There comes a time in the life of our little ones where it's time for them to part ways with one of the things that is most dear to them: their binky. Or in Emma's case, as she calls it, her "boppy". Now, to most people a boppy is a nursing pillow, but here in our home a boppy is her pacifier
and her beloved blanket. Her blanket
used to be referred to as "poppy", however, somewhere along the way she merged the two into one all inclusive title. Now we are always left scratching our heads and wondering which boppy it is that she wants.
Em is very, very, very attached to her boppy. We had no idea how attached to a boppy a kid could be until we met Em. We thought Grace was attached to her binky. Not compared to Em. She is going to be much, much harder to break of this boppy habit, as is clearly evident in the pictures below.
Tuesdays and Thursdays are my least favorite days of the week. I absolutely loath preschool mornings. This former teacher has not enjoyed having two days of our week start out crummy and feel rushed. I cannot imagine how people do this everyday of the week, nor can I imagine feeling like this everyday of the week for the like next gazillion years, but that is a blog post for another time. The only good thing about preschool days is that it gives Em and I some one on one time, which is why today seemed like it would be a good day to implement Mission: Boppy Jar.
We found this approach to be very effective with Princess Grace and are hoping that it works just as well for The Divine Miss Em. We saved a plastic mayonnaise jar for just this occasion. Once it's all cleaned up (via the dishwasher) we sit down and talk about how they are big girls and big girls don't use boppies (binkies, whatever you call it) and how we are going to start only using a boppy at naptime and bedtime. They then get to decorate their jar anyway their hearts desire. We use stickers since it's the easiest and does not require drying time, but you could use markers or paint along with any other fun craft item that sparks your little ones interest.
I gave the jar and stickers to Emma and she got right down to the business, asking every now and again for help with a certain sticker.
Em's fabulous boppy jar!
She is very proud of the jar that she created and is off to a good start so far. Here's to hoping that she willingly puts boppy in the jar at the end of naptime. I'll be sure to keep you posted!
I never had to deal with it. Which was totally unfair, because my Mama had four babies who sucked their thumb, and none of the grandbabies did!! (or took to pacifiers.) Go figure!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I'm sure she'll feel better putting it away knowing that it has a nice home :) I'll have to remember this trick for when I'm a mom!
ReplyDeleteStephanie, you are so lucky you never had to deal with it! For as much as we wanted them to choose a binky over thumb sucking, it is a pain to have to get them to stop using either one! Thankfully, the jar does seem to help.
ReplyDeleteHannah, you are going to be such an amazing mom someday! When you become a Mom I will be happy to share with you all sorts of hints and tips!
I do believe that she loves that it has a home of it's own! Grace did not really totally give hers up till right around age three, which I know is way longer than most docs would like but oh well, so I think we have awhile longer with Em until it's really gone too. But hey, it's a start! :)
Marlin was my only binky girl. She kept getting thrush even if we bough a new binky. She was just susceptible to hat in her mouth I guess. So we had to take it away, and it SUCKED! I think I may have cried through the whole three days of badness, but then she was fine, until we saw a kid at a park with one and she tried to steal it..
ReplyDeleteBut all was well and life went on, but at the time it was such a big deal and part of me just wanted to give it back. If it wasn't for the horrible meds, I swear I would have. Good luck for a an easy break of the binky, or boppy in your case. I do love to watch there little cheeks puff in and out though. Awww...
Thrush is the worst! Grace had it as a newborn and I ended up with it too. Thankfully I was on this magical, prescription only ointment that made it so we did not keep passing it back and forth. Of course it probably helped too that nursing did not really work out for us in the end. That stuff is so hard to erradicate! We ruined so many onesies and bibs due to the nystatin that she was on like three times a day! Ah, such memories! Glad that it was only three days of badness for Marlin when it came to getting rid of her binky. I agree, there is something so sweet about watching their little cheeks puff in and out.
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