2 Year Old & a Binky

He is little to get rid of the pacifier. He will eventually drop it by himself. Right now he is using it as a teether. Buy a teether that can be put in the refrigerator and made cool. Then give him that when he is chewing on the pacifier. See if he will use that as a teether instead of the pacifier and tell him he can have the "binky" when he goes "night-night".
Enjoy him, he will grow through this stage much too fast;)
H.

Mine had the same issue. One night when he went to bed, it just "disappeared". It was hard on him for the 1st couple of days, but I kept telling him that he was a big boy and I didn't know where it was at. As for the "cloth", my son will be 4 next month and still has his "blankie". He mainly just sleeps w/ it. Don't try and take both away. He will eventually shed both. Let him make the decision about the "cloth". He's still little, but to save his teeth, try real hard to have binky disappear. It will be harder on you than him. good luck.

Keep in mind that they are only little for such a short time and you might consider what is the hurry? There are so few things in life that give comfort. Some children are still on the breast at that age, and 2 really is still a baby, what does the pacifier hurt you might ask yourself? Why is this the mountain (subject) I am going to battle on? If your adamant to get him to move on then have the "I can't find it" moment. Look together and have it just be unfindable and be sad together. Have it show up only at night. Cut the tip of all of them. Mail them together to the "kids who don't have Binky place" have him put them in the mail box with you and say bye bye. But realistically your little boy isn't going to be sucking on the Binky forever, and is it really a big deal? Sometimes I think we as adults are always telling the little ones what to do, how to act, how to feel, what to eat, then what to be attached to, maybe we should let them have the "thing" that makes them feel good for a little longer than the majority thinks. After all when the little ones grow up how many times have you heard a momma say, "They grow up so fast!"

My son was using his binky way too late, until he was 32 months. We weaned him off twice at 18 months and then at 2yrs3months but we traveled a lot by plane, and had all kinds of other milestones/event in his life (transition to a bed etc.), we had felt like it was too mean to take it, so somehow we always brought it back out, it became a crutch.

Finally, when we were back home and he was used to sleeping in a twin bed, we did it in 2 steps:
1. We limited their use to his bedroom ONLY at first, then to naptime and bedtime only (when he was in the bed), then finally no binky.

So basically when he left his room, he would hand over the binky and we would put it in the 'binky box' (clear tupperware) on his tall dresser where he couldn't reach it but he knew it was there. If he entered his room and he wanted it, he could/would ask us for it. We never offered it to him. This helped him get used to not having it always and sometimes he would just forget about it, play with toys, and not ask.

After awhile, we stopped giving it to him and when he asked, told him he could have it at naptime or bedtime (whichever was coming up). When that time came, we would OFFER it to him. "Climb in bed for naptime and you can have binky. Yay!" This helped us get him to bed too. We even let him pick what color he wanted, made it like it was a big treat! He totally forgot he used to have it available all the time. We would follow it up with storytime, from both of us, turning on his moon (nightlight) and then me leaving, kissing him and closing the gate. In the morning, or after naptime, we would hold out the binky box and he would deposit it in.

2. Finally, transitioning off the binky completely.
We just stopped buying them. If he threw one or lost it, we didn't replace it. When we were down to one binky (a red one), he would ask for a color, and we would say 'Oh,oh... only one binky left. Better be careful, don't throw it'
We would search for and retrieve it from under the bed, around the room etc. until one day...
We said we couldn't find it (we really couldn't), showed him the empty binky box, but said 'Mommy would go look for one tonight while your sleeping', 'what color do you want mommy to find?' He said yellow or some color. I said 'ok, I'll go find binky.' then I said 'goodnight I love you' and closed the gate to his room. He said 'goodnight', might have waited, but then went to sleep.
We did for weeks. Every night, as I'm walking out, he said 'mommy, I want binky' and I would say 'ok, I'll go look for it.' I stopped asking what color after the first week, and we stopped talking about binkies at all, unless he asked for it while I was walking out.
Even now at 3 1/2 years, ever once in a great while, as he is drifting off to sleep, he will say 'mommy, I want binky' and I'll say 'Ok, I'll find one, goodnight sleeptight, I love you' and then he will just say goodnight, roll over and go to sleep. Its almost like his way of saying goodnight now.

