Which Transitition Should I Do First (Binky or Big Girl Bed)?

Both my kids used a binky. I never made a big deal about getting them to stop. Like you, they only could have them in bed. What I did was cut a slit in the end of them. It took the sucking sensation away and they just stopped. I couldn't believe how easy it was. They did hold them in bed for a long time but never put them back in their mouths.

Good luck

Help her tie her binky to several large helium balloons, so that you can let them go up to the angels for the babies in heaven who need them. (saw this on a show recently and thought it was great.)

I think taking the binky away first. I always let my children throw away the bottles or binky which ever was lingering. Then when they wanted it I reminded them that they threw it away. My daughter when to the trash can but couldn't find it there because the trash was taken out already. She cried for a little bit but then realized it was her mistake. When she no longer cries for it tell what a big girl she is so when it comes time to the bed she will really feel like a big girl. Good Luck!

If you have room, try putting a toddler bed in her room along with the crib and give her a choice. Slowly, she will get curious. You may have to get the side rails because she may be afraid of falling out of bed. The binky, you should just let time take care of. Remind her she is a big girl and doesn't need baby things anymore and maybe start a treat box, mine was filled with Happy Meal type toys and was a wonderful incentive. I now use it in my Sunday School class filled with pens, pencils, erasers, stickers, etc. When she goes an hour without the binky, or lays down to go nite nite, offer her a small stuffed animal instead from the treat box, make sure it is age appropriate, and remind her again, she is a big girl now. Be consistent, but understand, she may not be able to quit "cold turkey" but it will happen eventually.

We just went through the same situation with our youngest. As a reward for not using a passy at night - she got a "big bed". The transition has been a lot easier than I thought it would be - she will ask for one at night, but I remind her how grown up she is because now she sleeps in a "big bed". Good Luck!

I think you should do the big girl bed first. If you do that, you can tell your daughter she's a big girl and doesn't need a binky. If that doesn't work, you can cut off the edge of the binky. It will taste and feel wierd. Most likely your daughter won't want it anymore.

Your dentist will tell you to get rid of the "Binky", it will hurt her teeth if you wait much longer. She will probably cry for either for about a week and then you're finished.

I would complete the potty training first for sure. My son did crawl out of his crib but we still kept him in it till he was almost 3, we finally put the mattress all the way on the floor so he coudln't crawl out. But, I will say,it was the easiet transition ever, I dreaded it but was then so surprised how easy it was. He loved his big boy bed & he still, after 7 months has never gotton out of it, he still calls for us when he wakes up. I would probably tie the binky &big bed together, say that big girls can't take binky's with them in a big girl bed & just do it at the same time, but I would complete the potty training first. good luck!!

I have a 2 yr 10mos old daughter. We are also trying to potty train without much success. But It can be a slow process. I reward her with a little dance and a treat when she uses the potty. As for the binky- just take it away like you did the bottle. Maybe make some sort of ceremony about it, like the lady that suggested tying it to balloons to go to babies in heaven, or paasing it to a youger baby in the family so she feels she is helping with the baby (always popular at her age). And the crib- I have one of those grow-with-her beds, but have yet to transition it because she has recently learned how to crawl over the baby gate I put in the door and her room is upstairs. I'm still trying to figure out how to keep her in her room at night. But with my older kids, we just asked them how they wanted to sleep and let them pick the toddler bed they wanted and we got it. If it's her decsion, it makes it really easy to move from crib to bed. Don't push too hard about the crib thing. She's not too big for it as long as she fits safely in it. You're lucky that she stays in it. Enjoy the age she's at right now and don't push too hard to make her grow up. Hope you find the solution that's right for you and Good Luck!!!!!

If anyone has suggestions about keeping mine in her upstairs room at night, I'm all ears. Just leave it on my page.

