Topics to Talk About Today (along with my list of the best documentaries).

I agree with the other comments- I was worried that the binkie was interfering with my son’s speech development, but he LOVED it. One day he went down for a nap without one so I decided on a whim to quit cold turkey. I thought it would be terrible but after a day he hardly noticed. He was 18 months so it might take a bit longer for Skye since she’s a little older, but it hopefully will be easier than you think! I also know someone who took all binkies away except one, then had a party where they tied that one to a helium balloon and let it float away and gave a stuffed animal instead. Good luck!

We got rid of the soother a few weeks before planned with my son who is now Brooke and Knox’s age. I’m not sure I’d say this is the best method but it totally worked. It’s the accidental cold turkey method.

Baby boy loved a certain type of soother that came in pale blue or green. We had 6 of them because they’d blend into our furniture and get lost all the time. I swear we spent half our day trying to find and clean soothers. One day I was home alone with him and couldn’t find a soother. He had an EPIC 45 minute tantrum. It was truly terrible. I didn’t want to put anyone (baby included) through that fit again so we stopped giving him soothers right then and there. When he went for his nap, I searched the house, found all 6 soothers and hid them away. After the mega tantrum it was about 2 days before he adjusted to naps and bedtime without his soother.

That picture of Knox and Skye is precious! And Brooke playing tennis?! How is it she looks pro already?!

I’m a fan of cold turkey (easier said than done) None of my kiddos had a binky but #2 had a bottle and we did cold turkey on that one. Was it hard? yes, but better than dragging it out forever. I think maybe one day run a bunch of errands and happen to forget it? Or maybe you can bag them up for and “send them” for all the new babies? It might be better to conquer this sooner than later because boy would it be difficult to do with a new baby in the house. Sending you ALL the mama/family vibes. Skye is so active that maybe you could also start with “no binky while running/riding/walking/swimming” and she’ll be too busy to remember it?

Favorite part of summer? Shady runs ;) Outdoor pools, popsicles, lighter later, and the general vibe.

Now I need to make cowboy cookies…….yummers

We only used the binky for car rides and sleep. We took it away for car rides first and then for sleep telling our 2 year old that she was a big girl and the binky is for babies. She did awesome! Good luck

We did the same as Ashley… Cut a little whole in them, then the boys ended up throwing them away on their own. When they would ask for their binkies, we would just say, “they’re broken bud”. It worked well. There of course we’re some tears, but nothing too bad at all.
I love Skye’s face in her new suit! She has such personality!
It’s going to be fun for us to see how Brooke likes tennis. What a great sport for kids.
Thanks for the list of documentaries. There are a few that I need to watch soon!
I so need to try Wikibuy!
Have a great Tuesday!

My oldest was a binky baby and at 6 months old he got a cold and couldn’t suck on it and breath at the same time so we took it from him then and just provided that much more hugs and cuddles to get through both traumatic experiences. My friend’s oldest was a binky baby and she ended up cutting the tip off a little bit at a time until there was nothing left.
My rec’s for movies from Amazon Prime: Desert Runners, Boston and Running for Good.
I really need to step up my online shopping game since I mostly buy from Amazon, Old Navy and Running Warehouse!
Favorite part about summer are long days at the beach, tan lines, the smell of sunscreen, warmer morning runs, seeing family and vacations. Ok, so I guess I just love everything summer!
Have a great day!

Both of my kids used pacifiers. We started trying to get rid of them with only using them at nap and bedtime, and after a while just kind of started talking to them about how it was time to sleep without them. It took a while, but when we finally stopped they were in on the decision and knew it was coming. I just couldn’t all of a sudden take it away from them.

Thank you for the list of documentaries and the wikibuy suggestions! I love finding good running documentaries and my husband and I love the ones on ESPN(30 for 30 is a favorite!). We just watched the one on McGwire/Sosa’s homerun record season.

I shop at Amazon, Etsy, Loft, and currently stalking Senita(will they ever restock, lol?) online.

I’ve read three of the four memoirs you mentioned(I’ll have to add Full Circle to my cart today)! Loved them all. You have to read Deena Kastor’s if you haven’t! I’m a high school librarian so I’m also reading some YA this summer.