Now, we didn't plan all this, its how it evolved, but it worked very well for us. :) Hope this helps, let us know how it goes, G.!

My son used to carry a blanket wherever he would go (he sucks on it/smells it/fondles it). He started daycare/school at 2 yo & we began relegating it to naptime situations only. He's 3 now and only sleeps with it at night. I'm in no rush for him to give it up and don't wanna risk traumatizing him with a cold turkey method.

Hi K.-

My first son (now 6&1/2) used a pacifier from his first month of life. He was always a great sleeper, and I dreaded taking it away from him. I used my friends' method of telling him that his pacifier would not follow him to his big boy bed. When he turned 3 we told him he would be moving to a "big boy bed" and told him for weeks how fun it would be. After a few weeks of telling him about that, we told him that when he moved he would not be able to take his "paci" since big boys didn't use them anymore. We mentioned it every so often for a couple of weeks. The day we set up his big boy bed, he threw his pacifiers in the trash and that was that. He did wake up a few times in the middle of the night and come into our room every so often for a few weeks, but we implemented a reward system for that: each night he stayed in his bed without getting up, he would get a prize (small dinosaur or other cheap toy) or a star sticker toward a larger prize. By the way, my son also had his blankie all the time too, but he got to keep that in his big boy bed (and we let him know in advance that it would be going with him). :-)

Hope this is helpful! Good luck!
C. (mom of 2 boys)

Hi K.:
WHY do you want to take his Binky away? You should be asking yourself, What are the benefits? What will the drawbacks be? Is it worth sleepless nights for him and you? How does it help your son to take something he finds soothing?I agree with SH. He's teething right now.This would be a lousy time to take something that obviously is helping him get through the teething pain.Follow your motherly instincts.Don't permit ridicule,or comments from others,to make you feel inadequate,or rushed in making choices for your son.You do what you feel is best for your him right now.This is NOT A power thing,as some mothers like to suggest.After all,it was these same mothers that HOOKED their tots on Binky's. It was real convenient.You know, back when they couldn't get their baby to stop crying.That Binky was ok then. (Cramming the thing in their mouth,to silence them.)As Soon as these mothers think it just doesn't look exceptable, or cute any more, they cut the child off cold turkey! Its not like he's going to be packing it in his lunch box,when he starts school! If he didn't have a need for it,he wouldn't be asking for it. After his molars come through,and he's feeling perky,then you could start by poking little holes in it,so he finds it less satisfying.He will then just use his blanket for soothing himself to sleep.Just for the record,the main intent and purpose of pacifiers,was to prevent a baby from sucking their thumb,which they found created teeth problems. You can take A pacifier,but you obviously can't get rid of a thumb! I wish you and your darlin lil guy the best. J. M

The way my mom and dad got me off of the binky was that for about 6 months or more before my 3rd birthday they would tell me that when I turn 3 I'll be a big girl and big girls don't need binkys (I was VERY attached to my binkys. I couldn't do anything without them). They would tell me that at least once a day. Then the day after my third birthday my dad walked me out to the trash can and said "You're a big girl now, you don't need your binky" and apparently I took it out of my mouth, looked at it and threw it away myself and never looked back. I do believe that some gentle brain washing can be effective :) Good luck!

What worked for us was cold-turkey. We've used this method with two children now (both at 24-months) and with-in 3-5 days, no more asking for it. Oh, it wasn't easy. And very tempting to give them back (especially when you KNOW it's what they want), but worth it.