Don't rush the big girl bed. My pedi said your baby can stay in the crib until they are 3 unless they are trying to launch out. Keep the binky only for night. If your daughter still uses a binky during the day, it will interfere with her speech. Also, now there is some concern about the safety of binkys (contents of plastic residue getting into your child's system). If your child wakes up dry, that is a good indicator that she is ready to potty train. Be patient, set aside several days when you will be at home, and take our out of the pull-ups and diapers. Be positive, and give lots of praise. Good Luck!

In response to some of the fear-inducing comments below regarding the impact of pacifiers or thumb sucking on teeth (including inserting prongs - awful and most times uneffective) let me assuage it by saying I sucked my thumb until at least age 6 - if not longer when no one was looking - and have PERFECTLY staight teeth. Top and bottom. Never a day of retainers or braces.

My grandmother told me my dad used his pacifier for too many years and his teeth are perfectly lined up too. I'm not endorsing extended use of either pacifying method, but using a paci or thumb doesn't guaranty crooked teeth by any means. My closest friend never used either method and had years of retainers and braces. Just trying to eliminate some unnecessary fear. Sometimes we get a little militant about small things out of fear for our children. Me included!

you are very wise not to make too many changes at one time.
Regarding binkies - i found that if kids still need to suck on something - they will find anything - and it may not be as acceptable as a binky (or as easy to throw away later). My daughter sucked on her arm - just above her wrist. For years the skin was a dry callous in that spot - and you can't throw away the arm!!! So i wouldn't push on the binky - she is still young. You can try moving to a youth bed first - one that accepts the same crib mattress - but without the bars. Thus you can continue to use the same crib sheets she is familiar with.

If you have already begun steps towards potty training (ie: placed a potty chair where she can reach it on her own and showing her how to use it) then just maintain gentle reminders - but dont punish or pressure. When all the stars are aligned (ie: emotional maturity catches up with physical maturity) they will pretty much do it on their own.) Before you know it - this entire stage will have passed and you will wonder why you stressed over it.

Oh I remember that dreadful day of taking my son's binky away. It was difficult, but well worth it. I think you should first start by removing the binky, and then once your child has adjusted, then go for the big girl bed. I recall my son rolling all over the bed when we first took his binky. By habbit he was feeling all over the bed to try to find his binky, but could not find it, and would wine. I think if he had been in a toddler bed during this time, he would have fallen out of bed at least 10 times per night. It really took a good 6-8 nights for him to get over loosing his binky. By day 10 he didn't even need his binky to fall asleep, and really did not even remember it at all.

Here is my two cents...keep working on the potty training or if it isn't going well you can stop and try again closer to three. My son was 3 years 3 months before the potty training thing "clicked" for him. Anyways, set up the big bed and talk it up...get character sheets, make it a really awesome place and get her really excited about it. Then make the move to the big bed and let her keep the binky for comfort in her new bed. After a while make the binky a bedtime only object...then slowly work on the idea she doesn't need it anymore (send it to other babies, cut a small piece off the tip so it isn't as "suckable", etc).

To sum it up, bed first, binky second...for what it is worth. sending you a hug {{{{{hugs}}}}}

I would try going with the big girl bed first. She uses her binky as a security device and changing beds will be a big one for her. Having that security binky will help her cope. After she's been in the big girl bed for a while then try to ease her away from the binky. Maybe try naps without it first for a while and when she's ok with that go for nights without it. Hope this helps!

I think I may can help in the bed transition. My first boy is now three and we just got him to stay in his bigboy bed about a month ago. We had gone back and forth from bed to crib because he just wouldn't stay in the bed where he was free to roam. So I say the earlier you start the sooner she'll get the hang of it, but it may not be an immediate change. All kids are different though. She might do great!

On the subject of the pacifier..There's probably two ways you can do it. You can get her used to sleeping without it first then move her to the bed, so that she might be more independant in the change. OR, you should keep her on it, and friendly with the big girl bed and maybe it'll make all the changes easier. Although I've never had a 2 1/2 yr old with a binky though, but I have experience working with all kinds of children, just never had one at home. My son never took one.

