with a little piece of plastic…aka THE BINKY (paci, pacifier, dummy, etc.).
All my kids have used them with varying degrees of enjoyment. Some really had no use for them, while others developed a big attachment to them. I was a more disciplined parent for the older three and had banished the binky for all of them by the time they were 1 year old.
Then came my 4th daughter. She is spunky and VERY independent. I also had become a LOT more laid back in the ways of being a “disciplined” parent. I did some things I swore I would never do (of course this was before I actually HAD kids), and letting our child have a binky after 12 months of age was one of them.
This daughter had her binky until she was almost 2. Then we went to Disneyland with the binky. When we got home…the binky was “missing”. We told her Mickey Mouse took it and gave it to a new baby who needed it. She believed us. She was a little taken back, but couldn’t stay mad at Mickey for very long, especially when Mickey Mouse sent her a stuffed TinkerBell Minnie Mouse as a thank you gift.
Every once in a while, sometimes out of the blue, she would say, “Mickey took my binky!” (with a little attitude and an angry scowl). It was a very sad time for us.
Now…I know you must all be thinking what horrible parents we are :)(hehe). We felt horrible…but we were desperate. And desperate times call for desperate measures! Besides no one could ever hate Mickey Mouse!
Well, fast forward a couple of years, different daughter…same dilemna. You would think we would have learned our lesson. But apparently we didn’t. This baby is not a baby anymore and she still has her binky. Granted she is only allowed to have it for naps and bedtime, she still REALLY likes it…and most of the time, so do I. (Yes…she holds a binky sometimes while sleeping too…Don’t judge me :))!
I love how it makes her want to go to bed at night. She can’t wait to get in there and get her binky. She also LOVES nap time! She is the best sleeper! And admittedly after 12+ years of kids and late nights, all nighters, night-time nursing, teething, nightmares, never sleeping in on weekends and so on…I want my sleep! So…I have not done what needs to be done and DITCH that pesky piece of plastic.
So, I need your advice…AGAIN! I need a nice and gentle way to wean my baby from her beloved binky. I know I can count on you to help a desperate, sleep-deprived mommy free herself from this twisted relationship! Are there any of you who have battled this same addiction with your children?? and how did you deal with it?
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Staci says
I saw the cutest idea where they had a special goodbye party for all the binky's. They went to the park with a balloon tied on to each binky and let the little girl let go of the balloons. They of course did some prep stuff before hand to prepare her for that but I thought that was a great idea!!
What a coincidence, I was just sharing our pacifier "story" with a friend today. My son was a tough one, I tried everything. Finally, in desperation, I poked a hole in the end of it. I was told the loss of suction would make him not like it anymore… not this child. He told me it was "broken" then went right on sucking it, so the next day I made the hole a bit bigger. This kept going until the entire end had been cut off and he was trying to keep the tiniest bit of it in his lips. Finally, it was too much effort for him and he lost interest. The process took about a week, but there were no tears and no sleepless nights! Good luck!
My mom told me Santa took mine, this was the middle of the summer… and I accepted it.
Second idea, which I cracked up over, my friend took her youngest daughter (she has four girls) to Build A Bear Workshop and had all of her pacifiers in a bag. When she picked out her bear and went to stuff it they put her pacifiers inside of the stuffed animal with the stuffing! She thinks it's awesome that she still has her pacifiers, but got an animal in the exchange!
This is the first time I've commented on your blog . . . which I love by the way! Our daughter had chewed a hole in a couple of her binkies . . . this gave my husband the idea to cut off the silicone part of the binkie. He cut a little snip off of it each day until there was nothing left to suck on! Not so fun to have a binkie when it's just hard plastic. Not sure if this was the best "parent approved" method, but it worked. I have two kids down, one to go . . . and I'm dreading that phase! Good luck!
Have you tried cutting it? Just snip it in half. Then slowly cut some off until she is satisfied it is totally broken. Both my kids have despised binkies no matter how hard I tried to get them to take one…but my friend tried this and it worked. There were some tears but it only took a week or so.
Another friend talked it up some time beforehand so her son was prepared for what they were going to do. He was addicted to the binky carrying it with him everywhere so this was a BIG deal for him. They then had a burial and had their son put it in the box and watch the binky get buried. They then didn't mention the word binky or pacifier at all for months and he forgot.
Good luck!
I'm not a mother, but I had my dummy and bottles until well over the age of 2.
One Easter, the lovely Easter Bunny came along and took all my bottles and dummies and dropped off lots of chocolate too! Apparently I was really good about it and with Easter coming up, maybe that would work? haha
I wish I had some advice, but I don't. I think the ideas mentioned are good ones. However, I would like to give some advice for anyone reading the comments. I never gave my daughter one and she was fine. I nursed her for a year, so that may have helped, but again, I don't know for sure if that had anything to do with it. I actually decided just to try it once when she was 2 months old, but she didn't want it, she just spit it out. I've never had to deal with the binky issue and it's been nice. So should anyone be expecting or one day when you do have kids, one alternative is to just not give them one. Good luck, I hope you find a good method!
I cut the whole thing off so there was nothing left for my son to suck on. He still carried it around in his hand non-stop and would try to suck on it but it would just fall [it was pretty sad to watch truthfully] but in 4 or 5 days he had abandoned it completely. And it was amazing because he was an addict…I'm not talking about just for sleeping, I'm talking ALL of the time. He was only 14 months though, I'm not sure if that would work for an older child.
it's great to hear the ideas on here because I'm going to work on this soon with my 15 mo. old son.
I had to give my son a binky because he wanted to nurse constantly – making him spit-up way too much because he just wanted to suck. Finally he's weaned from nursing just recently. My son has no other "lovies/attachments," but I'm hoping to just give it for naps and bedime, then take it out from naps and eventually take it away from bedtime – just a slow weaning like I did with nursing. But I love hearing the ideas since I might need a desperate measure.
Awesome job getting your older ones weaned before they were one.
We are at the same stage as you. Same story too. Our little girl is VERY addicted to her "pappers" at nap and night time. She HAS to have not only one but two…she sucks one and holds the other. With me being pregnant with number two, I am not sure how much I am going to push the issue right now.
I hear there is a "binky fairy" who will come and leave presents if you package up your binkies and leave them out for her. She leaves goodies and balloons. It's like giving her a present and she leaves one in return. It's a super fun surprise to wake up to!
We had a lot of success with our twin daughters by cutting it a little bit each day. Like others have said, they slowly lost interest. They quickly became attached to their blankets, though. Their small taggie blankets seemed to replace the paci. They still want to have their blankies at bedtime and they're almost three, but I'm okay with that.
Too funny! My daughter had a binky and a stuffed kitty. She took both everywhere and could not sleep without them. Finally, I had had enough of keeping track of that darn binky! It was like watching another kid. LOL!
I tried cutting it, like others mentioned but this just ticked her off royally!
One day, when she was about 18 months she woke up and couldn't find her binky anywhere. I started looking for it and then realized it was my chance to get rid of it. I found it and quickly stuck it in my pants, LOL! I told her it was lost forever. I hurried up and hid all of the other binkies too.
She cried a bit the first night, but was fine after that. She is 5 1/2 and still takes that same stuffed kitty everywhere and sleeps with him.
I have been lucky with my children that they have not wanted binky's – no interest in them at all- my first child was a self soother. But I did have a serious issue with my little girl and her bottle. I have the same approach as you = after trying so hard to be a perfect mother and follow all the rules I was just so tired with my last child and gave in on a lot of things I did not with my first. She just turned 2 and I just stopped the bottles. I kept letting it go but then the guilt set in that I was actually just trying to make my life easier by simplifying bed and nap times and not really doing what might be best for her. I took the tough approach and just threw them all away – we tried gradually lessening the bottles she was having but that did not work. I will not lie bed time and nap time have become more difficult- we now have a whole new problem – she sleeps between us every night!! I guess a mothers job is never finished – good luck!! It is so hard to help them move past something that comforts them so much!!
