Tonight, for the first time in her life, Juliette went to sleep without her binky (pacifier, dummy, etc). For the last few weeks, I have noticed that she spits it out at some point thought the night, and she relinquishes it in the morning without any fuss. Most mornings, I do not have to ask her to give it up; she leaves it on her pillow. So tonight, rather on the spur of the moment, I told her that she is a big girl now and does not need to sleep with a binky. After an initial spate of crying, she relented - but only on the promise that I would lie down with her. After fifteen minutes of trying to suck her thumb and failing to find it an adequate replacement, she fell asleep. She occasionally made a weird sucking noise and mumbled about Ilsa needing to be quiet, but otherwise her sleep seems sound.
What she does not realize is that I intend the change to be permanent. Her two remaining binkies are sad, sad, sad pieces of worn out, cracked, nasty plastic. She has had the same two since she was 18 months old. When we tried to get her onto new ones, seeing that the two we had would not last forever, she spit them out and called them "Ilsa's." Evenflo stopped making this particular kind earlier that same year, so replacements have never been an option. We have known for years that when these two eventually wore out, she was done. I just decided to press the point a little early.
In exchange, however, I have decided that she no longer needs to take naps. She will lie in bed with books for an hour, but I will not require that she lies there in the hopes of some now-mythic midday sleep. I told her she is becoming a big girl - maybe this will show her that being big has compensating perks.
What she does not realize is that I intend the change to be permanent. Her two remaining binkies are sad, sad, sad pieces of worn out, cracked, nasty plastic. She has had the same two since she was 18 months old. When we tried to get her onto new ones, seeing that the two we had would not last forever, she spit them out and called them "Ilsa's." Evenflo stopped making this particular kind earlier that same year, so replacements have never been an option. We have known for years that when these two eventually wore out, she was done. I just decided to press the point a little early.
In exchange, however, I have decided that she no longer needs to take naps. She will lie in bed with books for an hour, but I will not require that she lies there in the hopes of some now-mythic midday sleep. I told her she is becoming a big girl - maybe this will show her that being big has compensating perks.
1 comments:
Careful with that thumb/finger sucking, there be danger down that path.
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