Good luck to you and your daughter!

I would go with the binky. We just did the same thing with our 2 year old. She only used her binky for naps and sleeping. We told her that the binky fairy needed her binkies for babies that didn't have them. We told her she was a big girl and didn't need it anymore. She quickly informed that "no i need it i am a baby". We then had her put all of her binkys in a basket in her room. After she went to sleep we threw out the binkys and put a dvd and cd that she would like, as a present from the binky fairy for giving her the binkys. The first few naps and nighttimes it took her a bit to go to bed, but she finally did. A month later, the binkys are a distant memory.

I would suggest getting rid of the binky first. Once you get rid of the binky you can ease into the big girl bed because big girls don't have binkies or sleep in cribs. We weaned our daughter off of her binky by simply telling her it was lost. She understood what lost meant and easily accepeted that reason. She never asked for it again. I hope this helps!

Honestly she will sleep better with her security. I know both of my children did. If I was in your position I would change the bed so she is sleeping well at night with her security. This way if she is to awaken in the middle of the night she will put herself back to sleep with her paci. Good Luck.

I think that this is too many transitions at once!! The first thing I would do is finish potty training. I would leave her in big girl panties all the time for 2 weeks this means day and night! Lots of wash but it will get the job done and alway be kind when she has an accident, she will have to use the potty every day for the reast of her life!!!

Next I would tell her that she is a big girl, uses the big girl potty, and can now sleep in a big wonderful bed like Mommies because she doesn't potty in it!! how exciting!!!

As for as the binky goes all I can say is that if you don't want her to have it than you need to throw them all away and not give in. If she has had it for 2 1/2 years I am sure there will be drama. Think about how you would feel if you had to give up something that has brought you comfort since as for back as you can remember, If she isn't ready to give it up she could start sucking her thumb or fingers!

I hope that this helps

Hi Letha,

Two really big steps that are more for you than her right now in her life. The binky is a soothing mechanism and will fall by the wayside on it's own. I teach and have never seen a kid at school with one in their mouth. Along that same vein, I do see K-1st & 2nd graders slip a finger in their mouth when stressed.
The litmus test for big kid beds, is she trying to get out of her crib? Once they get out of their crib all sense or order in your house will go away. No more worry free, quiet time. What is she doing in the rest of the house, what is she getting into-did I lock all the doors. Childproofing becomes much more important.
I'd work on the bed first if I were making a change. The binky will soothe her as she changes environments.

Hope it helps.
I have 2 girls 4 & 8.
S. C.

Toss the binky. She'll get mad but will get over it. Should have taken the binky way back. Also, get the big girl bed and put a detachable railing on one side and put the other side against the wall. Oh and if she starts sucking her thumb, get the dentist to insert a device that has prongs.

You definitely want to stop the binky first. That way she can get use to sleeping without it. You also tell her that when she is able to sleep on her own without her binky then you will get her a big girls bed. Give her something to be excited about and to look forward too.

When my daughter was young I watched a Dr. by the name of Lindon Smith on how to stop the binky. He cut the tip off and each day or every other day he would cut a little bit more off until they lost that sucking sensation. Of course I didn't want to go through the days of clipping a little here and there and just cut it in half. She thought it was broke and I told her we had no more and it worked. She never wanted the binky again. I don't know if I would go the 1/2 cut off the bat again but the methodworked for me.
Good Luck

Since you're already working on one major transition, I wouldn't recommend trying either of them right now. And from the sound of it, I'm not sure she's developmentally ready for the first transition. Before moving on, you may want to ask yourself if you're looking to make these changes because you think she's ready for them, or because you want them. If it's just because you want them, then you may want to reconsider. Pushing changes she's not ready for can backfire. She's obviously still comfortable (and safe) in the crib, and she's got her pacifier use weaned down to just bedtimes, so as long as it's not causing dental issues, I'd leave well enough alone--especially while you're already having a struggle with one change.

