We are just about two months away from Emma’s first
birthday, an exciting and scary time all at once. We are approaching the point when
I imagined we would start some serious bottle weaning. We have already
introduced the sippy cup and I feel like Emma associates bottles with formula
and since we are nearing our switch over to whole milk (organic) I wanted to
kind of get rid of both in one fell swoop. Since introducing the sippy cup,
Emma has already started to show disinterest in her bottle, which is good and
bad since I am still trying to make sure she still gets the proper amount of
formula. But, I have a feeling that the bottle/ formula weaning is in the bag!
Or at least I am crossing my fingers for an easy transition.
What I am starting to worry about now is her binki. I
figured at the one year mark I might just go rouge and eliminate bottle AND
binki but as the days go by I am slowly realizing that we might be in for a
more difficult binki weaning situation than I thought. You see ever since she
was small, she was never super attached to her binki. She would take one every
now and again, mostly to sleep. This rare binki usage had been a time honored
tradition until a few months ago when Emma started getting sick a lot. The
bniki became a comfort thing for her. So now, instead of only reaching for it
before naps and bedtime, she pops one in her mouth almost every chance she
gets. Often times there will be a spare one in her play yard or in her room
somewhere and she gravitates toward it like white on rice. She even knows to
turn it around if she puts it in upside down. My concern is growing as well
because she has finally began to start talking and loves to babble away, but
with the binki in her mouth…well she can’t talk, or at least can’t talk well
and I want her to be able to express herself without a hunk of plastic in her mouth.
I am going to remain somewhat lax on this one for right now,
but I would really like to rip this Band-Aid off sooner rather than later. I
would love to hear when you got your baby off the binki. How did you do it?
Cold turkey? One day at a time? Substitute a lovie? Lookin for some insight!
Thanks!
Ugh. Yes. In the hospital we swore we wouldn't do it. And then... it let us sleep. And soon we were practically buying them by the pallet so we'd always have one handy.
ReplyDeleteWe waited until Doug was about 18ish months. We waited until he was mostly through with teething (and yes, we went out and bought ALL new ones approved for teething). We wanted him to have that comfort through that time.
First we just went around and picked up all the spares. He had them stashed everywhere. We limited them to his car seat and sleeping. I did still have an emergency one in my purse. And they just weren't available during the day and then one day we just went cold turkey. I think I bought him a new toy to distract himself, but honestly, it was hardest on me, losing that crutch to soothe him with. I don't think he ever looked for it. It was easier because he never had a name for it. My brother had a name for it and it was hell getting him off of it.
I don't think there needs to be a certain time for it, but when Emma's at a good stage it can be slowly weaned away.
Yeah I think we will narrow it down to bedtime and then go from there. I think part of it is me too. I definitely am not sure what I will do when I don't have it to give her to comfort her. She does have a blankie lovie which I don't mind her hanging on to until college :)
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