sweet and simple...and a dash of crazy: the binkie dilemma

Avery is almost 19 months old. At this age Parker was weaned from his binkie. Actually there was no weaning...we just did it cold turkey. We thought it would be a battle b/c it was part of his bed time routine - he knows it's nap/bed time when he gets it. Once in a while we gave it to him in the car if he was fussy, but he rarely had it during the day. He used to go to daycare and although I told his nanny to limit it to naps, she often would send me pics and I would see his binkie nearby. I actually didn't think to wean him until 1 morning as I was handing his bag over to the nanny I realized I forgot to pack his binkie. I told her I would check my purse in case I had one, but she said she hadn't been giving it to him at all. WHAT?!? Why didn't you tell me...ok we will quit too...and so we did. He didn't cry or look for it and that was the end of that.

If weaning her from her bottle is an indication then it will be a ~~battle~~ war! Again, with Parker we just did it cold turkey the weekend of his 1st bday. I tried that with Avery on her bday weekend and she screamed bloody murder. So off to Target I went and bought a new can of formula. Less than 2 weeks later she was ready to quit her bottles, but I still had a half a can left (she was only getting bottles at night at that point). Avery gets her binkie a lot more than Parker ever did. It started out just for nap and bed time too. Then a little more as she started to have a really hard time with teething and sucking on her binkie helped (we did this a few times with Parker too). She is the sloooowest teether ever! For example, her upper right molar broke through on 10/17 (that I noticed anyway) and it's still only half way in! I asked Kevin if we should get it looked at...maybe it's stuck?!? Is that possible? It's just weird! Anyway, if she gets fussy in the car, I give her the binkie. She starts to flip out about something while Parker is napping (she's a horrible napper), I give her the binkie. Also, we gave it to her quite a bit when we went to San Diego last month. Flying, being in a strange house, and I have this thing where I don't like my kids flipping out in front of others even if it just their Lolo (grandpa) so she had her binkie constantly. Then she started to really ask for her "beh-beh" in the last few weeks or so, I'd cave and give it to her. I mean her poor teeth! HOWEVER, this past weekend really made me realize how ~~reliant~~ addicted she had become. My mom and I took the kids out shopping and we were going to go to Panera for lunch. But Avery started yelling for her binkie, which unfortunately I forgot to pack one (GASP!!!). It's a wonder the ~~screaming~~ shrieking did not shatter my windshield! She's in the back pleading as big fat tears rolled down her cheeks: "Mah-may, beh beh! MAH-MAY! MAH-MAY! BEH-BEH! BEEEEEH-BEEEEEH!!!". It would alternate between screaming her demand and whispered pleas. It really broke my heart! I turned the car around and we headed home...and ran straight to the drawer to get her a binkie. Hey I figure, we also save money by not going out to lunch! lol

This was from a couple of weeks ago, but look at that bottom right molar! That actually broke through on 11/19 and is almost all out! The bottom right incisor is really about to pop through...but of course its been looking like that for a couple of weeks now.

I've been saying for a while now that after her molars come in I'm going to wean her. But at the rate that her teeth are coming in, it could be another 6 months before they come in then we will be battling the 2 year molars. I know I can't compare her and Parker (first he already had all of his molars and incisors way before 18 mos) and I'm not wanting to wean her b/c he was weaned by 19 months. I want to b/c I don't want her teeth to get all messed up b/c she's still sucking on a binkie at 4 years old and the longer she has this binkie, the harder it will be for us to break the ~~habit~~ addiction! And truthfully, I'm tired of trying to keep track of it and making sure I have one with me at all times. So, I'm writing this so that I'm going to be held accountable! My New Year's resolution (which by the way I never make one, so this will be a first!) is to wean Avery from her binkie starting on 1/1/13 and my goal is to be rid of the binkie by the end of Jan. Any binkie weaning tips??? Oh and prayers (and ear plugs) would be appreciated.