Hi Letha -

I think I would pull the binky last - it seems that is her comfort and will be useful for all her coping and self-soothing in all other transitions. There are kid beds that you can get which fit the crib mattress - a great way to transition from crib to little mini bed. Also, I am not a pusher on potty training until they are ready. Pushing this too much can cause any child to have issues about themselves later. They aren't little for very long - remember to talk with her about all transitions and that will help you to gauge things to her comfort. I agree with what you said - too many changes = too much for some children. She will let you know what she can and cannot do through her language and her behaviors. Good luck!

Alli

The binky fairy came and took my dd binky when she was 3 1/2. She had been sleeping in her big girl bed since she was 2. I would say do it all at once. Tell her since she is a big girl now she is moving to a big girl bed. When big girls move to their new beds, the binky fairy comes and takes the binkies to babies in cribs that still need them. I talked to my dd about the binky fairy for a couple months (eventually she was telling people the the fairy was coming). I bought a big girl present for the binky fairy to bring her to sleep with in place of the binky. Then one night I told her it was D-day. After she went to sleep, the binkies disappeared. She cried the first night for about 20 min (just keep reminding her she's a big girl and the binky fairy took them). The second night she asked, I reminded her again. The only time she asked since is one night when she was sick. Good luck!!

Just make sure and be ready. Once you take it away once you don't want to give in. Then the next time you try and do away with them, it will be 100 times as hard.

I would work on the potty training first. Set the new bed up and really talk it up. Tell her once she doesn't wear diapers anymore, she can sleep in the big girl bed. Tell her she can't take her binky to her big girl bed. Find a family with a newborn baby and tell her you want her to give her binky to the new baby because it will help the new baby sleep. In Sweden, there is a huge park that all babies bring their binkies to and they are hung all over a special section in the park.

My daughter got in her toddler bed at age 1 1/2 she loves it. its in our room next to my husbands side of the bed. I like her in our room so we can watch her. her bed has side rails of course. as for the binki she still uses hers too. it helps her sleep. Its hard for me to take away from her but im tryin as well. Potty training is takin awhile, we put 2t pantys outside her diaper and she loves it, she tells us when she has to use the rest room she she wont " potty on her pretty panties" !!! its working so far. good luck with everything

I would do the bed first and let her have the binky. That way the new bed still feels safe becasue she has binky. About the potty training, with my son we used the reward system. A piece of very small candy for every successful potty.Find something that would work for your daughter.

My daughter is also 2 1/2 and we just went through the same transition about two months ago. We opted to take the pacifer away first. She would go all day at daycare without w/ no problems but as soon as she would see me or her dad she would immediately want it ans she ALWAYS had it to sleep. I was so nervous about taking it away but it ended up being a lot easier than I ever imagined. What we did was cut the nipple of the paci off about half way so there was still some left. When she discovered the paci like this she thought that it was broken and I told her that I didn't know how to fix it. She still took it to bed that night but it just wasn't the same. The next day we cut it down some more and she decided that she no longer liked it because us was broken. There were a few tears a bedtime but it really wasn't to bad, within a few days she was completely over it. Its been wonderful! We moved her to the toddler bed next and had no problems at all, she was so excited to have a "big girl" bed. We are just now mastering the potty training which we have been working on for quite awhile now. We finally bit the bullet and ditched the pull-ups and put her in big girl panties. We covered the furniture with the mattress covers we had on the crib. She has had a few accidents but is doing really well.
Good luck with everything!

System overload!! First thing I would do is transition to the big girl bed- if she needs to go potty in the night she needs to be able to get out of bed safely. Let her have her paci during this stage. After she has adjusted to this try to get the paci to sleep time only. Cut the tips off slowly and have only 1 for sleep. She will find little satisfaction is sucking and if she continues it will not be as detrimental to her teeth. After she has given up the paci - then try potty training. These are all very big steps for a child and she will more than likely transition back and forth until she is fully trained. It took use much longer to potty train 3 1/2 than to give up the paci or go to the girl bed. Your child is ready to train when she can easily pull her pants up and down, get on the potty with out assistance, and know when she needs to stop so she doesn't have an accident. Good Luck.