My son will be 2 next month and I couldn't imagine getting rid of his blankie. It's his security. It's his comfort when I'm not able to comfort him (like when he is sleeping, or when he gets hurt and a hugs and kisses aren't enough). I mean he is not going to be 16 and taking it to school with him, so I let him have it for now. he is only 2

None of my kids used a binky but I've heard stories about the binky fairy coming and taking the old binky for new babies and leaving either money or a small toy. I take care of a little girl the same age and what I do (with the parents aggreement) is only give the binky at nap time other wise it goes away it works for her. I would be careful to just get rid of it if he really needs it my sister did this and her daughter started sucking her thumb she is 9 and still does you can't take away their fingers. I would really suggest only giving it to him when he is going to sleep. Good luck

This is always a hard thing to let go of- I'll tell ya what worked for us, and maybe it could help you, too! :) Starting at around age 2, I started telling my daughter that when she's a big girl she won't use a pacifier anymore, just randomly when she would have it (by then we had changed it to only nap and night time, so it stayed in her bed, but BOY did she love that "pasoo" as she called it) The couple of weeks leading up to her 2 1/2 "b-day" I started telling her that we were going to go to Build a Bear, and she could pick out whatever bear she wanted, and we'd put the pacifier inside the bunny, and not have it anymore. So on that day, I told her when she went down for her nap it was the last time she'd use the pacifier, because we were going to Build a Bear when she woke up (I hyped it like it was a HUGE fun event). I took a picture of her in her bed with her pacifier for the last time, and then we headed out when she woke up. She chose a cute bunny to stuff, and we put one of her pacifiers inside the bunny, (she did it herself), and then I had her "pay" the cashier with the other pacifier that was left. She was so proud of her new bunny, and bedtime went really well. She asked for the pacifier, but I told her "remember we used one as payment, and now the other pacifier is part of the bunny." Now she carries "Poof" (what she named the bunny) around with her and sleeps with her every night, but it's not such an attachment that she needs it all the time. It's just a 'favored" toy. I also tried cutting the tips of the pacifiers when she was 2, and that didn't work at all. Anyway, that was my experience! Good luck!

Binky should definitely be gone by age 2, so here's what I did when my girls were 22 mos. old. For about a month, I started telling them that kids aren't supposed to have binkys past age 2. They understood and said they would help throw them away. (By the way, we did this four years apart and it worked for both.) When the day came, they threw them away with no problem. With my first daughter it was hard, she cried in the morning for a few days because she liked to wake up and rest with her binky, but she got used to it. With the second one, she didn't miss it much at all. Some people also say the binky fairy needs them, and they send them away on balloons, etc. You just have to stand firm, get rid of them totally, don't retrieve them, and he'll get used to it. Yes, he will cry and maybe have a tantrum, but stand firm!! The one thing I HATE is seeing a little kid try to talk while a binky is in his mouth!

Hi K. --

I cut a small portion of the tip of the pacifier off...and told my son (at the same age as yours) that they were broken. He quickly lost interest. For my new son, I didn't even offer the binky...and he's fine...3 months old and has no interest!

Don't get rid of it... just cut the tip off and give it back to him. He may use it for a couple days. But it wont have the same effect. I did this with my 21 month twin boys and it worked! When they looked at me, I just told them their "Binky" was broken, it only took two days. Good Luck!

I would try giving him a teething ring when he requests the binky for chewing. Also I have found that teething tablets work wonders for the teething. My five month old is just starting to teethe and the frozen ring and tablets are a God send.

I'm in the same boat K.!

My 2 1/2 yr old daughter still has her "ginky" in the car and at sleep time - NOTHING we do can soothe her without the darn thing! I just keep telling myself that when she's "ready" to let it go, she will. When she tries to speak with it in her mouth, we tell her we can't understand her unless she takes it out, which she does, and then promptly returns it when she's said her piece- It's FRUSTRATING that a little girl who walks talks and pees on a regular toilet can't break away from a dumb piece of plastic/rubber!

