Breaking the Binkie Habit

My daughter sucked her binkie at naptime and bedtime until about 18 months. I was putting her down for a nap and gave her the binkie. She sat up, pulled it out of her mouth, laughed at it and threw it to the foot of the bed. She never needed it or asked for it again.
Children who need these comfort measures when they are older have other unmet needs that a parent needs to address. A 4 or 5 year old with a pacifier should trigger concerns in a parent.

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I agree that children should not use pacifiers. If they are old enough to ask for it, they are too old to have it. They can tell you what they really need instead.( drink, book, diaper) Lazy parents just use them as a way to shut the kid up, and the poor kid gets ignored. Pacifiers can lead to dental problems, speach problems, ear infections, and co-dependence.
I know it may be hard some days to be a parent and everything is getting on your nerves and you wish that everything/one would just leave you alone, but hey...THATS THE JOB! You chose to be a parent- at least you can be a good one! Talk to your kids, and let them talk- teach them well, love them and be gratful for them.

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Oh for crying out loud! Take the damn binky away and get on with more important things.

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When my daughter kept loosing her binky, I kept telling her that one day I will not buy a new one, I took my time buying the new one's for her. Well when she was 1 wk from her second birthday she lost it, and I reminded her that was it, no more binkies. She was ok with it for about a month. I made the mistake of bringing her to Genovese with me to pick up our Rx's and she saw the binkies all nicley displayed. Thank goodness I had our Rx's already, so when she started to carry on I just marched her out of the store and reminded her of what I had said...and that was it. I never gave in and she coped. She now has beautiful teeth, never needed braces and I think it's because I kicked the binky habit with her at a early age.

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I feel bad for every parent that has a problem with potty training and wheening a child off the bottle or pacifier. Alot of Drs. will tell you that every child does things at their own time and pace and never force the issue....just keep trying. I too have to say though, to see a 3 or 4 yr. old with a bottle or "binkie" sticking out of their mouth is insane. There has to come a time when you need to get real and do what every parent needs to do and that's "BE the Parent!" Down the road there will be alot of more serious matters to deal with as a parent and lets hope you don't take the easy road out then.
Anyway....my main objective in writing in this blog was to share my story with you as far as getting my grandson off the pacifier and how easy it ended up being. :o) Not only did I raise 2 daughters but also started over with raising a grandson when he was born. One day we were going up the highway and it was warm out so we had our windows open on the car. My grandson was in his car seat and all of a sudden he took his binky out of his mouth and flung his arm in the air and binky flew out the window. Ut Oh......no more "binky"! It was so easy I feel guilty. Of course he knew that we couldn't stop and get it off a highway and he was so young that he didn't know we could go to store and get a new one. All I kept saying was "Binky all gone!" He accepted it and that was it. We still laugh about it to this day. He's getting ready to graduate Jr. High next week and that's why I say, If parents don't step up and be a parent now over such a minor issue...then who's gonna be the boss i the future?

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I took my then two year old to Build-a-bear let her pick out a bear than had her stick her pacifyer in the bear. that way she still had it she just couldn't suck on it anymore. When ever she asked for it we reminded her that she put it in her bear. now she sleeps with her bear and stopped asking for her pacifyer after like two days.

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There are several babys, todlers, who simply never "liked" the binki. I raised 4 children, and they all spit them right back out eventually.
Some catch on pretty quick to the fact it's a nasty peace of plastic! Whats the answer to those still attached? Real simple.....Times up.... explain, and toss it in the trash!!! There...DONE!!! OH yea.....Day care doesn't mean you didn't plan a good life for your children....(whoever wrote that bolinga)
MUST be on welfare! Most of us HAVE to work. If your having to work because your other partner is a meth head, crack head, or simply lazy...Take out the trash lady!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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My daughter was three when we offered her "big girl bed" in exchange for the "binky" because if she was big enough for the single bed, she was too old for the binky. It took her a little while to fall asleep the first night but after that she was fine. She was very happy and excited about being old enough to leave the toddler day-bed. Comforting behavior is fine when it's age appropriate, but there is also nothing wrong with encouraging (as the article says, positively) the kids to move on to more mature behaviors.

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I agree with Joe to a certain extent. I'm too young to have kids yet (22) because I want to make sure I have a stable life before I do, but I get along with them really well according to my family and friends. But when I do have kids I won't force them to do anything they aren't ready to do unless it causes harm or danger to them. Personally if I saw a 4-6yo kid sucking on a pacifier I would think its kinda cute and chuckle. But for me I would let my kids do what makes them happy and just try to lead them in the right direction and then they can make their own decision.

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This may or may not be advisable, but it was a tip that I was given by our pediatrician at the time. When my son was 2 he was developing more of a reliance on his pacifier. I was told to poke a few holes in the tip with a pin. Every few days (careful not to create jagged edges that he could bite off and swallow) make a few more holes. After a week, my son, who loved his pacifier since birth, got no sucking satisfaction whatsoever, and he stopped wanting it completely. It was a little funny to watch him put the pacifier in his mouth then take it out and look at it...knowing something was different. Two weeks later we threw out all his pacifiers. It was that easy!