Hello, I have a daughter that will be turning 3 in May so we have recently been through each of these changes too. We got rid of the binky first. At the time she was using it for nap time and bed time and she loved it and always had to have her binky to go to sleep so I thought it would be very difficut to get rid of but she actually did very well. I had her collect all the binky's in the house and then we got some rope/yarn and she strung them all on to make a binky necklas. She put it on and quickly sucked each one then we put it into a container and I told her we would send it to another little baby that needed them. I thought she would really put up a fuss at bedtime and she asked for them but when I reminded her that we sent them to the baby, she was fine and never asked for it again. Worked way better then I expected!! As for the toddler bed, she was also not climbing out yet and it was more for me wanting it then her but we talked a lot about being a big girl now and she was very excited when we did it. The first two weeks she slept great in it. Never fell out and never got up. But after two weeks we did have issues with her coming into our room every night about 2AM. Luckily that has now passed and she is sleeping peacefully all night in her own bed. Potty training has been a very long process for us however we just made a break through two weeks ago and now no more accidents. Before my daughter would go every time on the tiolet one day and then hardly at all the next day. It was very hit or miss and not consistent. But two weeks ago I told her that she could no longer use pull ups or diapers at home and had to wear her big girl panties. At first she fought me and didn't want to put them on but I didn't give in and she put them on and was so excited and didn't want to go potty on Dora (Who was on her panties) She has done great! Only one accident in the past two weeks. She is always thinking about keeping her pretty panties dry and rushes into the bathroom. We still use a pull up at bedtime just in case but she has now been waking up dry and going right to the tiolet in the morning all on her own. This has made a huge difference for us!!! These can all be challanging steps for little ones but I hope our experiences can be of some help for you. Sorry this is so long. Good luck!
M. - www.FollowingOurDreams.com

Talk to your daughter and let her know what needs to happen and ask her which one she wants to do first. This way she is part of the decision making and will be more apt to following through with the process.

Hoping the best.

Deborah

If your child is 2 1/2, she has already been on a pacifier too long! I made the mistake of letting my daughter still have a paci at 2, (for bedtime and naps) and her teeth were becoming malformed because of it. Her top teeth were jutting outward, and her bottom teeth were moving inward. The first time I took her to a dentist at 2, he took one look at her mouth and said, "Throw that pacifier away.....TODAY!"

i agree you should do the big girl bed thing first. but don't take the binky at the same time. she needs some comfort still and the binky will provide that. good luck and God bless.

D. Mattern-Muck
The MOM Team
Raise your income and your rugrats at the same time!
www.formyrugrats.com
"The only thing that counts is faith, expressing itself through love." Galatians 5:6

We told our daughter that Santa needed the pacifiers for other baby girls and boys. This was when she turned 2, and then talked about how we would give Santa our pacifiers at Christmas (which was 3 months after 2.) Santa left some extra toys for her being a big girl. As for the bed, we had a convertible one that I think we took the bars off of when she began trying to climb out of the crib. I don't remember all that well. As for the potty training, we put the potty chair in the bathroom around 2 1/2, and would let her just sit with her pants on while I went potty myself, and slowly she wanted to go potty on it to be like Mommy. The only thing that I found a problem was that she didn't want to move the chair onto the real potty, she liked dumping her tinkle or poops from the cup into the potty. Had some trouble getting her to potty on the potty with the extra seat for a while. Even have pictures on my cell phone of her putting her own diaper back on her telling me she doesn't want to be a big girl anymore. But alas that time passed, and she's able to go potty all the time for about a year now. :) It'll happen, enjoy it all.

