Need Help Getting Rid of the BINKIE!!!!!

I would probably get rid of all but one pacifier, then not put any attention on it. I wouldn't worry too much right now. See if you can hold him when he does have it, maybe it's more physical contact he's needing. Go slowly, he will get rid of it.

I wouldn't get rid of the binkie just yet. With my oldest we put all of his binkies in his crib and left them there. If he wanted one he would have to go to bed or stay in his room. If he somehow found one, we would take the binkie and put it in his crib. It didn't take very long for him to understand the binkie rule and he adjusted very quickly.

Why are you in such a hurry to get rid of it? He's only 20 months old. Apparently he still needs it for comfort, companionship, whatever. Maybe you can give it to him when he's only at home. I assume you don't like him using it when he's out with you. A few ideas: Every time he finds one around the house, trade it for a little stuffed animal, and throw the paci away. He can transfer his affection to the animal. Eventually he'll run out of pacis and have a cute mini-zoo. And don't buy any more pacis!

My son quit using his at 7 months all on his own. My daughter, however, LOVED hers. I had a conversation with the bakery person at Publx when I was picking up her cake on her 2nd birthday, and the subject came up. At her suggestion, I gathered up EVERY SINGLE one of them at home/car/diaper bags, etc and put them ALL into a big ziploc baggie. Then my mother and myself took my daughter up to the bakery with the bag of pacifier. She traded the bag for some toys (cake topper stuff-Dora, Winnie the Pooh, etc). The lady was really nice.. and my daughter was SO PROUD. We walked through the store (bought a gallon of milk) and my daughter carried her bag of toys! She only asked for her pacy one time (the next day) and I reminded her that she traded them to the lady at the bakery for her toys.. and that was it!

You could do this at any store really, just talk to someone ahead of time (try to find someone who seems good with little kids - maybe a grandmotherly type) and you could buy something and give to them to keep at the store for your daughter to "trade for". I think part of the reason it worked for my daughter though, was that she got to CHOOSE several things (since there were several of HER things going bye bye). She took 15 minutes to pick out which of several items she wanted. It was a BIG DEAL. But that was the end of it.
It's worth a try...... BUT you can't keep one "just in case"... your little boy needs to know that they are all gone and you don't have one to give him.

I waited till my daughter was a little older 2 yrs old and then I told her about the binky fairy. I told her the binky fairy comes and takes binkies for other little babies that need them and leaves you a toy. I asked her if she wanted to give her binkies to the binky fairy and she said yes. I reminded her for 5 days that on Saturday the binky fairy was coming. Saturday night she was so excited she ran around the house looking for binkies. In the morning she ran over to see if the binky fairy came. Every night she kept asking me for more binkies to give to the binky fairy. She never cried or asked for one except to give away. She even tried to get me to buy some for the binky fairy. Of course the binky fairy came 3 times to our house as new binkies were found around the house. She never put them in her mouth just ran over to me to tell me she found one and was going to give to the fairy and get a toy. She even tried to give her neices binky away. It worked so great, better then I would have expected. I would definately wait until she is a little older and then try it.

A friend of mine used the "Binkie Fairy" when her son was 3... she explained that other little babies needed the binkies now and that the binky fairy would come and take away his binky and give them to the other babies. So you leave it on the dresser, or windowsill or whatever works for you (and yes, finding ALL the others is critical to this working well the first time) and then you may leave a small gift in the same spot the next day (similar to tooth fairy) and she said it worked really well.

If he finds others after the first time you will simply have to repeat the process time and again until they are all out of your house. You may choose not to gift each time or only the last time if you think he's got a lot hidden.

Good luck,
K.

