The Binki's Are Dead

So, in my last post I explained that the dentist said we had to get rid of the binki's. And we've really been fighting that. And I know it's stupid - Ashton is 3 1/2 and still has a binki. But I just haven't been willing to do it. If you had ever told me that I would let a 3 1/2 year old have a binki, I would have laughed in your face. So, here I am eating my words. Julia told me that when Will turned 3 she got rid of his binki and he understood that it was time for it to go. I just haven't felt like Ashton was there yet.

I guess it has been a good crutch for me, and I haven't been willing to deal with what will happen when we get rid of it.

Reasons for Keeping the Binki
1) It's not worth the pain of getting rid of it
2) What 5 year old do you know of that has a binki? I don't know of any
3) He'll get rid of it when he's ready, right?
4) If I get rid of Ashton's I'll have to get rid of Emma's too, and I just don't think that is fair to her
5) I work from home two days a week, and count on Ashton napping so that I can work. No binki, no nap, no way

Well, the dentist said that it had to go, so we've been working up the courage to do so. On Friday, Ashton's last binki got a hole in it (at about 9:30 at night). I guess it was as good of night as any to get rid of the binki. So, we let it go. We didn't take away Emma's that night, but the next day (Saturday) I put them both down for a nap without a binki, and they took a nap. Ashton was pretty good, no real fights, he just asked for it and when I said no, he said "Ahhh". Emma cried for about five minutes and then went to sleep.

So, we have been binki free. But we have been nap free ever since Saturday. The last two days, Ashton has not taken a nap. And today, Mike broke out the broken binki for Emma to get her to go to sleep after an hour of playing in her crib without sleeping.

So, the binki's are gone, and things aren't perfect, but they aren't as bad as I thought. We'll live through it, that's the good news.