Friends suggested the "Paci Fairy", but I am a strong believer in telling my daughter the truth. We don't do Santa or the Easter Bunny. I don't want to send mixed messages. So, one day I put them all in a drawer & we told her that she was a big girl now & couldn't have them. The first night was hard, but by night 2 she was fine. She was just over 2 years old, but because she was very verbal, & I had gone back to work I let her keep it passed a year old.
not a mommy here but i am was a nanny for and one day at the park the squirrel came and took the Binky for her babies!
and that was it… well except for the non stop talk about the bad squirrel!!!
(the little one left the binky on the bench and …oops it was tossed)
I just took away my 2yr old's Binky 2 days ago. She was only allowed to have them at bedtimes, and I have to say she is doing FABULOUS!
YES I cut the ends off of the ones she had bitten and had lots of holes, but she was the one who threw them away. She would say Binky's broken and toss it in the garbage can. :)
She does ask for a Binky and cries a little when I put her to bed now, but she sleeps soooooo much better, because she's not waking up and realizing she lost her Binky then proceeds to cry until we find it for her.
Hi we are the Berry's and we have been Binky free for 48+ hrs!
GOODLUCK!
Sorry for the long winded comment, I have plans on blogging about this very subject this week!
That is so hard! I had that problem with two of my kids. We ended up telling them that the "binky fairy" comes and takes all the binkies and in exchange leaves them a present {something they really want}. It worked pretty well. A few rough nights and then things were fine.
Good luck!
XOXO
Jen
We did the balloon party for our twins as well. We told the kiddos about a week before that we would be sending their binkies to new babies (and I made sure they were down to only one binky each). The day of, we headed off to the party store and let the kids pick out what color balloon they wanted. We then went home tied on the binkies, and said goodbye! Just make sure you are free of trees! Good luck.
Chelsea
My OLDEST had her binky until she was two, so I wouldn't feel bad about letting it go with your youngest ;) In the end we just took it away and roughed it out — but it wasn't fun. My friends also did the cutting technique, using a razor and slicing away at it a little bit each day (obviously without the child knowing) until they lost interest in their broken binky. Seems to have worked for a lot of people. Good luck!
This is so timely! My son turns 2 next month and we are having the same issue… he is VERY attached (just like all of a sudden). It feels like we're never going to be able to ditch the paci!
What happened at my house was…one day, the binky just got lost! I took his sweet little hand and we went all over the house looking for it…but in the end, we threw up our hands and said..I guess it just got lost! It worked just fine! Come say hi :D
I was fortunate (although sometimes I wouldn't use that word) that my kids wouldn't take a binky. At times I was grateful they wouldn't, other times I really wished they would. My niece had hers until she was almost 4….she just WOULD NOT give it up. My mom finally just cut the end of it off and told her it broke and that was it. She threw a fit for a day or two, but after that she just accepted it.
I actually just got rid of my sons (22 month old) last week. He had to have two binky's all the time. One to suck on and one in his hand. Sometimes he would even suck on both at the same time. We were looking at them last week and I noticed that they were starting to crack on their own. I explained to him what had happened to his binky and let him decide if he wanted to throw them away. (I strongly persuaded him to throw them away but made him think it was his idea.) He went in and threw them away and to make sure he couldn't get them back out, I had him carry that sack out to the garbage on the curb. Now because he thought it was his idea to throw them away because they were broken he hasn't had any problems. I just remind him when he asks for them what he chose to do and he goes right to sleep. It did take him a while to get back to sleeping well though.(3 days for us) He would only take an hour nap whereas before he took a 3 hour nap. He also woke up in the middle of the night because he couldn't figure out how to get himself back to sleep without the binky. He is now sleeping great and even better than before. Making them think it was their idea worked for us.
I love how Mickey gave the first one to a baby that really needed it! My daughter kept throwing hers off the balcony of our 2nd floor apartment and I finally quit retrieving them. I cautioned her when she was down to her last one and when she chucked it, that was the end of the paci! Our well meaning downstairs neighbor found them and brought them back a week later. By then, the drama had passed and we just threw them away without her knowing.
I've also seen Super Nanny help the child tie it in a tree overnight for the "binky fairy" to take it to a new baby that needed it and leave a treasure behind (stuffed doll or something) for the "big girl". Good luck!
This is what worked for me. My daughter was 4(I know!!)I tried several things and nothing worked. I was desperate so I soaked her binkys overnight in vinegar. The next morning she woke up and asked for a binky so I gave her one of those. She put it in her mouth and spit it out. She said it tastes yucky. I acted suprised and told her that when binkys started tasting yucky that means she's a big girl and doesn't need binkys anymore. She asked to try snother one and that one tasted yucky as well. She tried the rest of them and they were that way too so she lost interest and never asked for another one. Hope this helps :)
I’m laughing! I’ve got tears in my eyes and am doubled over with laughter.
I think that was the best one I heard.
Your advise is priceless . . .
I have 7 kids (and my youngest is SUPER attached :)
My youngest son who is now 4.5 still has his. (I know what you are thinking :) He has a form of attachment disorder so we can't just "lose" the paci or he will be devastated.
However, his paci has no latex to suck on it is just the hard plastic. And YES he can still suck on the hard plastic and has figured out how to get it to stay in his mouth (I have no clue how it works :)).
He has only like the one pacifier he has had since he was 6 months old (he wouldn't take a subsitute of the same style and color) so we only had 1 pacifier. We then would snip tiny increments of the tip every two weeks. We started when he was 18 months old, and by the time he was 2 there was no latex left.
It makes him very excited to lay down for rest and to go to bed. He decided on his own that he can't take it on vacation in case it gets lost (and he is fine with out it) .
My oldest thinks it is ridiculous that he still has it, but it helps him fall asleep quickly and is doing no damage to his mouth. It is no different than a favorite animal he sleeps with.
I have poked a hole in the end my daughters and she couldn't get a good suction and then that's your chance to say it is broken. Or talk her into giving her binky to another baby. I have also heard set a date of when to get rid of it and talk with her and make it a special day for her and go on a treasure hunt for all the binky's and for everyone you find give her a treat a treasure for her treasure. Then after you have them all have her help snip the end off each one and throw them away. That way she feels like she is in control.
We did something similar with our daughter this past Christmas. She will be 3 in April, WAY TOO LONG TO HAVE A BINK! But with a baby brother who gets his for nap and bed time it was hard to break her. But I had had it with the losing and searching and screaming that she would have just to have, but got over it really fast. So I took a really pretty box, put Christmas stickers and fun things all around it and we put the binks in the box and told her Santa was going to come and get it and take it to the sad babies of the world. Then in the morning inside that same box was a note and a little gift for her for being so brave and sweet from Santa. Now will this work for your little one, maybe not as she is a little young to understand that, but I have heard of getting a batch of balloons, tying the binks to the balloons and telling them that the balloons are taking it up to heaven. Don't know if this will help, but good luck! Let us know what worked for you as I have a 1 year old now that is in need of the break. -Kelsee
I am not much help. I took it away when my son was 2 yrs. 8 months old and then gave it back a month later. He is such an intense little guy he had nothing else to self soothe with. I had also just had a new baby three months prior. Now he is 3 yrs. 3 months old and he is still going strong. I simply don't have the strength to do it right now. Potty training is more impt. to us right now. Good luck!
we used the balloon method and loved it. i thought it was fun because my daughter was excited about it and was able to willingly participate. it has been almost 3 weeks now and she has done pretty well! i blogged about it and you can read it here:
http://danielandmarie.blogspot.com/2010/03/up-up-and-away.html
ohmygoodness … already lots of good advice, but wanted to share what we did with all 3 of our littlest ones.
we had a "nukie party" … i'm attaching a link to all the posts i did {ignore the "ouch" one} about the party. even the invite is on there. and don't judge when you see the handful of plastic enemies my daughter is holding! ;)
good luck!!
http://tsjphotography.com/blog/?s=nukie+party
My little boy is completely in love with his binkie. And he is not a baby. I just wanted to tell you that last time I was at the dentist I asked about binkies and my dentist said that his own children had them until they were three and it's not a problem. So, don't feel bad, you're not causing any harm.
