If you know Carleigh well, you know that her kiki could be used to leverage anything! I've never seen a child so attached and I have plenty of friends whose children use pacifiers. I think back and it's always been this way. She was waking because her kiki (she named it this) fell out at 4 weeks old. Thank goodness Parker's not so attached, though he now will take a paci. 
So at 29 months old, I finally felt it was time Carleigh gave up her kiki. I went about the process last Sunday after the self-proclaimed cool downs (where she goes to her room and sits in her bed to calm down and can suck on her kiki) had reached an all time high. Since Parker's arrival, these cool downs have been happening more frequently making the rule of no kiki except at naps and bedtime null (because she had to leave it in her bed).
At naptime last Sunday she went to her bed to find a broken kiki. I thought at first I'd see if that dissuaded her. She didn't like it but when I told her they were all broken because she sucked on them too much and too hard, she resigned herself to have to suck on a broken kiki. I realized we were going to have to go cold turkey.
So Sunday night, I bravely told her the broken ones were in the trash and there were no more. Emphasizing that she was a big girl and promising a reward if she could do it (I'm not above bribery), the first night she fell asleep with me at her side to calm her and only awoke at 4 am (I thought she'd wake much more). She wailed and cried for the kiki for a full hour. It was torturous for me and Dustin couldn't believe I was attempting this feat. She awoke Monday morning and was very proud of herself for being a big girl. The next nap day she didn't even fight me about it and kept saying she didn't need a kiki. Monday day night she fell asleep on her own and only sleeptalked "kiki" once around 4 am. After that, we've had a virtually seemless transition. She knows they aren't around anymore and the train table she got as a reward is a constant reminder that a new chapter (the kikiless one) has begun.
This was her stash that I threw away (if they weren't around, I couldn't cave in).
What we've noticed more than anything is that she is sleeping better than ever at night! For the past few nights, she hasn't awoken at all! She used to awaken if she couldn't find her kiki in the middle of the night and search for it and put it back in. Even a small waking like that can disrupt sleep so I'm so happy that she's sleeping sounder and seems to have come to grips that kikis are gone. We've had only one meltdown about them this whole week and it quickly disappated when I threatened to return the train table to Gigi and Bubba.
I'm so proud of my big girl! Next on our big girl to-do list: potty training. She has no interest in it now so I'm not pressing the issue but by 3, she better be ready!
