Bye-Bye, Binkies!

She looks really happy, right?  That's because she has no idea what is about to happen.  Not really.  A while ago, we decided that Penny was old enough to get rid of her binkies.  For the longest time she only had them in bed but we figured if we didn't do it now, it would just get harder to wean her.

We rounded them all up and put them in a little bag that she decorated with stickers.  She was so excited!  Then we went out to the mailbox so we could send them to the binky fairy.  Turns out the fairy takes binkies from big girls and takes them to little babies who need binkies.  Sounds so gross and unsanitary (plus it's a lie) but it seemed like a good story at the time. 

A few hours later we went back out and she found her prizes from the binky fairy.  A little barbie girl, some princess stickers, and a shiny pin wheel.  She was so happy and excited.  She wanted to sleep with her new doll that night. We tucked her in bed with her favorite blanket, bear and new doll and sang her a song.  She smiled and then when we were ready to leave the room, she got a confused look on her face and said, "Binky?"

Ummmm....weren't you there for the last 5 hours when we were doing this? You got the doll.  The binkies are gone.  She was so so so sad.  She cried and cried and there was nothing we could do to comfort her (besides give in and give her the binkies back, which trust me, I thought about it).  She cried for over 2 hours and it was heart-breaking.  I went in after 2 hours because she was not breathing right because of all her crying.  Once she calmed down, she fell asleep.  So sad.  The next few weeks were rough.  She didn't cry a ton, but she didn't love bed time like she always had. 

Eventually, it passed and she's a happy little sleeper again. Hallelujer!  So we're binky free for a few months until the next one comes and we force them into a binky addiction.