Hello D.
Please please please don't get rid of binkie. your baby will only be a baby for a short time. You don't see any 6 year olds or above, even adults with one. The child will outgrow it. They use it as a teething soother, and a sucking mechanism. There is absolutely no need. It's so precious to watch them in their sleep sucking for a few seconds and fall fast asleep. Really, when the child is maybe 4 you can buy a nice baby blanket with a satin trim that you can give to the child to replace the binkie. Wrap it up as a gift, let him open it and surprise him with it, and show him the softness of the trim. he will love it, drag it and play with the satin in his fingers as a soother also. Gradually you can take away the binkie. Enjoy his young tender years. Take lots of pictures with him and his binkie in his mouth for his album. Plus, if you do any flying with him, he will need it so he can equalize his ears so he won't have pain. It's a must have on flights and when they have ear infections.
Tacy

I would not worry about it yet. Boys mature later than girls. But if you just have to get rid of it try dipping it in something that tastes unpleasant. I did it with Listerine. Vinegar should work and won't hurt him.

we cut our binkies. at 22mos i went through the house and car and gathered all of them but two. i cut the tips of two left and threw away the others. when our daughter asked for it i gave one to her. she was confused at first because with it cut she could not suck on it. then she told us it was broken. i acted like it wasn't a big deal and told her if it was broken to throw it away and she did. she did the same thing when she found the other. they can not count so when they throw away one it is like throwing away all of them. the first few nights of sleep she was restless and although she did not ask for it i knew she would have slept better with the binkie. now she has no interest in them and sleeps great.
good luck and just like supernanny make sure he is involved in the process of getting rid of them and then move on to play with something else. the idea about trading them is good too, wish i could trade my bad habits for toys or pedicures. :)

I have four boys who were binkie crazy. I waited until they were 4, then I cut the top off of it. I told them they could either hold it, or chew on the other end. Each one of them threw it out. I found waiting until they were older made it easier for them to understand. I don't know if there is any relevance to the "oral fixation" theories, but as sucking is a way of selfsoothing, I didn't want them to be looking for things to put in their mouths. A friend of mine took her daughter off the binkie when she was 2, and for the next year spent most of her time pulling clothes, socks, toys out of her mouth. She also starting sucking her thumb. I wasn't willing to go there. All my boys mouths' are fine, according to our dentist. Your son may not be ready to give it up. Is there really any reason that he should give it up?? If he hides or looks for his binkie, and is obviously upset, why stress him out? Why not stop now, and wait another couple of months, and see if you can take it away then if it bothers you so much. Because its obviously you that is bothered; not him. And if any of those old biddies tell you he should give it up now, because their children gave it up when they were 1, ask them how many of their kids turned to cigarettes, or drugs for self-soothing. My theory is if they don't get it out of their system when they are little, as soon as they find something to comfort them, they'll use that. But that's just me.
Good luck.

Hi D.,
I have 3 children and basically did the same with all three and it worked like a charm. I started out by just letting them have the binkie in bed. It was "if you want binkie you have to be in your bed" It was a good transition because they got used to just having it then. I took all of my kids off the binkie totally on their 3rd birthday. I realize that was a little longer than you are wanting too but the last year was that they had it only in bed or when they were sleeping. At about 2.5yrs old we talked about that when they were 3 that they were going to be big girl/boy and didnt need binkie anymore. I mentioned it all the time. When friends or relatives came over they told them that when they were 3 they were going to give their binkie to the trash man. On the actual 3rd birthday we went through the house and got ALL of the binkies, put them in a sack and took them out to the trash can. It was like a ceremony. They said good-bye and we walked away. I have to say it was shock with every one of them. They asked for it a couple of times and that was it. It amazed me every time.

First you need to narrow the binkie supply down to just 2 or 3. Then (what worked for our son) slowly snip the tip of each binkie. Just a little the first week, a little the 2nd week and so on until there's just a nub left. At that point there's not much to even suck on so it becomes boring and hard to hold in their mouth very long. Then one day, I just tossed all of them at once in the trash while my son was out of the house.

Cold Turkey. That's how I broke my daughter of hers, and it worked perfectly. I'd recommend a thorough cleaning, to get rid of them all at once. But if he does manage to find another, throw it away too. And above all - do not purchase anymore. Once it is gone, it is gone. Try keeping him engaged in positive things to take his mind off of it, when he does remember. In the end, I found I had more anxiety about it than my daughter. Good luck to you.

get rid of all of them.if he cant find one,he cant get it.i know its hard,but you have to be a little firm.he just has to get his mind on something else.stand up and just throw them away ,while he is sleeping.then try to keep him busy for a day or two.he will eventually forget it.YOU HAVE TO BE FIRM.IT IS YOUR PLACE TO TAKE IT.HE WILL GET OVER IT!!good luck.

