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Bye Bye binky – I Blamed Santa
11.29.2012 [New Moms & Dads]
Many parents choose to introduce the pacifier in the hopes of avoiding thumb sucking. Let’s face it, it is much easier to get rid of a pacifier than it is to get rid of a thumb! When the time comes to get baby off the binky, there may be many tears, and not just from the child!
I had heard and read about many ways to end the binky habit, but the method that worked with all of my children, was blaming Santa Claus.
Beginning in October, all the stores, TV commercials, and mail order catalogs are flooded with holiday memorabilia. So I used this to help prepare my children for the big binky break up.
During the holiday season that our ‘baby’ was 2 year’s old, we would start having conversations about all the holidays. I told them, that since they were ‘big’ now, Santa Claus would come on Christmas Eve, give them presents and take their binkies to give to the babies that needed them. We would leave milk, cookies, reindeer food, and their binkies for Santa to take on Christmas eve.
We looked at catalogs, web sites, and watched commercials of the must have toys that played on a loop. They picked out the presents they wanted, we wrote a letter to Santa and dropped it into the mailbox. Of course, giving up the beloved pacifier was a big deal, but they were going to wake up to colorfully wrapped presents!
We made special mats for the milk and cookies and a special bowl for the reindeer food, and all the binkies were left on the mats. They went to sleep excited and in the morning, just as I had told them…. The milk and cookies were gone and so were the binkies! Under the tree were lots of presents and this was just the beginning of an exciting day. Come bed time, they all asked for the binky, testing me, and I calmly and matter of factly stated, ‘we don’t have any, Santa took them remember’? ‘No, we can’t buy more, you’re too old, only baby stores sell binkies’. Some sadness and a few tears, but nothing a mama hug and kiss couldn’t fix. This went on at bedtime for about 3 nights, then, it was over…. The binky habit was broken!
Sarasota Memorial recently received the Get With The Guidelines®–Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association. The award recognizes our success in implementing a higher standard of care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted guidelines. Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and serious, long-term [...]
Looking for something different, delicious and nutritious to make for your next meal or party? Check out our new cookbook, compiled by the dietetic interns of Sarasota Memorial. There are dozens of unique and healthy recipes to please everyone — dishes like yummy apple pie oatmeal for breakfast, salmon canapes for party guests, buffalo chicken [...]
Last year, we ran a post about how the holidays can be very difficult for many people. It’s a timely message that will help you deal with the often-unrealistic expectations of the season, so the information is worth repeating: Do you remember when you were little what your thoughts and feelings were about this time [...]
As soon as we enter the grocery store, pharmacy, or department stores we are inundated with holiday paraphernalia. My kids squeal with excitement at all the decorations, and most of all CANDY! We all love the real candy corn that can only be found this time of year, but I can’t ignore that all this [...]
Work continues both inside and out on Sarasota Memorial’s new Courtyard Tower. This photo was taken from the window of a patient room on the 9th floor Orthopedic Unit, providing a bird’s eye view of the site work under way on the front (north) side of the new patient care tower. Scheduled to open in [...]
Nov. 11 was Veterans Day, and Sarasota Memorial employees joined the rest of the nation in honoring those who served our country. In 1954, Sarasota Municipal Hospital was renamed Sarasota Memorial Hospital as a tribute to veterans of World Wars I and II. Since memorial is in our name, it’s particularly appropriate to recognize our [...]
Opening the new clinic, left to right, are Dr. Tammy Walsh, vice president for Student Life and Dean of Students at Ringing College, Sarasota Memorial Chief Operating Officer David Verinder and Ringling President Dr. Larry R. Thompson. Photograph by Ringling student Ferenc Beleznay. This week, the Ringling College of Art and Design and Sarasota Memorial [...]
As the farmers markets and super markets are loaded with delicious harvest vegetables and hearty foods and the holiday of delicious is almost upon us I’d like to review the common signs and symptoms of food allergies and the common culprits of allergies. A food allergy is when the body reacts to some component, often [...]
The third level of Sarasota Memorial’s Courtyard Tower houses the mechanical equipment for the new nine-story patient care tower scheduled for completion in 2013. Although perhaps not as attractive as the beautifully appointed and light-filled lobby, spacious and serene patient rooms and lushly landscaped courtyard areas, the mechanical floor – shown in these photos – [...]
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