How Do We Get Rid of the "Binky"?

I wondered if my son was ever going to give up his binky. He was 18months and moving into the big kids room at daycare (where no other kids had one). I tried to phase it out, he was only allowed in the car and in bed. It is really hard to rationalize with a little one. He had a cold one day and I bought one of those binkys that dispense medicine. I gave him the meds and Let me tell you- he never took a binky again. It was no longer a fun relaxing thing. It may seem mean, but it worked for me.
K.

When my son was that age our pediatrician told us to pick one binky with a rubber nipple and throw everything else away. As she sucks on it eventually the rubber will start to kind of break down and get a little rough and she won't want it anymore. The most important thing is to not replace it if she loses this one because then you will have to start all over. This worked for my son but he lost his before he wore it out so I have no idea how long it might take. I hope this helps.

We just did this about four weeks ago. We tried many things, but what worked was we simply took it away from her during the day, except for nap, at about 14 months. We began reading this book, "Big Enough for a Bed", its an Elmo book. She began getting intereted in a 'big kids bed'. She finally asked for one, and I told her she can have one, but big kids don't use binkies. We talked all day about it, and that night we switched her bed. I read many books to her telling her she had to lay down for me to read them. I had to pat her back for about 45 minutes or so, but she really did well. She woke up about four times the first night, and twice the second. It doesn't even phase her now. She saw a binkie looked like her old and she wasn't even tempted. She just said that binkies are for babies. All in all, I would suggest phase it out to just times Ava sleeps then TRY to eliminate it during nap (that doesn't work for all kids), then start talking about sleeping without it. We wrapped ours up for 'Santa to take to a baby'. Anyway, good luck! Its hard, but really, don't rush it. I wanted to take it away at six months, but realized sometimes, its really not hurting anything. Just keep her busy with new things. If you have any questions I would love to help!

I think you are right to get rid of the binky now. It's better for her teeth! The snipping method worked for us. Snip the tip off, then a little more each day or every couple of days. It's not as pleasant, so *SHE* will hopefully give it up herself.

-j

I have two children that were both binky babies. I hate to say it but cold turkey was hard for a couple days but out of everything I tried this was most affective. I couldn't believe how quickly they forgot about it. I dont work on weekends so I did it then because the first couple days are hard. Another suggestion is to put a small cut on the end of the nipple on all the binky's and they dont suck properly and the child might say forget it then when its not what they are used to. Just a couple of suggestions for you, Good luck!

I do not know how long the threads are kept active here, but this questions was asked on Aug. 30, 2006 by GK, maybe it is possible to look up those responses there were quite a few 40+. Here is what I wrote --
How old is the child? If he is old enough to understand you might try what my peditrician suggested for us - it worked well. She was 3 and we told her the only time she could have her paci was in her room at home. She did not like staying in her room much so that limited how much she used it. When we went out to dinner or to run errands she would cry for a moment and then we would remind her that we aren't home so we didn't have one for her. She accepted this. Then about three months after we started this we went on a two week vacation. We told the paci bye. She asked for it on the flight and we reminded her and she never asked for it again. I called a friend asked them to search our house and dispose of all paci's before we returned. I reminded her on the trip a couple of times about what a big girl she was and what responsibilities that big girls have, yada yada, and she never asked for a paci again.

My friend told her child that the paci needed to return home and attached them to tons of helium filled balloons and said bye as they flew away. This helped her child. I wasn't sure where home was ? Maybe heaven? I am not religious so I didn't use this method - but it worked for her.
Hope this helps,
Take Care,
Tam

Take away in stages. First have her take naps without and tell her over and over that she is a big girl now and doesnt need it. Then when YOUR ready for the night time, take it away from her then too. Its going to take time and patients and Yes lots of tears on her part. Mine was 2 when I took her's away, yes I thought she was a little bit too old, but she was only allowed to use it at nap and bedtime only. I was pregnant and she was suppose to have surgery last summer and I figured with all this trauma coming her way I should leave all security in line as much as possible, and since she was older I could reason with her better, and when it came to no nite time pacifer, I had her pick out soemthing at the store in exchange for her pacifer, which I cut the nipples off of and had her throw them away. She has had one since. The first naps and nights without them she begged and cried, but it only lasted a couple of nights. Good Luck

She's still a baby. Is she off the bottle? Does she have a blanket that could replace it. Or does she rub her hair? She needs something to sooth her. Maybe you could try starting out by not going into her room let her find it herself. Then she's not use to you coming in at night when she looses it. Then maybe lay her down with out it. Does she need it for naps? Maybe start napping without the binky. Good luck if you can just take it away and deal with it good for you.

