For Little Man’s first night without the binky, I left others to put him to bed. That’s right - I skipped out. But the report was good - not a single tear, no crying. Just repeating over and over, “binky sick.” Aw.

He woke up twice crying in the night, but both times he settled himself. The third time was close to when he usually wakes up, and by then he’d obviously hit his limit. So I went into his r00m and tried valiantly - yet unsuccessfully - to get him to sleep past 6. So here we are now, with a slightly sleep-deprived little boy who’s come to terms with the fact that binky days are behind us. And though we’ve only been up for an hour, he hasn’t asked for it once.

He did, however, announce to his dad that he slept with Thomas and Percy (his new comfort objects - yes, the wooden ones, from the train table - not ‘comfy’ per se, but their presence apparently soothes him).  Well, to clarify, he’s been sleeping with them for a month now - from his 2nd birthday when he got the train table, he hasn’t gone to bed without a train in each hand. But I guess now that the binky is gone, the role of the trains has grown exponentially.

Little Man turned 2 a month ago. And over the summer we were very successful with binky limitations - binky stayed in the crib, and was only used for sleep. But then he got a big-boy bed and confining binky to sleeping quarters was no longer successful. It’s gotten to the point where he must have one in his mouth at all times, and one in his hand. For a while he needed 3 - one for the mouth and one for each hand.

I asked his preschool teacher today if he uses it there. I take it away from him in the car and put it in his preschool bag. She said it never leaves the bag. All day. Even when he gets sleepy - he goes to his mat, lies down all on his very own, and goes to sleep. Without it. Eureka! He doesn’t even need it to sleep!

So the wheels started turning. After I picked him up from preschool today, I came home and snipped the tips off all his binkies. Then I told him that his binkies all got old and sick (I’m sure there are a multitude of problems with that statement, but on the spur of the moment, it was the best I could muster). He can still have them if he wants though! (I said with a smile.) He cried. He cried “Binky sick!” And lied down in his bed and cried great big tears. And I let him cry. Then I went back and rocked him and sang to him. Now, his room is quiet. He’s not sleeping, but he’s also not mourning the binky epidemic. I keep hoping he’ll fall asleep.

While naptime will be manageable regardless, I’m not sure how tonight will go. I’m afraid I’ll have an urge around midnight to run to WalMart and pick up a lifetime supply of not-sick binkies. But maybe, if we can get through today and tonight binky-free, it’ll all start getting easier.

Watch out, binkies of the world. Mama’s on a mission.