My son LOVES Wubbzy. So one night while I was at work I wrote him a letter "from Wubbzy" explaining how he was getting to be too old for the "BOBO" (That's what he called it) and that "Wubbzy" would bring him a gift if he went a whole day without it, and be very proud of him. I went on and on and made it a very exciting letter. For some reason when I read the letter to him he threw his bobo in the trash and never looked back. I guess he just loves Wubbzy that much. Anyway, I added that he should also start using the potty like a big boy. He's 3 now, and still isn't potty trained. So I guess Wubbzy was just asking a little to much of him. =)
My son came up with the binky fairy idea for his son. The fairy took the binky at night like the tooth fairy did for big brother. In its place the fairiy left a toy. The idea is that when the fairy comes she turns you into a big boy and big boys don't use binkys. Make sure there aren't any hidden binkys though. That causes a problem.
My son was addicted but by the age of two we established that binky was for bedtime (naps and sleep). We kept it in his crib. Every time he went down we handed it to him. What we didn't realize is that we were enabling him by automatically handing it to him. He wasn't asking for it. One night my mom stayed with the kids while we were out of town. Binky was in the kitchen being cleaned. We forgot to tell her about it and she didn't offer it to him. He never said a thing and never used it again.
My son had 4 nuks, one for the mouth, one for each hand and an extra in case one fell out of bed or he could hold 2 in one hand. He too only had them for nap and bedtime. In our situation, we were heading out of town to visit friends who just had a baby, we put all the nuks in a bag and he gifted them to the baby. Gross, yes, obviously they went in the trash but he was proud and never asked for them again. Good luck, keep us posted!
Take your scissors and snip a tiny sliver from the end of the dummy. Your daughter will notice and want to know what is going on, but will accept it. After a few more days snip another tiny slice of rubber from the tip, then wait for a few more days before you do it again, and so on. Eventually there will not be enough of the rubber to hold the dummy (or binky) in place in her mouth. She may hold on to it with her hand for another day or two, before probably just throwing it away! :)
(This worked like a charm with our children.)
Good luck! :)
I had the hardest time with my little boy. He loved his passy! When he turned two my husband took it from him and he never got it back. He did very well with this…and he is 5 now and shows no signs of withdrawals :). However, Easter is among us and a good idea would be to leave the binky in the Easter basket for the Easter Bunny and in return the baby gets a gift from the Easter Bunny. Good Luck!
I'm a slacker at reading others ideas, so it may have already been posted. Granted I have only done this with my only child that I have and it may not work with our next. We cut the ends off all of them. She slept with all 4 paci's for a week. She tried to suck on them, but wasn't ever successful. She eventually gave up and I kept finding them under crib and she didn't care to have them. She would still hold them, but couldn't suck on them. I did find she tried to suck on her stuffed animals, but she found that very unpleasant. Good luck.
We gathered up as a family all the binkies and put them into a gift bag and then took them out to a tree in the yard and tied the bag saying the binkie fairy needs them for other babies. The next morning the gift bag was replaced with a much bigger bag with a new doll in it for our little princess!
I have 2 girls 3 & 4. We never let the 4 year old have one, but we thought is was easier to take a pacifier away than "fingers". (She sucked her fingers. We gave the younger one a pacifier to avoind fingers and she loved her pacifier too. We invented to "paci fairy". We collected all the pacifiers around the house and put them in a bag one morning. We put the bag on the front porch and checked to porch a few hours later. The "paci fairy" took the pacifiers and left a gift, just like the tooth fairy. It was a pretty painless.
Chrissy
When my oldest was about 2 , I cut the tip of of the binky, he looked at me and said it was broken and that was it. My youngest daughter had hers til she was almost 3. I told her she was a big girl and big girls didn't need binkies. That worked. Good Luck! Each kid had their binky longer than the one before, I guess number 5 will have hers til she's in Kindergarten. :)
We have four children that are older now but with each one we cut the end off and each night we cut more so by the end of a week all of our children lost interest. Hope this helps. I enjoy your blog.
Have a blessed day, Jennifer
All 3 of my boys had "Nukey's" and blankies and to tell you the truth, I never got rid of them myself. My boys could only have them to sleep also and eventually they just didnt need them anymore. My 9 yr old still has his blankie but it never leaves his bed, my other 2 had theirs until about 12, but again they only had them for sleeping. Life is hard enough and kids grow up too fast as it is. I say let them hand on to childhood as long as possible. Really, unless it's a huge problem, why get rid of it?
How funny! I just took my almost 2 year olds paci away last night. I tried around her first birthday, but it didn't go so well. She went from a great sleeper to a horrible one so after 3 days I gave it back to her. Last night I just didn't put it in bed, she asked for it once and I said I had to go find it and when I came back she was asleep…I don't know if that will work at nap time today or not. I have had lots of friends that have had to cut the ends off and that seems to be the easiest way. I think at that age they understand broken more easily than giving it to a new baby, etc. GOOD LUCK!
I replaced my daughters paci with a blanket. I picked out one particular blanket of hers and made sure to give it to her everytime she had her paci. I did this for 4-6 weeks and then just threw away the paci when she wasn't looking. I knew it was time when she started wanting to carry the blanket around the house (she was never a blanket baby so I knew she was getting attached). It worked great! Almost a year later and she still lugs that blanket everywhere. I wish I had tried getting her attached to two blankets so it wouldn't be so traumatic come laundry day.
Good Luck! I can't wait to see what works for you.
I have done what many other people have already commented on. We cut a little bit off every few days. It worked and it wasn't a gib ordeal at all. She sucked it until she couldn't hold it in her mouth any longer. My oldest took her binkie and threw it away at 18 months and started sucking her thumb. Binkies to get rid of than thumbs. We had to tell her that the cops were coming to take away everyone that sucked their thumb. It worked. We had tried everything else under the sun and that idea came about by accident, but it worked. GOOD LUCK!!
I did not read through all the comments so I;m not sure if you got this one or not..
Take her to the store and have her pick out a new toy. Then she can pay for the toy with her pacifier. Then later if she misses her paci just remind her she has the new toy in place of it
Tasha
My daughter was three before we ditched the binky. She was a total addict. Like you though, at this point she was only allowed to have it at nap and bedtime. The binky fairy came to our house. She had little presents left outside her door every night for 4-5 nights. Worked like a charm. I have a younger son, who never wanted to have anything to do with a binky. There were times I really wanted him to take it, so I could ditch the human pacifier role.
We just went through this with my little guy. He is 2 1/2. I know, too old for a binky or "teetee" as he called it. He hadn't taken it to daycare since he was 1, and it was mostly reserved for naps and nighttime, but I also used it on the weekends to make my life easier. I cut the end and he noticed a difference but he didn't care and used it anyway. That was Friday night. Saturday we "lost" it and he cried for it that night but we told him that "binkies are for babies" and by Sunday, he didn't even ask for it until nighttime again. Gradually he has forgotten about it. It was much easier than I thought. I think I put most of the anxiety on myself just thinking about how bad it would be, but in reality, kids are pretty resilient and can adapt to almost anything. So, my vote is to just "lose" it and stay tough. Maybe start on a weekend so that any lost sleep can be made up with naps!