My favorite part of summer is the long days–love that is still light out at 8PM!

Binky’s are so much easier to phase out than a thumb! Around age 2, we kept one binky for bed/naptime. It didn’t take long for it to get lost on its own. Good luck!
Following up on Andrew’s training…what was his weekly base mileage before he started training for St. Georges?

Getting rid of the pacifier is so hard! My daughter had hers until she was a little over 3! We made up a story about the “paci fairy” and we talked about it for weeks leading up to it. We told her that one day the paci fairy would come and leave her a big girl bed and take all the pacifiers with her when she left the bed. It toootally could have backfired on us but thank goodness it didn’t and the day my daughter got her big girl bed she knew the pacifier would be gone and she never even asked for it again. You could use a big toy or something really cool as her reward if she’s not ready for a big girl bed yet. Kids are all so different – I hope you find something that works great for you and your family!

We told our daughter (she was 2) that there was another baby that needed her pacifiers. She helped us box them up and we pretended to mail them away. She was pretty excited to help a baby “feel better.” She cried for them for about a day, but we could just keep reminding her that they were helping another little baby. She did great with it!

If you’re a fan of true crime, The Staircase was fascinating. I also really liked the Ken Burns documentary on the Roosevelts. It’s super long though.

I order a lot from Amazon, Nordstrom, and The Container Store.

My favorite part of summer in Flagstaff is the monsoon season. It’s so beautiful!

We had the “binky-fairy” come one night after we had talked about it for 3 days or so. We gathered all the binkies and placed them on the counter for the fairy. In the morning, a nice toy was left in place of the binkies. We didn’t have any tears or breakdowns; we told our little girl that she was a “big girl” now and the binky fairy needed those binkies for little babies. We congratulated her on being such a big girl and helping out our kids that were still little. Worked like a charm!

Try dipping the binky in lemon juice or vinegar! My mom did this with me, of course I was a climber and rinsed it off in the sink, but it is worth a shot!

My oldest was a HUGE binky baby. When she was three we let her trade it in at the Disney Store for a toy. She even went to check out and “paid” with it, the cashier was so nice! And my daughter didn’t notice that my husband used a credit card too:). It was an emotional drive to the mall, but she was surprisingly okay about it afterwards. Good luck!!

My kids are all hard core bink-a-holics. They love their binkys! When we’re ready we go to build a bear and they give it a big hug, say thank you and goodbye and put it inside the build a bear with the heart they give them. Then it’s sewn up for good! But they can still hug their bear when they feel sad. But prepare for a few days of withdrawals (at least my kids always had a rough few days after). My two year old is not ready to say goodbye to the binky but all my older kids keep asking when we get to go to build a bear ;)

We ended up with about 10 babas around the house for our 2 year old. We had started losing them and when we got down to her last one she lost it and I refused to buy more so after that we were just done! Nap time & bedtime were just a little rocky for about 3 days but honestly not bad at all!! Try cold turkey! You can do it! (And if it doesn’t work out, no biggie either!!!)

Hi Janae~
Could you share where the girls cute 2 piece swimsuits are from? Thanks!
~Ashley

My oldest was a pacifier addict! He was almost three before we stopped the madness. We tried the gentle ways, like cutting them. He didn’t think they were broken. He didn’t really care at all and used them anyways. LOL. I tried to convince him to “give them away” or say goodbye to them on his own terms but he was not on board with that! Then one day we were out shopping with my mom and she had taken it from him in the store. When we got back in the car and my mom left in her own car he proclaimed something along the lines of “Oh no! Gramma lost my paci!”. Well I saw an opportunity and ran with it. I simply agreed with him that grandma had lost his paci in the store and now it’s gone. He never asked for a new one, just told everyone about grandma losing it and he moved on. So my opinion…prepare her for it and then go cold turkey! Make up a story if you want, but don’t let her control the situation. I’m all for self soothing, but with this topic I believe you have to draw the line somewhere. He had definitely used it for sleeping, but I don’t recall having even one night of trouble after it was gone. Kids adjust! When my second was born he always had his fist near his mouth so we taught him to be a thumb sucker. It was SO MUCH more convenient than the pacifier and we never had to break him of it. He just stopped doing it once he wanted to have both hands to play.