Getting Rid of the Binky - Ocala,FL

I took my daughter to the dentist for the first time at about that age. Before we went, we packed up all the binky's in a plastic bag and she gave them to the dentist. She asked about them a couple of times and I just said "remember, we gave them to the dentist". She would respond with a sad "oh" and that would be the end of it.

i had the same problem with my child when it came time to get rid of her binky. i tried everything but what worked the best was to sit her down and explain to her that binky went bye bye when she asked for it. the frist few times were really hard but after that she just forgot about it. i think that each child is different but to be stright forward without any tricks works great. Good Luck

The first step is to keep the paci's out of reach for her. Meaning you have total control to when she gets it/ sees it.

Maintain only giving it to her during sleep time. Throw them all out except one. Then very gradually start snipping the tip of the paci off... a tiny bit every few days. In a few weeks she will be down to nothing to latch on to. Hopefully she will lost interest in it at that point, if not encourage her to throw it away because it is "broken".

Also, if she doesn't already have something else she is attached to for sleep time, introduce something (a bunny, teddy, blanket, etc) before you start snipping. That way she can transfer her affection to something else.

We did all of this with my son and it worked beautifully. The biggest hurdle we cam across was that he liked to "hold" the paci when he was done sucking on it during sleep. I just encouraged him to hug his stuffed frog. We got over that bit in a day.

The key is gradually snipping the tip off.

Good Luck!

--P. M.

What's the rush in taking away your child's ability to soothe herself? It's not hurting her or her teeth until age 4. You already limit when and where she can use it. I suggest waiting. When it's time, make sure you replace the pacifier with another bedtime soother that she chooses - something soft like a silk pillow or silky animal, etc.

However you handle it, involve your daughter and let her be part of it. Don't just take them away from her. The fairy idea I have heard before, and seems good. What we did, was took my daughter (on her 2nd birthday) to the bakery at Publix and she GAVE them ALL to the lady there. (We discussed it first - both me and the bakery, and me and my daughter). We gathered ALL of them up and put them in a big gallon sized ziploc bag so she could carry them herself. Then she "bargained" with the bakery person for what she wanted in exchange (she let her choose from the cake topper toys--- and she got about 4 of them)...
My daughter was so proud of those toys. Then, when she wanted her paci, I just reminded her that she had traded them for her toys and we didn't have them anymore. (She only asked 2 times... within the first 36 hours... then never again).
I think the trick was letting HER be in control....
Best of luck however you do it...

You could always buy some things you know she wants or would like and have them at a store somewhere in advance so she has some "choices" about what she wants.... just talk to one of your regular stores you go to and set it up... I'm sure they'd be glad to help you out!

I usually got rid of my kids passy's around Christmas time. "Santa needs the passy's for other children that don't have one and he will bring you special presents this year" And that's what I did and it worked for 3 kids. I just had to be consistant and convincing :) I started talking about it at Thanksgiving. Like: What can everyone give up that would be special to them, that would make another boy or girl feel better? Then of course our suggestion would be the "your passy would help another boy or girl and Santa could bring it to them, especially another baby" "your big now, you dont need it anymore, dont you want to help a baby that needs one?" and keep talking about it and talking about it. They usually gave it to me and I put it in a special cup and then stuck it in my attic and told them I put it away for Santa to get it. Hope this helps. The kids are now 13, 12 and 8 and none of them have a passy anymore "cause we gave it to Santa".
Take care,
D.

We had to leave my daughter's paci under the Christmas tree. It was like a trade; Paci for Christmas gifts. My brother took his daughter to the beach and they threw the paci into the ocean to the fishies. I also know people who have cut off the tip and I guess that works well too. Good luck, I'll be going through it again in about a year.

Hi K.
There's no need to get rid of binky. Babies have a natural sucking mechanism and it's soothing. It doesn't hurt anyone, doesn't hurt her teeth. She will outgrow it eventually. They're only babies one time in their life. I would say about the same time they are potty trained they will be binky ready.
T.