We have the same problem with a little boy who doesn't want me to throw his binky away. With my daughter we placed all of her binkies in a baggie and then went for a trip to the store. She picked out whatever toy she wanted and then we we got to the checkout she paid for her toy with her binkies. (the store clerk looked at me weird but I just asked if she would throw them away) My daughter missed her binky for a couple days but was able to play with her toy. Good luck!!
We had the binky fairy come & take their binky away to give to a baby who needed it. The binky fairy also left a thank you gift. Just make sure that you GET RID of the binkys right away. That way you won't be tempted to give in.
Oh I have been there. My oldest was 3 1/2 and still taking her paci. It was ridiculous. One day I got mad at her for not being a "big girl" and she wanted to prove that she was, so she agreed to throw it away. I have heard about Santa taking it in exchange for presents or the Easter bunny taking it.
I LOVE the idea of going to build a bear and putting them inside the bear. That would have been perfect!!!
Our main problem was that she has a little sister that still takes a paci, so we couldn't ditch them altogether.
With all 5 of my children we have done what my pediatrician recommended. We 1st got down to where they only had one left then when they laid it down somewhere not at home we just left it there. Then when they asked for it we just said "Oh no, we must have left it at Mcdonald's, walmart etc. its all gone now." They have all understood and accepted it. We only had one or two fussy days getting to sleep. Hope this helps. I like some of the other ideas too. I know my doctor says it gets harder the longer you wait. We took ours by 18mo.
I feel your pain and you are not terrible for saying Mickey took it. We did the same thing with our son who what almost two when we finally got rid of it. It was close to Christmas so we told him Santa took it. I don't think it makes you a bad parent.
The only idea I have for getting rid of it is what my parents did with my youngest sister. They would slowly cut the end of it until there was nothing left and she wasn't interested in it anymore.
Good Luck!!
My daughter LOVED her soother too. But I decided that at 18 months it was time to give it up. So over the course of a month or so, every few days I would trim a piece off of the silicone nipple. Eventually it became so small that all she could do was hold the plastic piece in her mouth. One night when there was nothing left for her to suck on, I took what was left out of her crib, and she didn't know that difference. It worked like a charm!
You are certainly not a bad mom and I would never judge! Getting rid of pacifiers is one of the hardest things to do. We lucked out with my daughter, she started chewing the ends off and wouldn't stop. So we had no choice, all in the garbage they went immediately- cold turkey for her! And she was an addict, she would sometimes have two in her mouth and one in each hand. She had them stashed all over the house and at daycare! The first couple days were hard, but she forgot rather quickly. And we were really lucky that our son never would use one! Good luck whatever you decide to do. You are already on teh right track with her only having at night and naps!
I don't have any kids so I don't have any real advice for getting rid of the binky, but I just want to remind everyone that sending a helium balloon off with your child's binkies is littering, please consider where that binky and balloon will end up and find a different way to handle the difficult situation. Thanks!
– Concerned with the Environment
For all our kids we start by cutting a little bit off the end. They still suck it, but it's not as fun for them. Then a week or two later we cut a little more off. We continue to do this until there's just a tiny stub that they can't suck on. It seems to work, we've done it with three of our girls and will be starting it with our twins soon. Good luck!
I wish I could help you; however, I actually had to go out of town for two nights and my husband weened our daughter off. He says she was fine with it, but I suspect he let her cry it out. I'll never know. I will say, she's 15 now and seems to be well adjusted. :D
My daughter was over 2 and still had a binky..okay, closer to 3 but anyways! She had quite a few of them because when she would go to grandma's without one, grandma would go to the store and buy more. I started going into her room during naptime and bedtime and once she was good and asleep, I would pull it out of her mouth. When she woke up, I would have something fun planned so she didn't have time to think she was missing it. Then I put them all up on the counter in a glass jar and at naptime and bedtime, if she wanted one, she had to think to remember wanting it, I didn't offer it. After a couple of weeks, she just forgot about them.
Best of luck!!
Lisa
The cutest idea I have seen for ridding the binky goodbye is something called the "Binky Fairy". It is like the Tooth Fairy and Easter bunny got together for this idea. You put all the binkys in a basket and over night the "Binky Fairy" comes and trades them for goodies. It could be treats, a new stuffed toy that could be their soothing thing at nap time, dress up items, anything that will make your child really excited! Then when they ask for the binky you remind them about the Binky Fairy and hand/show them one of their new toys. I think the key is to get them involved in giving up the binkys so they don't feel it was stolen from them. Good luck!
My first child didn't want anything to do with the binky. My first daughter LOVED the binky. I had plans on taking it away at 12 months. And I did. And it was fine. Then a week later she was sick and I felt bad, so I let her have the binky. And it was tough to get rid of the binky.
So we went to binky ONLY for nap and bedtime. She was really good about that. In fact I had family members that had no idea she still had her binky, because we never took it anywhere.
We were trying to figure out a way to get rid of it. One night she couldn't find her binky. We asked her where it was. She said "I ate it." So we went with that and said, "Oh no. Well, now you don't have a binky." And that was the end of it. She never asked for it again. We were seriously so lucky on that one. It was underneath her bed that night.
My 3rd, she quit using it at 4 months.
Good luck. I'm sure you'll get many ideas and one should work. Or you'll try and try and try and then she'll just give it up by herself. :) (Or him? Can't remember what you said, sorry.)
Seriously, Works like a charm with girls! THE BINKY FAIRY. Yup we made a story up about a binky fairy who was ready to come take them all away. We wrote a cute letter to her and stuck it along with all the binky's in an envelope. We dumped glitter inside and stuck in the mailbox. She went to play with a friend and when she came home, TaDa, the binky fair had come, taken them away, and left a new toy.
It was very easy and she still talks about those fairy's and is almost 5!
Our first daughter was SO attached to her paci, it was ridiculous! We took it away right before she was 2. Just got rid of them and that was it. She asked a few times but we would just say "Paci's are for babies.. You're a big girl now! :)" and that worked for us. Much easier than we were expecting! Our other daughter was just as attached and equally as easy to take it away from. No sleep trouble afterwards or anything. I'm wishing the same for you! Good luck!
Sorry I don't actually have any advice as I've been lucky and none of my kids have been too interested in 'binkys'.
Just wanted to say don't be so hard on yourself! After 3 kids, I, too, have done things I never thought I would. Motherhood is all about survival!!! And even though I don't live in your house or know you personally, I'm impressed with all you do. For what it's worth, I think you're a good mom!
Whatever method you choose, just remember, it will only take about 3 days for her to be pretty well over it. You can do anything as long as you know it will be over in a certain period of time, like labor. LOL
My kids haven't had a hard time letting go of the binky, but my sister in law did have that problem. With one, so did the idea of snipping a little off each day until the child lost interest. Another thing she tried was she told her daughter there was a "binky fairy", and that if she put the binky in a little bag outside the front door, the binky fairy would come and take it and leave a surprise for her, and then take the binky to another baby in the world that needed it. So her little girl agreed, left it out, and she put some treats in the bag when her daughter was asleep. She was surprised in the morning when she had treats to find. She never looked back. Good luck!!