I have a 13 year old who never took a binky, (though some times I REALLY wished he had!) so I have nothing to compare this to - just my mommy instinct that tells me she isn't ready to leave this particular stage yet- good luck! let me know what happens

my aunt had this problem with my cousin. she cut the tip of the nipple off his binky and then every other day she'd cut a little more. there was finally nothing left and he lost interest. good luck!

K. m with a y

Hello, I will probably make a few people mad, but our grandchildren used their binkies for quite a while. Their teeth are just fine. My thing was that they needed the extra security. One grandson was in our custody and visited his parents during that time. I felt that taking his security away would be too much for him to handle. I would try letting him know that it won't be okay to take it with him anymore. This will enable him to use it less. If it splits, don't replace it. Eventually, it will be come less appealling.
Good luck with your precious child.
K. K.

All the other suggestions work... depending on the child.
It didn't work for my son.
But, I got my son to use his binky only at nap/bed time... with some coaxing, verbally.

Like yours, my son also has a "lovey", his beloved stuffed cow he's had since 6 months old. He still carries his cow around and REALLY loves his cow.

I don't worry about it... I know that he'll grow out of it.
I too, as a child, sucked my thumb and had a ratty ol' blankie. I grew out of it without any intervention from my parents.

As for the teething, my son would chew his binky too at those times... but my son would also love to chew on ice chips when he was teething, and if he didn't have his binky- then well, he chewed on the ears of his cow. So... I just let him have his binky. I rather have that chewed instead of getting his cow all chewed up and saliva on it. LOL

The thing is, your son is teething... so it might not be a good time to take away his binky right now... it would be too many things at the same time for him to deal with.
Perhaps, give him other things to chew on....
And for my son, I would give him his binky only if he asked for it....sometimes he would just "forget" about it. Then g-r-a-d-u-a-l-l-y he just didn't ask for it, except at bed/nap times.

My Daughter's Teacher, has a grandson this age... and her grandson only uses his binky at bed/nap times as well. She says its not big deal... they are just a child and they WILL grow out of it on their own. Which is true.

So, there are so many approaches. Gradual or not. But in the end, a child does grow out of it at some point.

And yes, some kids will just start sucking/chewing on something else if their binky is taken away arbitrarily. Like their fingers.

All the best,
Susan

My daughter is seven months old so we haven't gotten to that stage yet, sorry! But I did notice the unfortunately working full time part. I recently started working from home with a legitimate business that improves peoples live. I love it and for the first time feel like I am doing something that is good for my family and others. Anyway here is my website : www.restoreyourwellness.com. Let me know if it is something that makes sense to you. I hope that everything works out for you!

K. M

I too was a mom who had to work full-time to provide for three children. My ex, their father did not work, nor did he try to work (that is another story). My three children never used a "binky or a blanket" they were too busy with lots of aunts and uncles who were playing with them. As for sucking their thumbs I would gently pull their thumb away from their mouth.

Never had to worry about that one, although my MIL told me that her mother used a cloth with molasses in it for her, I could not see using sugar to appease my children for any reason. For the teething issues that came up I used oregel and sometimes a finger of whiskey and NO MORE THAN A FINGER for pain (the pediatrician told me this one), although it worked better than the oregel.

Anyway, the Binky and blanket are for security. He still has separation anxiety, he is not secure enough to let go yet. He could also still be cutting teeth, this happens sometimes. To eliminate some of the causes for the chewing have a dentist check his teeth for any teeth that could still be coming in, and get him a physical from his pediatrician to rule anything out there.

I did this with mine while they were in school to eliminate any excuses for not doing well or not even trying. try replacing his Binky and blanket with something else. Try to give him a toy car, or something else he can hold on to. You still have time before preschool. He may also still be a bit more immature emotionally for his age to give this up yet. Tell your son that he is a big boy and big boys don't have a Binky, this could work too.

You have gotten lots of very ingenious ideas for this situation, and some bad ideas, but it it ultimately up to you as to how you handle this with your son, you know what to do with your son, you are his mother. Good Luck!