fairy" and having the toddler watch the garbage men haul it off. The question was: Would that work with him?
Then, last Friday night I noticed he had chewed off the nipple of his Soothie (Bink) and it was hanging by a small piece presenting a perfect chocking hazard. Great. I then ripped off the nipple, stuck it in my pocket and told Austin, "Bink went bye-bye. He had to go to another baby." "Bink go bye-bye?" "Yes, Bink went bye-bye."
I gave him the handle to hold on to.
He fell asleep.
The next night we went through our usual routine, I went to place him in his crib and all hell broke loose. He wanted Bink. I gave him the handle and again explained how Bink had to go bye-bye. He cried and cried.
He continued to cry off and on for about 3 hours.
It sucked.
He finally fell asleep.
The next night we had the same issue and again, he didn't fall asleep for 3 hours.
And he wasn't napping. So the days were extremely long.
I finally went to Pharmaca and asked if there were herbs that would help sooth him through this transition. I was not going to be able to handle another night of 3 hours of crying. The naturopath on-site highly recommended WishGarden Sleepy Time For Kids. I read on the bottle that it was safe for over age 1. Bought and paid, I went home.
We did the routine, gave him 1 dropper full while in the bath then 20 minutes later right before putting him down he had another dropper full. He went into his crib, without the handle of the binky and settled himself into sleep. He did wake up 3 hours later and had to be soothed a rocked for a few minutes before going back into his crib, but he did.
The next night I have him 1 dropper full. Same thing, he went to sleep with no problem but woke up 4 hours later and this time I let him work it out. He fell back asleep in 15 minutes.
Long story short - Austin has been Bink free all week. It seems we have weaned off the Bink with a little help from herbs. The tincture (herbs) doesn't knock him out but calms him and it seems to work perfectly. I will definitely keep on hand for future sleep issues.
2 comments:
Ha! I just started writing a post about binky woes with Munchkin!
I took Midget off cold-turkey and told her that zombies ate her binkies. It took about three or four days of hella crying at bedtime before she finally adjusted. Not sure of how Munchkin is going to handle the transition; might look into that stuff you mentioned...
Good luck!
I knew Austin would protest for at least a couple of nights. I would say the WishGarden stuff is awesome mainly because it's just calming. I was afraid it would "drug" him and make him groggy but it doesn't work that way since it's herbal. And it may not work for every child, but it's worth a try! :)
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