My oldest just quit her taking her paci at 4 months so that was easy, but my youngest, was VERY attached to her "mimi". ON her second birthday we did the build a bear thing. we put all her mimis in a bear, man that was so sad, bc she would grab it and put it in her mouth one last time. THat night she tried to open the "pocket" as she called it to get her mimis out, but she did really good and only cried for 5 minutes. I showed her all the clean mimis were gone and we talked about it for weeks before the time came. As much as I would like to say she loves her MImi dog she can't stand it! But she did really well!
I can't read all your wonderful comments…(wow, 71!)so if I repeat some advice, it's unintentional.
Of my 3 boys, we have had binkies with all. Also, the first 2 didn't have lovies or blankies to snuggle with, which I think added to the dependence ont their binkies for soothing. At age 2 we made the rule to onlt have a binky in the car seat or in the crib. From there it depends on how much each boy needs the binky to help calm him down. My oldest needed it until age 3 when he saw a stuffed Ty bear he *had* to have in the store. I offered to buy it if he gave up the binky and the next day he traded his binky for the bear. My middle guy traded his binky at 2 1/2 for a beta fish like his big brother's. He had a hard time a bed time, but understood the trade and wasn't willing to go back to the binky. We are currently at the same turning point with our now almost 2 1/2 baby. He is ready to give it up, but needs it to get through a tantrum. We will just gradually remove it from life activities and it will be gone. Like you, I am really laid back and not really concerned with the process, in that I know it will go away in due time, when my baby needs to let go (with a little guidance from mama.)
JUst a note, I'm a little concerned about cutting a hole in the silicone of the binky and creating a choking hazard. Not sure if this is just my anxiety or a real possible problem.
My son is 14 months and we just weaned him this week. He is too young to understand any kind of "bye bye binky" party or strategy but we still asked for suggestions from friends. One great idea I heard was someone who took the pacifier to Build-A-Bear Workshop and their child put the pacifier in the bear, so they still "technically" got to sleep with it. Clever!
My sister had her daughter help her decorate a box for the "binky fairy". Then, they went around the house, collected all the binkis and put the box on the front porch before bedtime. They said goodbye to the binkis and shut the door. (The binki fairy would come during the night and take all the binkis to other babies who needed them, and would then leave my neice a present for sharing her binkis with other babies who needed them more.) My neice cried herself to sleep that night, but the next morning she was getting my sister out of bed bright and early to see what the binki fairy had left her. It's kind of the same idea you did with Mickey, and it worked great for my sister! Her daughter has only said a few things about the binkis since then.
Ha ha, i'm going through the same thing, only I only have one kid, and I knew we should have gotten rid of it long ago, but she too sleeps really well with it… I'm scared. Please share your new knowledge and help the masses! (LOVE your blog!)
I have the same problem with my 19 month old. My older 2 had no desire for a binkie and she LOVES hers. I can't seem to phase it out. Thanks for posting and all your great followers who commented.
When my oldest daughter was 18months and my second was on the way we took her to Build a Bear (just like comment #3, Amy). It worked! She is 4 and loves it that her binky is in her favorite stuffed Kitty.
My second daughter, much more attached to the binky we prepped her the morning of and I cut the tip of the binky off and told her it was broken. It only took 2 days and it was never a problem since.
(I didn't take her to build a bear b/c i was sure the tantrum would not be consolable).
Good Luck!
I have the same predicament. My sister in-law said they cut off the tip of hte pacifier. Her daughter was upset about it, but got over it quick. She didn't want her pacifier anymore b/c it didn't suck right, i guess. My sister in-law liked this idea b/c she did not have to take away the pacifier. Instead, her daughter chose to not use it anymore. I have not tried it yet b/c I am potty training an older brother. One thing at a time, right?! Anyway, make sure you post what works for you.
Oh man, I feel you pain! I had 2 binky attached kiddos, and they were both over two before they got rid of them! My son bit the end off of his binkies and I just told him one day that I was not buying more, when they were all broken they were gone! He bit the last one, told me it was "bwoked" and threw it away…that was the end of his binky days!
My youngest daughter was the same way, super attached! This is what worked for her and I HIGHLY recommend it! My oldest daughter and I went on a cruise while dad stayed home with the other kids. Dad took it away while I was gone and I came home to a happy, binky-free little girl! :)
I have a 9.5 month old who uses her paci mainly for naps and bedtime. We also always have it with us when we're out and about, as we want to make sure we have a crutch if things get rotten! Anyway, I'm wondering how you got rid of them for your older kids before they were one?? Just take them away? How did you keep them happy and quiet at places like church without it?
Amy, My niece was super attached to hers. It was time for it to go, so her Daddy told her about this awesome sale that the store was having…A brand new baby doll, any one she wanted, and they were on sale for the very small price of ONE BINKY!! Daddy went ahead while Ash and Mommy picked out the perfect baby doll, he informed the cashier what was going on and that he would come behind and pay for the baby. It went very smotthly, the willing chashier punched some buttons and even plopped that binky right into her register. Ash was so proud and later that night at bedtime when she asked for her binky, she was reminded that she paid for her baby with it. She pouted for a minute but was okay and went right to sleep with her new baby, aptly named "Binky". Binky still sits on her dresser, and that was 5 years ago. Hope this helps.
Oh Amy, this post made me chuckle!! We have three girls, and my last one is the only one to have ever used one, although she didn't start using the binky until she was a year old!
Our shameful thing was that we told her that baby Jesus needed a binky (it was around Christmas-time) and so she hugged and kissed it, put it in a bowl and set it outside. A few hours later she looked and it was gone. No problems since, lol!!!
I have the same problem, but I have 2 twin daughters that I need to break. I wish you the best of luck. I have done this before with my eldest daughter and it was really hard. I think that is why have have been avoiding it this time since there are 2 of them. Jamie
We took our binky to build a bear and placed it inside the animal we bought/made. She know sleeps with a bunny rather than a binky! I say if the binky is working why quit! Good Luck.
We had a passy fairy come and in the night she gathered up all of the pacifiers and left fairy dust and then on my daughters pillow was a note that said, "When you turn 5 you will get a special present for your birthday. It will be all of your pacifiers. I'll keep them safe until then." She thought that was awesome and never asked for them again…until her 5th birthday was approaching and she said she couldn't wait to get the present from the passy fairy. Unfortunately, I had thrown the pacifiers and had to go buy some new ones.
My son had the same problem and sadly we let it go til he was 3. We only let him have it for bed and naps but we said we would never do that. It was really easy to stop. One day we just told him that his pacifiers were getting yucky and he was too big for them. He asked for them for several days but never cried and soon got used to sleeping without them
My little man LOVED his binikie too. This might be in the tons of comments, but since I have a wee one napping and I am short on time I will forgo reading all previous comments and put what we did.
We talked it up for a couple of days. We were sending his binkies to the binkie fairy. The binkie fairy would give them to other little ones who needed them, and in return she would leave a present in return for each binkie given.
We gave it before one of his naps. When he woke up from his nap the binkies were gone and he had a new little trinket for each binkie.
He totally loved it AND he whenever he asked for his binkie again, all I had to say is, remember where it is? And he would chime in, "oh binkie fairy" Then he would go on his way.
Now, disclaimer, my little man also had a blanket, so he was not comfortless when the binkie was gone.
Good Luck!
I feel your pain! My story is very similar to yours, my baby (4th child,last child)loves her paci. I think I don't want to give it up as much as she does! UGH!
I am not looking forward to this! I had planned to take my daughters away by the time she was one. Then we started planning this vacation to California right after her birthday and we are driving. For totally selfish reasons, I can't drive to Cali without a binki! I just can't. So as soon as we get home, it is going away! Dreading it completely!
My peditrician gave a great way that I have used with the three that have had one, out of four kids.