I was pregnant with my second when we switched my daughter into a bed. We had one of those cribs that you took the front off and it turned it into a daybed. She could get in and out herself. Her birthday is Sept 28th and we took that front off the summer before. So, she was about 20 months. She still used a paci at the time. I knew we needed to make the change with her bed before the second child came. It was very simple. It was scary at first, but she did good. She never got out of her bed miracously. Still doesn't. She is 3 1/2 now and is in a queen size bed and loves it. Now, the binky. She just stopped using it this past January. I read and read about ways to stop the pacifier and I kept reading women say just let them give it up on their own. They will give it up when they are ready. We started talking about giving it up to her and how babies need them to help them go to sleep and how she is a big girl now. One night she lost hers and we were trying to look for it and she just said, "Mommy, I don't need it". So, we went to bed and she has never asked for it again. Another amazing transition.

Well, every child is different, but I will tell you what has worked for me.
I have a little girl who turned 2 in January and she was in her crib until just last month. She also was still drinking a bottle at nap time and at bed time. It seemed to be the only thing that would calm her down and lull her to sleep. For months I had been trying to gently ween her from the bottle, but realized I had to cut it out cold turkey to get her to stop.
I felt she was getting a little too old to be asking for her baba and I felt she was ready for a big girl bed last month.

I am also trying to potty train her right now!

Since I am expecting another baby this August, I decided to move forward and push through.
We started with the bed. I decided to make her room the baby room and we created a brand new big girl room for her! I did not have to buy anything except a new quilt I got for $10 at Bed Bath and Beyond. I reused items from around the house to make it beautiful and special, including a mosquito net canopy. We brought in all her toys and made everything look adorable. Then, we surprised her with and celebrated her new big girl room. She LOVED it. She has never wanted to go back to her crib and she has a blast in her room. I am keeping the baby room, her old room, very plain and blank right now with NO toys so that she does not even want to hang out in there.
I'll wait a few months to re-decorate it.

So I was ready to go after the bottle. I was really nervous thinking we were in for several miserable nights. But that was not the case. My husband went to the store and found some expensive, very nice Disney princess sippy cups and we replaced her bottles with it. We explained that the bottles were all gone and that she was now a big girl and needed big girl cups. Amazingly, she fell in love with these cups and though occasionally she asks for her bottle, we give her the cup instead and she is happy. No fits! The bottles remain hidden.

Potty training is still ongoing and we are struggling a bit. I think I am going to get her some pretty princess big girl panties instead of pull ups as those are not working AT ALL. She treats them just like a diaper. I think she will want to keep her pretty panties clean...we shall see...

Good Luck!
S.

Personally, I would go with the bed first. The binky is much more "personal" and having that comfort at night might help her be more at ease with a change in her nighttime routine. As always, though, YOUR approach and attitude make all the difference. Making sure she knows that moving into a "big girl bed" is a reward, not a punishment; a step to be proud of, not afraid of. Keep as many of her other routines the same as possible...storytime, favorite blanket or bear or doll, nightlight or music, whatever you do now that works for you and your daughter should stay the same when the bed changes. You might discover, as happened with my son, that graduating to a "big girl bed" will make her want to do OTHER "big girl" things like give up her binky on her own(with no struggle) and go to the potty like big girls do. Kids can amaze you that way sometimes! Mine did.
Whatever you decide, don't let other people make you feel embarrassed that your daughter still uses her binky! Every child is different and some just need that "comfort" longer than others. It's certainly better than sucking her thumb or putting other things in her mouth that could be harmful.
Good Luck and have a Blessed Easter.

if it were me in your shoes, I'd say, (since i'm sure the binky is a comfort to her) **when she's comfortable with potty training**

leave the binky for LAST. move her into the big girl bed, she still has the comfort of the binky...

basically that suction thing is a comfort thing from nursing, it's a natural instinct... and you might do well (if you're of a mind NOT to let her do these things naturally) leave her with something. but please, do these things 1 at a time. someone mentioned NOT overwhelming the child with changes, and that's true, it is a BAD thing.

