Breaking the Binkie Habit

Hi all you have to do to break your child of this habit is when ever your child wants to talk stick the binky in their mouth. They will get sick and tired of you not letting them speak that they will throw it away. My daughter did.

Wow Carol thats was a little harsh. However i tend to agree. Parents today are so wrapped up in their corporate worlds. I am the Father of 3 amazing kids 2 girls and a boy (21,12.and 11) Both of my Daughters took to the pacifier and we had a hard time getting them to get rid of it.My oldest now 21 deceided at age 3 to give it to Santa Claus. We had gone to the mall during the holidays and she sat on his lap handed her pacifier to him and said give this to a baby Im a big girl and dont need it anymore. My middle child and Daughter was 4 we wound up conviently losing her Binky she carried on for a good week and then one day she was over it My Son didnt take to the pacifier he preferred his thumb.He is now 11 and everynight when he goes to bed he makes himself comfortable and sticks his thumb in his mouth.He doesnt suck his thumb any other time but at bedtime.We joke with him that he is going to be married and sucking his thumb.My daughters pick on him about it but he doesnt care.So to the parents out there with concerns let them have the binky eventually they will get rid of it. And thank God it isnt their thumb.

that is harsh to say u have to be carefull of special situations i am 20 years old n still suck my thumb derived from emotional problems that were not my parents fault so dont be so quick to judge

Want to know the easiest way to get rid of the pacifier (I refuse to call it by some stupid name)? Take the thing away when the child is 6 months old - they have no way to get it back and forget sooner than an older child, who is able to whine about it and try to get it back. Too many parents use the "binky" (there I said it, ugh!), as a way to shut their child up, which stifles a child's conversational skills and is also lazy. Once you don't have it any more you FIND WAYS to get through those moments you thought you needed it for - believe me, been there, first time was a 4 year old refusing to give it up - second time and third time, pacifier taken away at age 6 months. And for goodness sakes, stop buying the pacifier shaped candy, I saw a 3 year old with one of those - what are we teaching our kids?

thats your personal preference i think that if a child spends a lot of time moving that one piece of comfort is good but it depends on the circumstances and by the way if you acknowledge the undesired behavior you are reinforcing the behavior.

I too changed the "feeling" and my daughter got rid of it the next day when she was 1. Just made a tiny slit in the pacifier so the "suck" was gone. She tried them all to make sure they all felt the same, then was done with them.

I agree but disagree. I have always hated binkies and I always said, if the kid is old enough to ask for it, they don't need it anymore. Yah right. When my son was born I didn't get to see him for a couple of hours and when they brought him to me he had one... now what? so here I am, he's 3 1/2 and still wants it. I hate it, He only is allowed to have it now at bed time. If he is getting ready for sleep, and has it, and tries to talk, I say "What's that noise? I can't understand you with the binkie in your mouth" and he takes it out. I think it has made his teeth stick out a little, though I had an overbite (naturally). We have completely gotten the potty down now, but the binkie has been so hard to break. I've tried to bribe him with his new big bed (he has toddler bed now) and his responce is that he doesn't want to grow up! I'll get it soon I hope!

If you never give them a "Binky" you will never have to break them from it!

So the "professional" quoted in the article advocates for ignoring your child when they are seeking comfort? Seriously? Wow, hope parents recognize bad advise when they read it! As for my son, when I took his "binky" away he just switched to sucking his thumb. I never said a word about it to him, he regulated his thumb sucking himself as he got older and eventually quit all together on his own. I never ignored him, never restricted his "comfort" behavior and I never chastized him for it. I am lucky to be the mother of a great, well adjusted and sucessful young man who is a wonderful asset to this world. Fortunately I never bothered listening to the child rearing "experts" who know so little about the young minds we shape these days and instead I just followed my maternal instincts.

I disagree that a child should not be using a pacifier after the age of 2. Our youngest daughter was the only one of our girls that liked the Binky. When she decided that she didn't need it she stopped. It is a way a child self sooths herself. The dentist said it didn't affect her teeth, so we decided to let her figure out when she didn't need it any longer.
Now she is getting ready to graduate from college. She was tested out in elementary school as a gifted child. She stopped using her Binky at the age of 3.

Just saying...easier said than done. it's really easy to be critical of people you don't know about their home life when you're not living it!

I know this sounds harsh, but I cut the tip off of my daughter's pacifier and when she found it, I said "oh look, it has a boo boo, No more paci." Not much of a problem, a little crying, but that was it. Also, a few reminders of the boo boo. No tragedy. Worth a try.

My Big sister learned a lesson from my Mother and what she did was tie a short piece of string to the passifier and as the child nods off to sleep, either at bedtime (tie it to the cot) or in the buggy (tie it to the side bar) the passifier will be pulled from the baby's mouth automatically thus bresking the habit. It works, we did it to our both nown grown up grown children, it also is a good defence agains a cleft pallet.

Carol:
I fully agree with you.
No child should be using a pacifier or bottle past the age of 12 months.

But then...., I was lucky.
My son started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks, began eating homemade baby food at 2 months, wanted whatever we were eating at 6 months (he loved beets), and was walking and talking at 9 months.

So, I may be the fortunate exception.

Just take it from them at 12 months. Throw them out. Tell them they are a big boy or girl and they no longer need it. End of Story and end of the bikie.

I broke my kid's habit this way: I took the binkie out of my daughters mouth, opened the front door, and threw it into the street where a car ran over it. She did not flicker, cry, or laugh. That was the end of it.

To a point I can understand what you are saying but to say that NO CHILD should have a binkie or a bottle past 12-18 months is your opinion, what is good for your child may not be the best for every other child, and parents that there children still have the binkie or bottle and naps or bedtime should not feel as they are in the wrong by allowing there child to do so, just saying...

Carol this is about a child's need for secuity and comfort.
Some will lose interest in a pacifier before age 1.But some *won't*.The worst thing a mother/father can do is berate the child or do something like cut the top off the pacifier.
.I know a mother who threw her child's security pilllow away when he was at school and yet let him see it in his own waster paper basket.It's obnoxious and cruel.
Yes, a child needs to learn--but you're acting like the child is commiting a crime.
Kids are all different and let go of these behaviors at different rates--some fast some very slowly.

OMG! JUST TAKE IT AWAY. THE FIRST COUPLE OF DAYS WILL BE TOUGH BUT YOUR BABY WILL GET OVER IT!!!! WHY DO WE MAKE EVERYTHING SO DIFFICULT IN THIS COUNTRY? JUST TAKE THE DAMN THING AWAY!!!! THE MAJORITY OF CHILDREN IN THIS COUNTRY ARE LAZY AND SPOILED. HMMM COULD IT BE BECAUSE WE "BABY" THEM TOO MUCH??????? GROW A PAIR PARENTS!