I printed out a calendar month (we have used different months) all my kids were just two if not a little over. We marked a day on the calendar so one was like June 4th. They colored it and helped do stickers. Every day we would say on this day you are going to be a big kid, no more binki. We choose something for them that was "only big kid". My first got a slide, my third got a doll she wanted, my fourth got a special car. We talked every day, my oldest would say "bye bye bink- wheee (for the slide). We than would mark it off. We started this two weeks before the date. I would also have them start leaving the bink in the bed, so they only got it for that time.
When the day came we would let them have one last moment with the bink, than we would take the scissors (I had gotten rid of all of them but the one that was tied to the bed) and cut them, say they were broken and they would throw them away. We then would get all dressed up and go and pick out that item.
For nap, they would always ask, I would walk them to the garbage, say broken, show them their big boy or girl toy.
My kids did awesome, well except for my third, who took about a week, but she is sorta stubborn.
I think it is easier on them then us. He explained that this way you are talking to them about it, it is not just sudden etc. Good luck
LOL! I really enjoyed reading the comments – especially the one about giving the binkie to baby Jesus. Hey, whatever you have to do, right?
We took my daughter'ss binkie away when she was 15 months old. She did really well after a rough couple of nights.
But I do have two suggestions:
*I was super attached to my binkie and my mom got me down to one and when I left it at my grandma's house one day, she had me call and talk to grandma and grandma put it in a safe place. Every time I cried for it, I got to call grandma and make sure it was still there. By the time we went back (she lived a couple of hours away) I'd forgotten all about it.
*My little sister was attached to hers. At her doctor's checkup the doctor said she was too old for a pacifier. When they left the office, my mom asked her if she remembered what the doctor said, threw away the pacifier, and when she asked her for it reminded her what the doctor had said.
Good luck!
My son is two and we just got rid of his paci. He was in LOVE with it, and only slept with it at naps and bedtime. I put it off for so long because I thought he would have a MAJOR meltdown. One night when he was getting ready for bed he looked for his paci and I said "Oh! They went bye bye." He slept all night without crying at all. So you may luck out like I did and it won't be as big of deal as you think!
I'll be honest, I am one of those lucky mom's whose son really didn't want anything to do with a pacifier afer 2 months. However, I myself as a child LOVED my wee-see-wa. And no, no one knows where I got that name from. I still remember my mom sitting me down, when I was 2, and having a grown up discussion with me about it. She very blantantly told me that I was a big girl now and big girls don't use wee-see-wa's. I got it. I said my good-bye's and moved on. It was hard the first hour or so, but then I was fine and never looked back. This may not work for your little one, but an honest, big girl conversation was all I needed!
Nothing gives you the incentive to wean off the Nuk faster than the dentist telling you it's screwing up your child's teeth. :) We went the 'broken' route (slowly trimmed it off until there was nothing left). Worked like a charm! Good luck!!
Someone already mentioned this, but the binky fairy worked for us! We talked about it for a week or so and then she left her binkies out for the fairy to pick up. In return, the fairy left a toy (and some fairy dust all around! My daughter was done without any problem (but so were her naps!)
When I have time, I'm going to have to read through all these comments. I'm in the EXACT same boat! I was the wonderful diciplined parent with the other kids, but my son is almost two and uses his binky (we call it that too around here) at sleep time. He loves it. I need a solution because it's just gone on too long.
Amy my oldest was the only one who was attached but with a second child coming into the family when he was 16 months I let him have it just at bedtime or nap time. He did really good but he loved it. So one day we took him to the store and let him pick out a toy and he paid for it with giving the binki to the cashier. She sneakly put it in a bag for us. He asked for it a couple times after that but we told him remember he bought lighting McQueen and he would think about that and he was fine. It was painless and there was no lost sleep YAH. Good luck. Maybe I will see you when we are out there this week. Melissa
Both of my kids have LOVED their binkies…the only way we have gotten rid of them (and after age 2 BUT before 3) is to tempt them with something they really really want. They both had to pay' for the item with their binkie. One had a harder time than the other but both still slept fine. Its hard to take something away they love so much! But my husband is a dentist and starts freaking out about how their teeth are growing in. GOOD LUCK!
I recently started following your blog. You have the BEST ideas! Well, as for the binky…my daughter had a major attachment to hers. She also loves stuffed animals and "Build a Bear", so we just told her that when she was ready we could go and build a bear, and we would put her binky inside of it so she would always have it. One day she just decided she was ready and so we did it. We did not over stuff the bear so you can actually feel the paci. It was a fun, memorable time and it worked great for us. I think the big key is that your child has to be ready. Otherwise, it is a lot of tears and sleepless nights. :O) Best of luck to you! ~Shirley Casey
My daughter was I believe about 17 or 18 months. I Love Binky's, I think they are adorable :), and I was trying to keep her from learning to suck her thumb, which she had never even tried to do before. We tried just weaning her away from it, but she would just get mad and cry for her 'B'. Finally one day we couldn't find it, and I just wasn't going to go to the store and buy her a brand new one again! She was very sad, but she did pretty well. She would ask for it all the time for about a week, and then…. dun dun dun… she discovered her thumb. She is now two, and that is STILL our problem! She will not give it up! Her poor little thumb is all dried out and the skin is cracked, but you just can't take away a thumb… so if anyone has any ideas on that, they should let me know! :)
Good luck!
Amy
PS I am a new reader, and I absolutely love what you do! :)
my son was just like her, he LOVED it and was a good sleeper, we made him keep it in his bed and he had it until he was 3!!
i wouldn't worry so much but when you think she can handle it you can start snipping little pieces off of the end until she doesn't want it anymore. we did a goodbye party for my daughter with bottles, she threw them all in a bag for other babies, it seemed to work but i just couldn't do it with the binky. good luck.
We also "exchanged" the binky for a toy at the store with 2 of our sons & it worked out really well. Just had to remind them that they had a fantastic new toy when they asked for the binky. Good Luck.
I love your story…we also went to Disney and we lost my daughters "Cha Cha" We said Cinderella has it. She told anyone that would listen that Cinderella has it. So far so good. She says she is a big girl now! Good Luck!
Well this may not be exactly what you are looking for …. but… what is so bad about her having it at nap time? I would think about the core issue of why you want her to get rid of it?? Is it because it is socially unacceptable or because you just think she is too old? I was a thumb sucker and my mom had the hardest time trying to get me to quit sucking my thumb. When she talked to my pediatrician, he told her to let me keep doing it. He said that my teeth could always be fixed (rather easily) but that it would be extreamly hard to fix my emotions had she taken away something that I was emotionally attached to. Eventually as I got older I didn't want to suck my thumb anymore because I was too old. But I relate to her passy as I do with my bumper (the bumper pad from my crib) — I look forward to cuddling up with it at night and I am 25 years old. It may sound silly or funny, but it does give me comfort and I don't see anything wrong with it. :)
Maybe not the typical comment but its my view on the subject. Good luck!!
We're debating this same thing with our second child (15 months). Really though, I don't see any harm in it. My oldest daughter actually had hers at night until she was 3. Gasp! And I was an orthodontic asst. for 5 years. My opinion (and the orthodontist I worked for) was that it really was no big deal (for sleep). Sounds like you have some fabulous ideas from commenters though, but overall I say don't fret it. :) Love your blog!
We had a pacifier party with cupcakes and a present for her and told her the pacifier fairy needed her pacifier for another baby. I'm embarassed to admit that we told her if she fell asleep(once the pacifier was gone) the pacifier fairy would leave her something. It was a stash of things from the 99 cent store. It went on for about 2 weeks and then we told her the pacifier fairy needed to help another little girl say good bye to her pacifier so she wouldn't be back.
Krista
my daughter traded hers for a super cool pair of shoes. Course we traded one addiction for another, but at least 20 pairs of shoes sounds better than sleeping with 8 pacis right?