make sure to give time between the changes as well, so you know there won't be relapses... and if there are, even give THAT time, before you go trying again... remember, children will ultimately DO all these things (give up binky, be potty trained, etc) we, as adults tend to want these conveniences 'done now' because so-and-so's son was done by 18 months, or so-and-so's daughter by 16 months or whatever - given time, your child will do it on her own. do you really wanna hurt your child by forcing something she's not ready for? I didn't think so ;)

HI Letha,

My son is now 26 (now and engineer..they do grow up normal) so it has been awhile since he has used a pacifier...He absolutely loved it. And just like you I decided one day enough was enough.
So I told my son that we were going to Toys R Us to buy a truck for him....but that he would have to give the cashier his pacifier for the truck. Of course I arranged it with the cashier first telling her what we were going to do. He got home with his new toy truck and was very pleased. However, that evening he was sitting in my lap that evening...he looked up and said that he missed his Be- uh (his name for his pacifier) but then that was the end of the pacifier.
I hope this helps.
C. Heinemann
http://www.MomsGoNGreen.com

To my opinion, you should get rid of the binky first. Since the Easter is around the corner, you could tell her that little bunnies need binky too. You can have her help you put all the binkies in a plastic bag and hang it in the front door before she goes to bed. Don't forget to throw them away or hide them before she wakes up! You could tell her that the bunnies took all the binkies and they left a little (wild) flower for your DD. That's what my friend did to her dauther and I thought I could use the idea. Unfortunately, my dauther likes her thump much more than binky :(

Hope that helps

P.

My step son still was using a binky at night when we transitioned him to a big boy bed and it maid it easier to d o the bed first because he needed the comfort of the binky in his new bed. It was nice that he had something that was familiar when he would wake up in the night and relize he wasn't in his crib. The binky thing... just an idea that worked for us... we had him pack up all his binkys in a special box and then went to a friends house that had a new baby and let him give the new baby his binkys. It made him feel special to help his new buddy but I sugest keeping one or two at home (hidden) for emergency purposes. Hope that helps.

Hi Letha! Our son is almost 2 but we got him off of his binky at 18 months. He had chewed on it so much that he had torn hole into it. I took him to daycare and told his teacher what he had done. he was sooooo sad, he was so attached to his binky. She gave him a different one and he was fine. I took this as a sign b/c i had been thinking about getting rid of it for quite some time. So, when we got home, I got his binky when he wasn't looking at cut the nipple part of it off completely. When he was looking for it, I gave it to him and acted like nothing had happened. He couldn't keep it in his mouth and he got frustrated with trying to. He tried to suck on it for almost an hour. No tears though. Then, when it was bed time I asked him if he wanted his binky and he said NO! No tears no nothing he just went right to sleep and never asked for it again! try it- it just might work. Just act like nothing is wrong. As for the big girl bed and potty training we are not there yet. I would say that getting her comfortable without her binky would be the first step into making her feel like a big girl. Then, you can move on to doing those other big girl things. Hope this is helpful!!

Which ever you believe is going to be the easiest transition. About binkys though. Babies and tots need to get so much sucking in for their development. So I did everything else first. For everything these little people accomplish you see their maturity level rise. It's cool really. I noticed when my daughter quit sucking hers she really bloomed. That thing kinda had her a little pre occupied once she let it go she concentrated on playing better. I didn't take her off till 2 1/2 and I think it really helped with her getting all her sucking time in. She had a orthodonic binky that is what her pedi recommended and he was right she never needed braces she still has perfect straight teeth, lol she is twenty now. With me though I did the binky last and since that made her mature some it seems like everything else like the sleeping in her bed and not having accidents in her underware seemed to progress better. Like I said you can play it by ear what you think will be best but don't do it all to close together. Kids kinda get scared with where is this going having to grow up.

ABSOLUTLY BINKY FIRST!!!!! A binky after the first 6-9 months is terrible for their mouth structure. It is a habit like smoking is. Get her off that binky and save yourself from dental bills later. Ask any speech patahologist what they think of binkys. L.