Ned

We have been brainstorming ideas of how to get rid of Guard's binky.  We mentioned this to Greg's niece at a family reunion and she gave us a great idea.  Tie one end of a ribbon to the binky and the other end to a stuffed animal.  Whenever the child wants his binky, he has to hold the stuffed animal.  Eventually, he become tired of being hampered by holding something, that he gives up his binky.  I liked the idea of the process being on Guard's terms and timing.  We decided to give it a go.

Meet Ned.

Ned is a super cute, cuddly elephant with giant blue eyes (like Guard).  Elephants are Guard's favorite animal, so he was quite excited when we found this little guy.  He was less excited when we tied his binky to him, but he adjusted quickly.
And...it's working!  Guard hasn't given up his binky completely, but he has it a lot less often.  He is doing great.  And I don't have to listen to a lot of whining and crying because I took away the binky - Guard makes that choice on his own.

Guard mostly has Ned when he is lying down, watching TV or when he is still (for whatever crazy reason that could be!).  He rarely has Ned when he is playing or walking around.  When he does, he just lets Ned dangle from the ribbon while his binky is in his mouth.  It drives Kate crazy - she always says, "Pick up that elephant and snuggle him!".  Spoken by a true lover of stuffed animals.
We are hoping this does the trick of getting rid of the binky.  Only time will tell.

Guard got a bit disgruntled tonight when I was taking pictures of Ned and not of him.  Luckily, it didn't last too long.