Binky fairy

I had read a few blogs of friends that had the binky fairy come visit their daughters. All were just a few months older than Blakely, so it gave me the boost I needed to get going on it. I have literally talked about getting rid of her binky since she was 6months old. I have been convinced for quite some time that she would sleep better without it. However, I was always too afraid to bite the bullet and get rid of it.

I fully expected an all out war with Blakely on it. I just knew there would be a minimum of a few sleepless nights and many more tear filled days and especially naps. I assumed her early waking would go to even earlier for at least a little while until she settled into life without binky. I was so pleasantly surprised to be wrong!

We decided a couple of months ago that we would get through our holiday travels and then get to work on getting rid of the binky. So on our way home from okc last week we started talking about the binky fairy and how she visited big girls and took their binkies to babies that needed them and she replaced it with a fun surprise for them to sleep with instead of the binky. So two days after we got back I ran to target and bought a cabbage patch baby- that ironically came with a bottle and a binky (we disposed of the binky...) and man those dolls are expensive! Stephen and Blakely put her binky under the blanket for the binky fairy to find it and while they were brushing their teeth for bed, the binky fairy had a REALLY hard time getting that silly cabbage patch doll out of the package... After two pairs of scissors and finally a knife, the binky fairy freed the dolly and ran upstairs to replace the binky. :) Blakely was very excited and seemed to understand what was happening. Stephen put her to bed as usual, she asked where her binky was and he reminded her, and we sat on the couch staring at the monitor waiting for the wrath to be unleashed. She cried for about 30 seconds and then was asleep until 3am. Stephen went in and covered her up (she always squirms out of her blankets) and she was back asleep before he left the room and slept until 6:30. What? 6:30? That's right. 6:30. And sweet little Henry was up at 5:45. :) can't catch a break around here!!!

Back to Blakely. She asks for it each time she goes to bed, but accepts our response without a fight and then at the worst, talks to herself for 15 minutes and goes to sleep. It was as I suspected all along. She sleeps better and more soundly without it. When she wakes up for a moment she isn't groping around trying to find her binky and she is able to go back to sleep more quickly. At first I wondered if we should have gotten rid of it a long time ago, but like the potty training thing, I really think she was just ready and that's why it happened to be so easy. I also just think we got lucky.

I am still not convinced we are out of the woods. I'm not going to assume the battle is over for at least another few weeks. But until then I am going to celebrate each time she falls asleep without her binky!