I didn't get rid of my daughter's pacifier until she was a little over two. I had just had my second daughter and life was a little crazy for all of us. We had somehow lost all of her pacifiers so I just GAVE (I didn't let them share pacifiers) her one of her sisters newborn ones until I could get her a new one. Yes, even though she was two, I still had no real intention of taking it away at this point in our lives. Instead she felt special to be able to get something that she felt had high value of her sisters and then after one night she decided herself that she didn't want one at all. It was too small and uncomfortable for her mouth. I definitely didn't think of the consequences it could have had on her teeth, but I wouldn't have let her use it long and fortunately she chose not to herself. I think that is the key to a peaceful good bye: let it ultimately be their idea. Good luck!
WOW lots of comments on this already!!! One word – Paci-fairy! It was on supernanny. Instructions/Tips here:
http://www.supernanny.com/Advice/-/Supernanny-techniques/-/Discipline-and-reward/The-paci~fairy-technique.aspx
Similar to what you did with minnie only the child knows it's comming. :)
Good Luck!!
Not sure……our 3rd daughter has only been home a month and is starting to not like hers. We think it's because she's teething now (4 molars at once! ouch!), and are trying to decide if we seize the moment and just make them disapear :) Our older 2 sucked their thumbs, so different problems…..
I'm going through the same thing! My baby just turned one and I want to get rid of the bink–but it's her comfort–so I hesitate. My older daughter gave her's up at 6 months when I switchd brands. My mother in law told me that when her daughter was little they had a friend who had a new baby. She told her daughter the new baby needed a binki so they mailed it to her–she got to wrap it in a package and take it to the post office.
I would swear that was my child in your photos. My son had a secret stash of them. It seemed that every time we took one away, he would come back with a different one. What's another sleep-deprived night or 2. I would just keep them out of reach and let her play to the point where she is so tired that she passes out without it
I forgot to add that I bought a newborn paci; one that was to small for is mouth. He found it pretty hard to keep it in. Hope that helps
My oldest had the binky until she was about 2 1/2. We left them on the cookie plate Christmas Eve for Santa to take to other babies. Worked pretty good. Only about two nights of tears. My other two are thumbsuckers. How do I get rid of thumbs???
my dearling–as someone wise once wrote….me thinks the lady doth protest too much. i am old enough to be your mother and the grandmother of these precious babies. i nursed my 3rd child until he was two and people said i did it too long. he was killed in an accident about 10 years later and every single moment of those nights spent hearing those little sucky sounds is precious to me. my last three children (the last two twins—and some of my best work–were all either finger or thumb suckers. this is the way i figure things. children suck because they need to suck, whether it is a thumb or a binky. they eventually give it up, although there are some hardcore suckers where some serious action needs to take place. my twins were 3 when everyone got chicken pox and i was worried that the chicken pox virus would get into their mouths. we discussed this and they came up with a way to stop the sucking themselves. what i am saying to you is that your children likely need the comfort that comes with sucking and they will give it up when they are older. i think that three is the time to say goodbye and some of these very clever ideas can help you. until then, let them suck to their heart's content–especially if it helps them to sleep. i think sometimes we–as mothers–are more bothered by things–binkies, potty training by a certain age–than we should be. less stress means a happier and more contented childhood and thus happier and less stressed adults; and less stressed mothers. relax. you can call me the voice of experience.
My four year old still uses his at bedtime. Our plan is to "forget" to pack it when we go on vacation this summer and hope that he is so distracted by the new location that he gets over it quickly. But he also has attachment/anxiety issues so I don't plan to push it too much. He can always get braces later :)
We took our daughter to the store and let her pick out a toy she had been wanting. We told her that she had to sleep for a few nights without her pacifier. She did and got her toy and never asked for it again. I think she was about 2 years old. We also did the same for my son and it also worked with him. Good luck.
First the binky, or the plug as my daughter called it, had to stay in the house. Then a week or so later it had to stay upstairs, then in her room, and finally she could only have it in her bed. When she would bring them out of her room they would always "get lost." So after the last one disappeared, she was done. We only had two nights where she cried for it, and she only cried for a few minutes. The down side is, it took us about a month to do it.
My two year old son has a "wubby" that is a blanket he is in love with. I wish I knew how to take it from him but honestly it just brings him so much comfort that I can't take it away. He only gets it in his bed or on long car rides. I think it might end up going to NFL training camp with him someday.
I wish I had an encouraging story to tell. When my daughter was 18 months, I told her that we had to give her paci to her friend (who was still a small baby at the time). She was okay with that explanation, but we had 3 hard nights of crying herself to sleep. There was so soothing to be done :(. However, she holds no ill will toward that friend, and after those three days, all was well and paci-free!
The super nanny had a cute idea. She had the child put all the binkis into an envelope and addressed it to the binki fairy. She told the child a story about how the binki fairy gives the binkis to brand new babies who need them. They put it in the mail box for it to be picked up and in the morning when they went to see if it had been taken, there was a package waiting there for the child with fun little prizes and toys. Every time the child asked about the binki she reminded them of the story. The way she told the story was so cute and dreamy it just worked. Not sure if this works in the real world because much to my dismay my little guy never liked the binki that much. I guess it was a blessing in disguise. Good luck, hope to hear a success story soon. :)
AS I read this, I can hear my son on the monitor, NOT going to sleep. He's 2 1/2 and tonight is his first night without a binkie. It was a very last minute decision on our part, and he is NOT loving life with the cold turkey idea…so thanks for all the advice ladies! My older daughters were thumb suckers, so this binkie thing is new to me. :)
I just got rid of my 18 months old binky. Fun night. We cut the tip off like many suggested. He didn't like that and we had him throw it away and say good-bye to it. He happily waved to it and went to bed. He sounds like your little girl. Good sleeper but loves the binky for naps and bed. He cried or fused for about an hour. We haven't had a problem since. It's so nice not having a binky to worry about anymore!
My 2nd child was VERY attached to her pacifier… until an embarrasingly old age of just over 3- only at naps and bedtime though. So she was old enough to understand the tactic we took. Her older sister had just lost 2 teeth and had the tooth fairy come twice. So we told her there was a "pacifier fairy". We collected all of her pacifiers, put them in a baggie, put them under her pillow, and that night the "pacifier fairy" came and took them and left her a dollar (just like her sister got) and a little note telling her thank you and that she was going to give them to another little baby that needs them. This totally worked and she never asked for them again… and like I said, she was VERY attached.
A pediatric dentist told us that as long as they were only sleeping with it, they could have it until they were four. They are only small for so long, and wouldn't you like to have something as soothing and innocuous as a pacifier in your life.
Your house sounds like mine! Our pediatric dentist told us not to take the pacifier away from our son, that he would give it up by age 3 or 3.5 and we'd do more damage traumatizing him than good for his teeth. We've been anxious to help him along, so we told him when he turned 3, he would be a big boy and only babies needed pacifiers, so we would give his to a baby. He would repeat this and tell others about this plan often. Then, out of the blue, a month before his 3rd birthday, he decided he was done with it, just as the dentist said! We had a parade taking the pacifiers to the trash, took him out for a special dinner and let him pick out a special toy to celebrate being a "big boy" and giving up the pacifier. It worked because it was his choice when he was ready, and he hasn't missed it one bit! We decided if he DID miss it, we'd let him sleep with his new toy instead of the pacifier, but that hasn't been necessary. ~Sheri
I didn't read through all 129 of the already shared comments so I don't know if this has been shared… but we cut the nipple part of all of my son's binkys with scissors and then when he sucked, he didn't get the satisfaction he normally did. Then, we explained to him that his binkys were broken and so it must be time to throw them away. I let him throw them all in the garbage (so he had some closure) and initially he was hesitant, but then threw them away and never looked back! Good luck!
