Everyone in the room was sleeping.

Preschool is a very busy place and three-year-olds need to recharge.  Settling into sleep takes various forms.

One little girl believed she needed her “binky” (pacifier) and nothing her parents or teacher could say or do would change her mind.

Suggestions such as passing a pacifier along, figuratively, to a new baby, putting pacifiers out to be recycled, transitioning with a daily countdown chart to the goal day or “cold turkey” were not going to happen.

We, in early childhood education have to be creative. We gather strategies from research and peers and then have to supplement and make more up as we go along to individualize to the situation.

I watched the binky fall out of the little girl’s mouth as she slept, and took a picture. When I shared the picture with her, she looked at it with surprise.  I said, “Look, you’re asleep without your binky!” She never used the binky again.

As a parent, be creative. Go with your instincts and try something out of the box. YOU know your child. Trust yourself.