Put a plug in it!

Aaah, the binky.

Despite our best efforts, none of my kids have ever wanted anything to do with them. 

And we tried.  Oh, we tried.

Abby, Miss "If you don't hold me a certain way, and sing a certain song, and keep pacing the house until you collapse from exhaustion I'm going to scream bloody murder for the next three hours" wouldn't even entertain the thought of something else besides my breast in her mouth.

Ashlynn did a bit better.  I think she took the binky once or twice, giving us a false sense of hope before she refused it all together at the ripe old age of one week.  She of course chose the first night I was home alone with two babies, when her sister was bleeding all over the kitchen, and she was covered head to toe in poop to decide she wasn't going to take the binky, but that's a different story all together.

Max took one occasionally as an infant, usually when he had gorged himself on breastmilk and was still wanting to suck.  Then, when he was in the hospital for his first surgery, a certain binky became an absolute lifesaver.  Since he was denied nursing and bottles for so long, the binky became his best friend. 

Tom and I started joking about how we would never be able to break him of the binky habit, and we'd have one of those five year olds who take their binky out of their mouths, carry on a conversation with you, then pop it back in.  But as soon as we returned home, he spit it out vehemently every time it was offered.  Bad memories, I guess.

That is, until now. 

Somehow, we have quite a collection of the darn things at my house, despite the fact that no one uses them.  (Check that- I often find Ashlynn with a binky in her mouth, chomping away happily.  Nostalgia?  Regret?  Who knows.)  So the other night, I put Max on the bed and went into the bathroom to wash my face, brush my teeth, dothe whole routine before bedtime.  I came out a few minutes later to find Max, dead asleep on the bed, with a binky in his mouth.

You could have knocked me over with a feather.  Not just because of the binky, but because he never goes down that easily!

So the next night, I decided to test the theory out.  I gave him a binky, laid down next to him, and five minutes later, he was out.

So yeah.  Now, two weeks later, I have the nearly two year old kid who won't sleep without a binky in his mouth. 

I'm trying to decide how I feel about the whole thing.  But right now, I'm thinking that if it gets us more sleep at night, then who cares?  He won't still be five and still want the binky, right?

Right?