Getting Rid of Pacifier with a Five Year-old

With my son, the "Binky Fairy" came and took it away. At that age, he had no concept of money, but instead there was a book in exchange for his binky. He was so excited, and the next day he insisted on calling everyone to tell them that he got a new book for his binky. Good Luck!!
J.

Hi C.,
I have to tell you that I have a VERY sensitive daughter that was ADDICTED to her paci. What we did was start mentioning that she was getting to be a big girl and no longer needed the paci. We needed to send the paci up to the angels for them to give to all the new babies that are going to be born and need them. We talked about it for a few weeks, everyday and asked her what would happen if she a new baby didn't get a paci. It also helps if you know someone who is going to have a baby b/c then you can say....."Don't you want baby so and so to have your paci?" Then I took her to the party store, got 4-5 big helium balloons blown up, tied the paci to the end of the balloons with a note to the angels, went outside and had HER let the balloons/paci and note go. We watched it until we couldn't see it anymore and that was the end of it. She still asked for it for the first 2 days but after reminding her where it went and telling her how proud we were, it was done. If you use this, make sure you have him watch it go into the clouds and as soon as you can't see it say "LOOK, the angels took it!"

As for the letter.....very simple...."Dear angels, I am a big girl now and no longer need my paci. Could you please give mine to one of the new babies about to be born? Thank you! Sincerly, Joey. That's it! It worked like a charm!

If you have any questions, please email me.
Good Luck!
K. :~)

Hi C.,
I have just gotten rid of the bottle for my 3 year old boy successfully. I wonder if that could apply on your case. What I did was throwing the bottle into the trash can in front of my boy( when he is full and is not thirsty) and told him that big boy does not use bottle.And we would find some thing to play with to distract him from getting upsetting. At night when he cried and ask for it, I would remind him that we already threw the bottle away and he had to use a cup if he is thirsty. Of course, a whole family will have to hear hime cry for 3 -4 night then he forget about the bottle afterward. I just did this in May 07. And I have to make sure that no bottle is around the house any more. I hope my experience will help. Good luck .
A little about me:
I am working full time Mom of an 8 year old girl and a 3 year old boy

Wow, those who suggested the "Fairy" come and take the binkys away....Fantastic! Where were you all when I needed help back in the day? haha

I think both the fairy and the Build-a-Bear stuffing idea is a great way to go.

Good luck, in no time your 5 yo will be Binky-free.

If he won't get rid of them cut the tips or poke a hole in the pacifier. Have him put them in a bag and hang them on the tree to give to the pacifier fairy and then when he wakes up to check the tree and he will have something special that you put there.

I just took the pacifer away. It was a day of insanity but it worked. Looking back it really wasn't bad. For my twins we "Accidently" left it at grandma's house (who we see once a month) - that worked better.

Otherwise let him know that there are new babies that need a pacifer and maybe he can pick one out of a magazine and you can help him mail it to the baby - use your own address & return address - have him place it in the mail box. At the same time mail a special toy for him - with a thank you note from the baby. He will be excited when he gets mail - just like the baby was excited when it received the special pacifer.

Good luck - it feels worse than it actually is - you'll look back and wonder why you dind't do it sooner.

Have the binky fairy come and leave him a small toy. It worked like a charm for my friend's daughter.

I tryed to limit the use of his paci to only nap and bedtime and it could not leave his bedroom. Well eventually it ended up downstairs and we were back to the same old routine. I have to mention that he has a "taggie" (small blanket with ribbons around the edges of different texture)so he has two comforts at bedtime and it was time to eliminate one. My younger son was going to the Dr office alot (ear infections) so my oldest would talk about going to Dr Hannahs office. Finally, one day I told him that Dr Hannah came and took all his pacis. He was ok with it until bedtime. I would tell him that we would go in the morning and ask Dr Hannah for them back and to hold his taggie for now. When the morning came he would forget about it. It took a few nights until he was ok with it and when we visit the dr office now he makes no mention of it. He even gives his little brother his paci when it falls out. I did not cave-in and it took a little while but it worked. I hope this helps, and good luck!

My daughter is 3, almost 3 1/2, and we are thinking of getting rid of her plug too. It is hard, probably more for us than her? But...she is also not potty trained yet and we are expecting our third child Oct 3rd. I worry taking before the baby would be rough, plus trying to potty train and we took her crib away. Is there ever a right time? Let me know what you end up doing and how it worked out. I thought about cutting it, b/c we already have said to her that when it breaks it breaks and there will be no more plug.
Good luck

I read somewhere that parents are taking their children (and paci's) to "build a bear" and having them stuffed inside an animal, that way the child knows where it's at at all times and can give his teddy a hug whenever he wants.

Have the Binky Fairy come visit. put ALL the binkys in a ziplock at the foot of the bed and explain that the fairy will take the binkys for the new little babies that are being born that day who have none. The fairy then leaves a really good gift wrapped toy instead
for big boys thta a baby could not use. worked with both my kids.

I don't have that problem with my son but babysat a little girl overnight that had to have her pacifier to go to sleep (I had her 5 to 6 nights a week). I told her one night she did not need it anymore and stoped giving it to her. She would give me a hard time for a couple of nights but did fine after that. Her mom would keep a pacifier in her hand basically all day and have many laying around where she could get to them. Not at my house. Even when she was small I would put the pacifier up during the day so she would forget about it. I also never gave her one while driving in the car or during nap time.

I was lucky with my son he never took to a pacifier. When I first was watching Charlie girl he would want one to hold if she had one during the day but never really put it in his mouth. Now I am not watching Charlie overnight anymore and she is back on the pacifier and she just turned 3. Be diligent and explain to your little one that a pacifier is for babies and he is a big boy now. I know they are too little to understand right? They understand a lot more than we adults give them credit for and I have tried to explain that to other parents and even though they see how smart my little man is and how well he understands they still don't believe their own little ones will understand. Their tiny little brains will absorb as much as we let them absorb and I encourage as much learning as possible. I am always explaining things to my son and he surprises me with an understanding that even I never thought possible.

Our son was a little younger, about three and a half, and only using a pacifier at night when our dentist warned us that we needed to eliminate it altogether. We talked with him about being a big boy and how the "binky" was something for little boys and made a little ceremony out of him giving his binky to a baby boy who is the son of a friend. All seemed well until the first night without the pacifier, when it all went out the window. We just had to stand firm and remind him over and over again that he'd given the binky away, he didn't need it anymore, etc. We had a couple of rough nights, but once they're over, they're over.

I should add that the baby to whom he gifted his pacifier didn't really use the used pacifier; we had worked it out with the mother so that our son would feel that he was passing it on.

Hi C.,
I have heard great success when you tell your son that he needs to send them to another baby. My friend told her son that their new cousin needed the pacifiers. So they packed them up in a box and mailed them together. It gets him to be a part of the whole process and he felt happy that he was doing something so helpful!

Some dear friends of ours have resorted to giving the pacifiers to the baby tigers at the zoo. The date is set and the kids were told what will happen. All of the pacifiers were taking to the zoo to the tigers and left there. It helped b/c the kids knew what was happening and some what distracted by giving them to the tigers. Now they have a story to tell and they are very proud of themselves.
Good luck!