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My older son used a pacifier til he was about 2 1/2. But for some reason he put his in upside down. After he was about 2 he could only have it at bedtime and if he lost them then he had to find them. If my husband & I found one we just put it in a drawer he couldn't get into. When he finally ran out of bobbies as he and my niece called them he was done. My younger son never really used a pacifier, he just didn't care for them. Don't know if it was because he has asthma and has had since he was born or his allergies, but he never cared for one.

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I have recently gone through this (the 2nd time) - Here is what I did, it was easy and fun! I told my boys, currently the 3 year old, and 2 years ago, his older brother (now 5) that "the Binky Guys" could really use those binkies for the "crying babies". The first time I had a box outside and pretended for the door to knock, only to find the box from "the Binky Guys"! My oldest knew this day would come and I did this when he seemed to be more ready to give it up. He was so excited to see a box from the binky guys he was happy to put his last binky in the box and tell it to "have fun in Binky Land and thank you, but now I am a big boy". A few times he was sad and asked for them, but not to the point I questioned giving it back.

This time my (wonderful) Nanny told my 3 yr old "I think the babies are crying cause they don't have binkies, the Binky Guys could use your help" He literally took his nap right then without his binkies. (I know, prb. not typical) That night was very hard, he kept crying saying "mommy, I miss my binkies, can I get them back?" But after ONE difficult night (he did end up sleeping all night w/o) it was almost forgotten. A few "i miss my binkies" but I would remind him what a great thing he did for the babies, and now 1 week later he doesn't even ask. As an added measure, the "Binky Guys" left a nice little toy for him in thanks. He was thrilled.

Maybe not for everyone, but it worked for us - and I was horrified our binky withdrawl with little one #2 was going to be awful. It wasn't.

-Mo

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There was a moment... when I decided that my daughter should give up her pacifier... she called "Me - me" - I think because she would point at it and say "me..... me...". Anyway - one day she and I threw it away. Bye bye me - me we said. 8 days of hell followed that brillliant move. One night I put her in her snowsuit and we went to the store for a new pacifier... she saw it on the rack and said oh so sweetly "me - me..."
Next time I decided it was time to give it up, one day while she was napping, I snipped a llittle off the end. When she awoke, and tried to suck it... it just didn't feel the same to her. At this time, she took a pacifier only to get to sleep, and it would quickly fall out of her mouth. Little by little I would snip off a bit each couple of days. Pretty soon, she said "bye bye me-me" and threw it away.
Brilliant I tell ya!

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This is tried and true through 15 children, including children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

Baby's are born with such a strong sucking need and they can't hold enough milk in their tummy's to meet the need - so we give them a binkie.

But the key here is when they are no longer using it for that need but out of habit about age 3 - take it away from them then.

Don't use it as a plug any more to stop them from crying. This will reward them for crying and set up another whole set of problems.

In a day or so, it will be over as it has not become just a sucking habit for habit's sake.

Another tip. Never had not one single thurmb sucker either.

When you take the binki away they will turn to their thumb. Say nothing when you see them sucking their thumb at this age; just reach up and gently remove the thumb and do this everytime you see them do it and say nothing. It may take a few days and then they may have a lapse of two; just keep doing it. Don't bring attention to what you are doing by gooing at them or even speaking to them then.

They will get the idea and stop. I promise never had a thrumb sucker all 15 children. Never had one after 3 months old with a binki either.

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When my kids were young, my mother rubbed the binky on fresh garlic and they spit it out and refused to put it into their mouths again. It was a quick way to stop them for good! They never touched it again!

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Geeze, just take the damn thing away and be done with it.

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I guess those who recomend that you take away a baby's pacifier or bottle at age one have never seen the old Rugrats episode. Anyway, I sucked my middle and ring finger until age five. I promised my mother I would give the habit up when I turned five and I did. I'm sure that this was less stressful on both me and my parents and, BTW, I didn't need braces. My kids (all three) were allowed to use a bottle until the age of three when, I believe, they were old enough to understand it was time to give the bottle up. About six months before their third birthday, I would tell them that they would soon be three and three year olds were too old for bottles. I would remind them of this every so often and the day they turned three, the bottle was thrown away. This worked like a charm; I never got one tantrum or complaint. My older son did, however, start sucking his thumb. Since we couldn't throw his thumb away, when he turned five, we promised him a special toy he wanted if he stopped. This also worked well; he stopped without complaint and never went back. (He never needed braces, either.) My younger son used neither thumb or pacifier. My daughter was my only child who used a pacifier from birth. We took the bottle away from her at three, but we didn't want to insist she give up the pacifier at the same time. As this article stated, she gave up the pacifier on her own between the ages of three and four. No fuss, no muss. She did need braces, but not for her front teeth. Her top teeth were crowding out her canine teeth which were coming through her gums. The braces repositioned her top teeth, giving the canine teeth room to come in properly.

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