We just went through this about 4 or 5 months ago and thought it would be difficult. My daughter is 3 and we went to the dentist. We went 6 months prior and there was no mention about problems with her teeth due to the binky. At this visit we talked about it and he noticed some changes but nothing bad and that it was time to get rid of it. He said to her that we needed to get rid of it so it wouldn't damage her teeth. She first was sad about it. My hubby and I talked about it and planned on going cold turkey that weekend. The next day was Thursday and we discussed it with my dad who watches her twice a week. They took a nap together that day with no binky and that was it. She realized she didn't need it any more. We gave her some options. One option was to give the binky to another baby (I am expecting twins)so she was kind of okay about that. Another was to stuff the binky in a stuffed animal. She wanted the animal. We went to Hobby Town and made a stuff doggy and she put the binky inside the doggy. She named the doggy and now sleeps with it.

I will say that starting about 1 or 2 we only allowed the binky at bed and nap time. She was not allowed to have it out side of her bed.

We did choose to give her a binky instead of thumb sucking. My sister has a 3 yr old and she is a thumb sucker. Her teeth have moved a lot and my sister has had a heck of a time getting her to stop. She finally told her she will cut her hair off if she doesn't stop. She is not sucking her thumb anymore but she has a really hard time getting to sleep now.

Good luck
A.

Hi S.! It is always a chore to tear our little ones from something they have become so attached to. There have been many great recomendations so far.

My daughter, now 8, also used a binky and I had a difficult time breaking her of it as well. I started cutting some of the tip off, she would continue to suck. I would cut more to the point she would hold it in her mouth to suck what was remaining. I finally soaked all her binky's in vinegar. The next time she asked for one I gave it to her and she immediately spit it out and never asked for it again because it tasted yucky.

Good luck S..

She's only one -- she is still so little and the binky is a wonderful comfort for her -- if it is only at night, maybe it is still ok until she can understand the "binky fairy" -- let them be little.

I had the same problem but with the bottle. I went cold turkey and it was very hard for the first few days, week. I do know what worked for the family in which I nannyed for in New York. They made a big deal out of his second birthday. He would be a big boy when he turned 2 and there would be no more bottles. It worked. He never asked for another bottle and he didn't seem to miss it at all. Of course he was older but I think it will work with your little one. My sister's girl is just 18 months old and still has her binky. She forgets about it if she's busy but needs it if mommy has told her no for something or if her older brother bugs her too much. And of course she needs it to go to sleep. I don't know how to get rid of it except change her dependence of it to something else. Like a blanket or a toy. One little boy I knew had to sleep with his binky in his hand. He learned not to put it in his mouth but he still needed it to help him sleep. Cold turkey worked the fastest for bottles but phasing out the binky might work, too. Good Luck!!! I wish I had a better answer for you.

The thing that worked for both of my kids was to have them get them all and throw one away each night before bed and then the last night they were all gone. You might want to start by now replacing her binki at night when she looses it. She will find that time to figure out how to self sooth.

Okay, my son was 3, and his doctor told us that he had to get rid of the binky-- and get potty trained.
We tried the potty training to no avail...so we decided to work on the binky.
One day- I took some scissors and just snipped the tip of the binky off. Which in turn broke the sucking pleasure my son had.
We used the binky fairy- as well. So when he got tired of using his "broken binky", he placed it on the window and said good bye. When we got home, I rushed in to throw some new toys on the window so that the binky was gone...and it's been great ever since. We still get the occassional WHERE'S MY ORANGE BINKY? question- but we just tell him the binky fairy story again- and he's okay with it.
That's just my experience. Obviously not with a one year old. But it does get harder as they grow older. BUT- they do seem to understand and make reasonable choices once they understand.
Good luck! Report back!!
L.

I can attest to the fact that the "binky fairy" worked for us and we did it after he had been using a binky at night only for many months. However, our son was almost 2 years old when we played binky fairy, and we made it a lot of fun, gathering up the binkys and talking about what the binky fairy might bring for him. A friend of mine recently went cold turkey with binkys at night for her son, who is just a little over 2 years old now. One night they couldn't find any binkys and so he had to go to bed without one. But again, understanding lost might or might not be a concept your little girl is ready for. Just some ideas to get your creative juices flowing as you try to come up with ways to make that work.