Hi K. ~ My son was around the same age, and I was NOT looking forward to taking away his paci because he was sssoo attached to it. However, I read about the following and it worked better than expected: I gathered up all his pacis and snipped just a little off the end of each one. Then he continued to use them. Then the next week I did the same thing and continued this until they were all down to a nub. At that point, there was really nothing left to suck on and it was hard for him to hold in his mouth anyway. Then one day, they all "disappeared". It was a great method for him. Try it!

We just took all the pacifiers away from our daughter. She fussed for a couple days. But, it has been almost 7 months now. Just tell her they are all gone. Good luck.

i have 3 boys and from my experience the only way to break them of the pacifier is to just get it out of the house. i know it will be hard at first but it is the best way. just hold your baby and sing to her until she goes to sleep. eventually she will get used to doing without it. try getting her used to using sippy cups in place of the bottles if you haven't already and that will make it a bit easier.

our pediatrician advised us to get rid of the binky around the same age for several reasons.
we took all the binkies in the house and threw them away except one, remember they can not count at that age. then we cut the tip off of the one. when our daughter asked for it we gave it to her and she couldn't suck because we cut off the tip. she said it was broken and we told her to throw it away and she did!! she asked for it a few nights in a row and we reminded her that it was broken and she didn't need it anymore. she was restless trying to fall asleep for maybe a week but now she has absolutely no interest in the binkie. good luck to you and i think it is responsible to try to get rid of it sooner than later but i would advise having your daughter involved in the process.

I stuggled and struggled with this with my own son. I tried cutting them, showing him they were broken and it did not matter...he knew we had more and knew where they were...finally we were down to one and he lost it outside...we searched in the dark for about 30 minutes...him helping and then I gave up and prepared myself for the worst night of my life. I was extremely surprised when I in fact did not have that bad of a night.

He asked for it and I told him that he had lost it outside and that mommie would keep looking for it but that it was time to get settled in for bed. I also told him if I found it I would bring it to him. Well he asked several times for it a day, especially at night for about 2 weeks...every time I told him the same exact story...finally he didn't even ask for it any more.

He did have some seperation issues with it because he started chewing on his bears ear but this wasn't really bad. He eventually stopped doing this as well.

Good Luck this is a hard process to brake. I tried many times until finally he was more ready to give it up.

It does mess with the teeth. My son's living proof with a large gap between his top and bottom teeth only evident in the front. Since we've stopped giving him the paci so much, it's starting to go away.

It can also mess with speech development. I hear it every week from our speech therapist about getting rid of it completely and we're workign on it. They can't form the words right or use their tongue properly if there's a huge piece of rubber blocking the way.

Sam's almost three and only takes it at night and at nap at home (doesn't get it at the sitter's for nap).

I'm a huge proponent of paci's over thumbs, but having a delayed child, I can definitely see where taking it away earlier rather than later is MUC BETTER.

My sister had her daughter throw them away as she bit wholes in them. once the last one was gone, she was over it.

I know lots of people who "mail" the binkies to Santa or binky fairy for the new babies and get a prize in return (Santa/fairy is a relative).

She's soothing herself.....only you know how best to do that. Maybe start talking it up and include a conversation abotu trading "up" to a big girl soother, like a doll or special blanket.

At 15 months old, my daughter's pediatrician said the "BT" (as my daughter called it) was messing up the alignment of her teeth and we had to get rid of it by her 18 month appointment. So when she was 17 1/2 months old, I picked a day with her that BT would go away. We counted down, "BT will be gone in three days...." The night before I found the extras and hid them away. The next morning threw tears and prying it out of her hand, I had her throw it away. While she wasn't looking I took it out of the garbage can (it was a Precious Moments BT and I wanted to save it for her!). We lived in the country and had a burn barrel so we took the bag of garbage out and burned BT and said goodbye. When she would ask for BT (at this time she was only using it at nap and bed times, we'd broken the all day habit prior to this) I'd say "Where's BT?" She'd say "In the garbage". I'd say, "Why is BT in the garbage?" She'd say "I'm a big girl". By the third day she looked up at me and said "BT's in the garbage, I'm a big girl." and never asked for it again. I was relieved! I guess I'm saying explain to him, countdown and make a ceremony of it, and then just be firm and consistent about why it is gone. Extra hugs and kisses probably will help too!