I had my binky for longer than I should have, and sadly I developed more of a lower jaw than most kids (not really that noticeable anymore). To get rid of it, my mom simply covered it with a really bad tasting liquid to quickly take kids off it. Quickly stopped my habit lolol.
with my stepdaughter, her mother let her use her "didi" until she was pushing 3!!!
she couldn't put a sentence together because she used it constantly and it impaired her speech.
So finally, I was so fed up with the D*mn pacifier I took it from her for a second, snipped off the very end of the rubber tip and handed it back to her.
She took one look at the pacifier said "it broken" and never looked back!
my husband was OVERJOYED but her mother was mad because I figured out how to get rid of the paci and not her!
All 4 of my daughters have used a binki. honestly we never pushed getting rid of it until around 2. heehee. guess we're a little lazy. We have used the binki fairy every time. We put the binkis in a bag and hang them outside in a tree. In the morning they get to run out and see what the fairy left them. Usually they get a cute little stuffed animal. Our youngest karli is 16 months. i hadn't even thought about getting rid of it yet. I am still having too much fun making binki clips for her abd her friends. haha to each his own. Good luck.
I know you have gotten plenty of great advice, but my 2 cents…NOT to worry about it. My daughter just turned 5 and SHE gave it up about 3 weeks ago. Yes–call me "horrible" in society's eyes–but I knew that she was going to do it on her own. She ONLY had it in the bed, and it was a true sense of "calm" for her. She is a very spirited young lady, and sometimes just needed an exterior way to soothe herself. I knew she wasn't going to school with it, and I'd also pop it out at night when she was asleep–I don't know any kids, paci users or not, that get to escape braces these days! Sleep for YOU is a good thing. Don't stress over it :-)
We did the "tie them to balloons and float them off to yonder". It worked like a charm. When he asked for them, we reminded him that they were far, far away … there were no tears or anything (and he was EXTREMELY addicted). Wish I could break my daughter's thumb-sucking habit that easily.
See the "release" here: http://6dukes.blogspot.com/2008/11/soother-freedom-day.html
I bought a cute and cheap $4 doll at Walmart and told my daughter that she could have it, but she had to collect all her binkies around the house put them in a bag and throw them in the trash. She had to throw them away herself. She did it happily and got to sleep with the doll.
The first night was easy, then second night she whined for about 20 minutes, then she was over it the rest of the nights.
Completely enjoy your blog by the way!
Just wanted to say "No judgements here!" I have a little guy who still goes to bed with a sippy- I would much prefer a binky!
Also wanted to add that I scrolled through some of your potty training comments and they were really helpful to me facing the same- thanks for asking for advice so we can all partake! Good luck to you and your little one :)
I had the same problem with my little girl. We did the bye bye binky party, we had HER throw it in the trash and then we had cake! It also helped that we did it the same day that she got a big girl bed…. because big girls don't have binkies! It took about a week of her asking for it/looking for it. But it worked out for us! Good luck!
Our Pediatrician gave a fool proof trick. Throw out as many Binkys as you can find, leave one or two. Clip the tip off with a pair of scissors. Every few days clip alittle more off. Eventually they realize they are all broken, don't suck the same anymore and give them up on their own. My son was a die hard binky boy and this did the trick when nothing else would. Good luck.
I saw this on supernanny and loved it. She had a binky fairy come with a net and the binky is put in the net and sits on top of the fridge or somewhere the kids could see it. Then the next morning, or naptime, the binkies are gone and there's a little present in the net for the child who gave up their binky for another baby.
I would start out by cutting yourself some slack. =) As a mother, we all do things that maybe we 'never thought we'd do'. And if your biggest parenting mistake was to let your kids have the binky past two years of age, well, I'd say you were a successful parent! I've yet to see a kid in first grade sucking on his binky, so I suppose in their own way, all kids learn to let it go themselves. And, I also believe, that the more sleep I get = the happier & less stressed I am = the better parent I am. That being said, I eventually used the 'poke a hole in the end of it' trick. The binky pretty much lost its magical effect after that, although she did hold it in her hands some nights while she slept! And that was just too cute for me to care about! Good luck!
My son just turned three and up until his party, used and held a binky at bed time! So, don't feel bad! There is a book called bye bye binky and two times a week we would read it and explain how on your third birthday, you can not turn three and be a "big boy" unless you let the binky go. So, on his bday, he tied the only two binkys left to his ballons and it was bye bye binky! (after they came back down and mommy quickly hid them :)) he cried at night for two days, now hes so proud of it! I think the key is in the build up! Good Luck!
Why not put the binkies into a jiffy bag and mail them to someone (like a granny or aunty etc). Include your child in this process and allow them to take the parcel to the post office so they can help to mail them. Straight afterwards, take your child to buy a big boy or girl present as a reward. Or you could do what my sister did. When her youngest was 3yrs old she talked with him about the fact that because he was now a big boy they needed to throw his binkies away in the trash and that in return he could go to the store and choose a big boy toy. He accepted this completely and didn't ask for his binkies at all!
I'm in the "don't stress about it" camp. All the suggestions are great, but my son will be 2 soon and we're not pushing to get rid of it by a certain time. Our pediatrician told us her son had his until he was 3 and because our son only takes it at bedtime and has no trouble talking in sentences- she said not to worry that it's delaying him. Our other child was born with serious health problems, and in all honestly, a lot of stuff I thought was a big deal seems pretty minor in comparison. As long as your baby's happy and healthy everything else has a way of working out! :)
Wow, looks like you have 144 suggestions already, but we only had this issue with one child. I LOVED the binky, too. For all the reasons you mentioned. Also, I felt really bad taking away from her something she loved and felt comforted by. I felt guilty. She was nearly 3 when we mailed all her binky's to strawberryland because Strawberry needed them for her baby sister, Apple Dumpling. She willingly gathered them all and was excited about the idea. We did a ritual of all of us walking to the mailbox (down the street) and she put it in herself. When she asked, we simply reminded her she mailed it herself. She was sad for a day or two. Sleeping seemed fine, but if I were you, I'd hold off on it. She'll be ok for a little while longer:)
When we got rid of his binky my son started sucking his thumb story of how he stopped here http://breakfastlunchdinnerandpunch.blogspot.com/2009/06/monkeys-swan-song.html also in your picture the stuffed toy next to your baby looks VERY much like my son's stuffed monkey who in a sense replaced his binky.
i had the same problem with my son. he was just a little over a yeat when i took it from him. i swore not to let him have it after one. well the day came around and he cried and cried and kept asking for his paci. so i gave in and gave it to him. he slept all the time with that thing we had jars full of them, never left home without back ups. well a friend of mine told me to cut the very tip of the pacifier off. so when we finally only had one left (i refused to buy anymore, so we just lost them all) i snipped the end. i gave it to him that night for bed and all he said was "mommy its broken, it no work mommy." put it down and went to bed! that was it afgter trying mustard on it telling him the birds took it. just one little snip and it ended is relationship. of course i was sad not to see him walking around with it all the time. i hope all the tips help. by the way i absolutely love your blog. keep up the great work!
My daughter was a little over 2 and used the binky for napping and quiet time. She loved it and we had no idea how to get rid of it, but knew it was way over due to say good bye. My sister would call it the "stinky binky" and told her she should throw it in the trash one day. My daughter actually paused and thought about it. So I decided to go with this. I continued to tell her she should just throw it away and 2 days later she opened the trash told me "not working" and threw it in. That was it. She asked about it a few times later and I said, "remember it wasn't working, so you threw it away."