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!

My 21 month old daughter loves her paci too! But I am not in a hurry to take it from her. When she turned 12 months old - we began limiting it to car trips and naps/bed time. We kept all of the paci's in a drawer at home and as soon as she got up - she would hand it to us to put up. Same thing in the car - as soon as we got to where we were going - she would put it in her cup holder. It really only took a couple of times to show her this before she realized that she only got her paci in certain places and at certain times. I didn't want her taking a paci through out the day because it hinders their ability to talk and it also can carry germs the more places it goes and falls. So this is what we did. Just limit it if you feel like he is taking it too much instead of taking it away altogether. But he is still young and I really don't feel like you need to be in a rush to take it from him, especially at naps and bedtime.

I would also like to add after seeing your update that my daughter recently had P/E tubes placed in her ears as well and I asked both my pediatrician and our ENT who is also a plastic surgeon if the paci could be causing her ear infections and they both told me no! So, the evidence must be inconclusive if your dr. feels that they do and mine feel that they don't. I just didn't want you to feel like it was a for sure thing - that the binky was causing his ear infections. I know in my daughter's case - her father kept an ear infection until he was 2 1/2 years old and it seems like she developed this trait from him.

Personally, I never had to deal with this issue with my daughter (although my 2 yr old nephew still has his). But, I have heard other things other moms have done in similar sitations. One mother explained to her child that there were other new babies that need them, she explained that they need help and needed to mail them to other new babies. So she would get a small padded envelope and mail them off, all the while the child helping pack and tape it and so forth. And she would mail them to her mother and that was the end of it. I do not remember the age of her child to be honest. Anther lady just kept cutting the nipple of the pacifier down until there was nothing left of it and the child did need it anymore, I guess weening. But I have heard people urging against that as well, so I dont really suggest it. One lady did similar to the tooth fairy and had the child put it under the pillow and the story was the fairy was going to take them to needy babies. I dont know if the fairy left anything behind for the child, but I dont see why you couldnt do that either. I wish you all the luck in this! :)

My son loved his Paci too. He started using it most of the day when he was under 1 year. Then after 1 year I started giving it to him only at nap time and bed time. Then after 2 I started giving it to him only at bed time. And by the time he was 3 I told him they were all broken so he couldn't have them anymore. And because I waited until he was "mostly ready" to give up the Paci, he was okay with it. He only asked for it one or two nights after I told him they were all broken and that was the end to the infamous Paci...One thing I did learn is that kids aren't going to be weaned off things by the book. The weaning process can be slow but as long as he gives up the pasi by high school you're good...:) Listen to your instinct & the emotional and physical needs of your child and you will do just fine.

Dear D.,

*smiles* Take a breath!lol Most new moms dont know that you should always take that paci away first before taking the bottle. Now that being said and unfortunately we cant turn back the hands of time, i would suggest everytime you or him finds one, take him to the trash and throw it away together, tell him he is a big boy now and doesnt need this, i know that you think he will not understand but they are smarter and understand more than we think they do. If you are consistent, he will get it, just do not give in! Anything you do with parenting, consistency is always the key! Good luck!

L.
www.TheMomTeam.com/lajeanhuntley
Moms helping Moms across the country!

If you make a big deal of it...He will want it more. and if you take it away..... all it takes is seeing one child sucking there thumb and in it goes, thats what happend to my daughter. (AT 18 MONTHS) and the thumb stayed in untill 4th grade (bed time only but non the less), Then I had to put an expander in to stop the thumb sucking....Dental work...more dental damage from thumb sucking.. So my advice is he will spit it out more and more and on his own terms. Thats what my 2nd child did. Then I would say where are they? All gone! YOu don't need them your a big girl. You will know when he is ready. Remember he wont walk down the Isle with it when he graduates. Its no big deal. Trust me...You are more likely to have biger issues when he's a teen... Binkies play a very little role in his life.... Can you tell I have 2 kids out of the house and one 14 year old....Baby are phisical and teens are more mently... Good Luck