Attachments

Do your children, either "typical" or special needs, have attachments to an object? This could be anything from a toy to an article of clothing to a Binky to a blankie. Austin, my special needs child, has zero attachments to any one object. Dustin, my "typical" child, had an attachment to his "B" or Binky, as everyone else knows it. He was 3 1/2 when he was "broken" from this attachment.  He was going to my dad's house one weekend and my dad had jokingly told Dustin he was going to take  his "B" from him and put it away. Dustin brought me his "B" all serious-like and said "Mommy, will you keep my "B" until I get home so Papaw won't get it?" I thought that it would surely be a disaster, as he was attached to this thing. I thought my dad would be calling me to bring one to him..lol. But sure enough, Dustin did just fine without it and when he came home on Sunday he came to me and asked for it back. I looked at him and told  him "You are a big boy now, you don't need a B." He just looked at me, then said "ok" and went to play. It was that simple. Now, I know that reality is that it isn't that easy. I was lucky that Dustin was and still is, an easy going child. For some kiddos, special needs or not, breaking them from an attachment can be a nightmare. Not just for the kiddos, but for the parents, too.

I read an article a couple of years ago about a mother who wanted to break her daughter from the Binky. The daughter was having no part of it, though. So the mother came up with a brilliant idea. She got some flower pots and soil. Then her and her daughter filled the pots with the soil and "planted" the Binkies. In the morning when the daughter got up, suckers had "grown" in place of the Binkies.

 Now, for a typical parent, we would either need  a LOT of flower pots, or we would need to plant more than one Binky in each. Any parent of a child who uses a Binky knows that there are at least a thousand of them in the house, car, purse, diaper bag, etc, at any given time. If we planted just one Binky in a flower pot, we would have to buy an entire warehouse of suckers...lol!!

You don't even have to use suckers as the reward. You can choose anything you want. If your child likes Hot Wheels cars, that is a great option. I know my boys like them, they have around 5,000 or so between them! Just use what works for you and your child.

There are other methods out there, I know. One method is just taking it away cold turkey. Me? I am not that strong to do that. I would cave. Definitely cave. I am a sap, and I am not ashamed to admit it..lol.

What are your methods? I would love to hear from you! Leave your methods in the comments and I will dedicate a post to all of the different methods I get :)