Nuk Removal & Transition to Bed Not Going Well

he is just 2... he is a baby.. my kids were in cribs until 3 1/2 .. when we took them out of the crib they wer old enough to understand to stay in a bed.

give him back his crib he needs a safe place to sleep..

maybe that will settle him back down to a normal sleep pattern.. if taht doenst work give back the paci..

I dont understand the big deal about pacis one of mine has a paci,,, one has a thumb.. I cant take the thumb away .. why would I take the paci away..?

I know I will be totally against all the other moms who will respond, BUT I did what some may call unthinkable, and gave my 2.5 yr old son back his binkie for NAPTIME only. I went almost 3.5 weeks with full on meltdown come naptime, where before he'd walk himself to bed and say night night, grab is binkie and nod off without a peep. There was one day where I left him in his room for 1.5 and there was no sign of him going to sleep. And what frustrated me the most was it seemed like b/c he wasn't going settling down easily he'd have a dirty diaper 2-3 times without fail. During they day he was HORRIBLE, crying non-stop, every little thing upset him. I was beginning to even question whether I should bring him in to the pediatrician's office. Then my mommy instinct said it seems like he's just tired and really wasn't ready to give the bink up, and we forced it on him. The only reason we took it away was because his front two teeth were really pushed up and the dentist said we should get rid of it ASAP. Well in the 3 weeks when he didn't use it, he teeth fell down and looked perfect.....

so I told my hubby last week I'm going to try giving his binky back just for nap time (still with a pin hole in it) but at least he'll physically have it. This was the BEST decision I ever made. My little angel is back, and he is making up for lost sleep. Last week he averaged a 3-4 hr nap. Yesterday I woke him after 4.5hrs. I'd say go with your gut. You know your child the best!! BTW he hasn't asked for his binkie once for bedtime. He understands its just for naptime, but then again he never had a problem with Bedtime when we took it away the first time......

Maybe you can give it too him just to settle down then sneak in and take it away once he's asleep. Or even consider putting him back in the crib...My ped said really they can use it until 4, and it really doesn't cause as much dental problems as previously thought...Sorry so long winded, keep us updated on what ends up working for you...

DO NOT go back to the NUK!!! DON"T, DON"T, DON"T.

If you think going back to the crib will help, then yes, please consider it. It may be that you need to teach him how to self soothe. Without the nuk or introducing thumb sucking.

Try changing his routine slightly. Add 'you' time where you rock him for a bit, or turn on a CD of lullaby music.

M.

It does seem early to quit the crib to me. And I think you're right: too much change at once. I think if you go back to the crib, there's a good possibility all will be forgotten. I'm also sympathetic with Amy's suggestion of giving the binky back for awhile, perhaps only for whichever sleep period is most troublesome.

Parents are burdened with so many oughts and shoulds, but many of them are pretty arbitrary when you look at them closely. Age recommendations and developmental markers are, at best, averages, and there are huge real-life ages ranges that are appropriate for different children and different situations.

I always found that responding to actual needs and making slow transitions worked well. You can get a child to accept almost anything reasonable if you introduce it gradually or in small steps.

I agree he is still pretty young!! We just switched our daughter to her big girl bed - she turned 3 in March!! I really think its all about good timing - and I was lucky with both the paci and big girl bed!

Not sure if this may help you at all but my daughter had bit a hole in her paci so I did cut the top off but I let her have it in her bed and she just hung on to it and that seemed to work for her.

Good luck - hope you can figure out what works for you!

The binky fairy (or nuk fairy) visits our house. She takes the binky in the middle of the night to give to a new baby and leaves a special "big kid" lovie for them to sleep with instead. One of my boys was really into veggie tales so he got a big stuffed junior assparagus, another one loved elmo and got a big stuffed elmo, one of our daughters really loved blankets and dora so she got an extra fuzzy big dora blanket. The trick to making this work is to repeat where the binky went (to the new little babies that need it) when asked and to remind them that they now have their new "big kid" lovie. Most importantly of all make sure that you grab all of the binkies, if you miss one then you are back to square one.

sounds like my first but we got rid of the nuk at about 3yo and made it seem like it was his idea. i tried the big boy bed a couple of times before 3 1/2yo -- didn't work well until then--had to turn the crib over to little brother. yeah, you probably are doing too much at once but there is no reason you can't take a step back. i have a convertible crib so i did have the side off for awhile with a bed guard thing on it then had the guard on the big boy bed for awhile. good luck.

Hi Alison,
You could remove the "charge" around the pacifier and sleeping away from you. One suggestion is using EFT Emotional Freedom Technique. I used this technique with two of my kids--6, 3, and 2 month old. It has worked wonders. In fact, I used it today to get my 3-year-old to take a nap... He can be resistant at times. I write about it in my blog http://www.thrivingmomma.com so I won't repeat what I did here. Energy work such as Calyco Healing is also effective, but EFT is easy to learn on your own and do right away. Sometimes I'll go to a Calyco Healing practitioner if I need an objective party helping me with a challenge.

Send me an email if you'd like suggestions on release statements to say to him.

Good luck! This will pass soon.
T. M.
____@____.com

I took my son's nuk away when he turned 2 and I also transitioned him to a big boy bed 2 months after that. Both went very well. I think the biggest thing that I did different was that we talked about both changes a lot prior to us actually changing them. We HAD to take the nuk away because he was biting them and putting holes in them and I was so afraid he was going to bit the nuk off and choke on it. We talked about it for a few weeks and I gathered them all up and put them in a bag and he "helped" me throw them away. I also gave him a new toy for doing that. I also made sure to do this when my husband and I were going to be home with him for a length of time (daycare had the week off). My son was very attached for naps and bedtime only and so the first few days were a little rough, but they got better. I took it away before a nap, this way if it messed up his nap, no big deal. He would just be that much more tired for bed that night. And after about a week, he only asked about them for another week or two. I thought it was going to be a lot harder than it was. I think it was harder on me than it was on him. As for the crib, we had baby #3 on the way, so we needed/decided to move him to a big boy bed, a bunk bed that he got to share with his older brother. He was very excited and again we talked about this for a long time too, to get him used to the idea. I bought some really cool new bedding, etc. So, all in all, I think you may have just things too fast?? I agree with some of the other moms, and I wouldn't give the nuk back... stick it out. Create a new bed time routine. Like reading books or a little snack before bed. If you think he just isn't ready for the twin bed, then go back to the crib and try again in 6 months or so. I am very sorry that you have having such a hard time with this. Good luck and hang in there! IT WILL GET BETTER.