Brock Vs. Binky (Round 1)

So for some crazy delusional reason way back in February, we decided that we should take Brock's binky away. Crazy, I know. I started taking Brocks binky away during the day and only giving it to him at nap/bed times. He turned into a totally different boy. He was clingy. He was insecure. He would hold onto my leg and cry and cry until I picked him up. he would demand to be in my arms at all times. He even would put his hands on my face and turn my head to look at him so that the focus was always on him. He would sleep in our bed every night. He would beg and plead and cry and tantrum for his binky during the day. He would do it in such a way that it would break my heart. The only time that he would stop being so clingy and insecure was when I would give him his binky. If he had is binky he would go off and play and wouldn't cling to me as much. He has always been a Momma's boy but this was extreme and I was having a hard time getting anything done. My sanity had gone out the window at this point and I was desperate for a change in his behavior. I missed my cute little boy, with the big blue twinkly eyes and the killer smile. That child was gone and in his place was a clingy, sad, demanding monster child. So I decided that the Binky just needed to disappear completely. The plan was to take the binky away cold turkey, let him freak out for a few days and then he would get over it and move on. That WAS the plan anyway, until it went spiraling out of control. Things went from bad to horrible.

Brock refused to sleep. It took him hours and hours to fall asleep that night,(on top of me and in my bed) only to wake up a few hours later and cry and beg for his O.D.(his made up word for his binky) The next day totally sleep deprived and grumpy, I was determined that I was not going to get him out of his crib. He was GOING to nap in his crib. After crying for about 20 minutes, he learned how to climb out of his crib, and would climb/fall out every single time I put him back in. He didn't nap that day. That night was just as bad with Brock sleeping right on top of me for most of the night and waking up for hours at a time and crying and crying for his O.D.

The next few days were the same, with Brock not sleeping and climbing out of his crib. I decided to turn his bed into a toddler bed....no luck he still didn't want to sleep in it. In fact I walked in on him standing up asleep next to his crib. Poor baby!



My hope was that he would eventually from an attachment to a stuffed animal and that it would replace his binky and we could get our life back to normal. Ha! There I go making plans that don't work again. He has been in love with Elmo and Cookie Monster for the past few months. He got a stuffed Elmo and Cookie Monster for Christmas in the hope that he might form a strong attachment to one of them. He does love them but not as much as his beloved O.D.. I tried and tried to get him to cuddle with them at night and the more that I pushed them on him the more he refused them. Stubborn child!


My Mom went out and bought him this monkey(named OO-OO) and this tiger. We made a big deal over them. Trying to convince him that they were the coolest thing in the world, but as you can see from the picture he wasn't to convinced.
He liked them some, and he would even play with them but NOTHING was as good as his binky.





So after two weeks of me trying everything I could think of to help Brock with the transition. Two weeks of tears. Two weeks of tantrums. Two weeks of no sleep. Two weeks of H-E-L-L. I caved. I gave him his O.D. back and he is the happiest boy on the planet!

He gets so excited to go to sleep now because he gets his O.D. only when he "Sleepy's". I will tell him that it is time to go to sleep and he jumps to find his blanket and then says, " O.D.! Bed! Music!" and usually beats me up the stairs and into his bed. After his nap he very willingly leaves his binky in his bed and for the most part is pretty good to leave it there until bed time again.

So in the first round of Brock Vs. Binky, Brock won. He was the most stubborn, and I needed my sanity too much. We will try for round 2 soon. I hope to be the victor and have that darn binky gone! Any tips on how to accomplish this would be greatly appreciated!!