Throwing Away the Binky

I don't think I am the best at giving advice on getting rid of the binky because my daughter is still using hers because I am not trying hard enough to take it away, but I can say that to her, it doesn't matter that it has a hole in it. I noticed that she had bit a little hole in it so it didn't work, but she didn't care. I did notice that the hole was big but still enough to trap saliva in the nipple so that was not good. I think it's just the satisfaction of having something in her mouth because when I take the binky away, I have noticed her putting her fingers in her mouth.

I made up a story about the Binky Fairy coming and taking them to other kids who need them, and in return for the binkies, the fariy will leave them a special toy. It worked great for my little boy! I had to tell him the story for about 2 weeks, then one night he told me he was ready to leave his binkies. That was the end of it. I just made sure I had the special toy on hand for when he was ready.

I Robin,

When our son was three, we wanted him to give up his binky on his own so here is what we did: We came up with the "Binky Fairy." Kinda like the Tooth Fairy....we discussed the Binky Fairy for weeks so that he knew all about it, and would give up his binky on his own. Then one day, just before going down for his nap, he placed his binky on the coffee table and said he was ready. As previously discussed, he knew that giving up his binky to the Binky Fairy, would mean that it would be gone forever and in its place, the Binky Fairy would leave him a gift. (Just like the Tooth Fairy leaves money for a tooth.) He actually napped very well that day, and woke up thrilled to see his gift. We had it all picked out and ready and waiting for the time, since we had been discussing it for a while. You have to be prepared for the time that they decide they are ready.

Whatever you decide to do...good luck! We chose this method as it seemed less like punishment. We liked the idea of rewarding him for willingly giving it up.
~J.

What about giving the binkies to the new baby when he is born?
My son was stuck on the bottle til he was 3 he wouldnt go to sleep with out it !We only allowed water in the "baba"
but he had to have it...It was so cute he would stick it in his armpit ,nipple up and go to sleep ...it was his safty blanket.To seperate bottle from best friend we made a gift box,wrapped in x-mas paper with the bottles for santa. We left the box next to santa's cookies with a note to please give the bottles to the new babies for their first christmas!
It barely worked ,he wanted to open the box before he went to bed but we reminded him that santa wouldnt have bottles for all the "babies"and he would have new big boy cups from santa in the morning !
Good luck,
A.

Hi R.,
I had a similar situation with my daughter who was 2 in June. Recently my husband said it was time and he cut the end off the binky. She put it in her mouth and said it was broken and didn't work and that was the end of it! I was amazed at how easy it was. The anxiety over thinking about it was far worse than the actual event!
good Luck!
B.

The best advice, is to explain that she is a big girl. My oldest had her binky until she was 3. We then made a big deal over her being a big girl. At the time she was potty training and I was pregnant with our second child. We started to throw binkies away. Then one morning we couldn't find any binkies and we didn't buy any more!!!

Changing this habit does take time and patience. But it is well worth it. You can give her another "comfort" item to sleep with. My daughter had a "blankie bear" that we used in exchange.

I hope everything works out for you.

Another great idea is have the "binky" fairy, like the tooth faity....come and take them...and leave something else...showing that she is growing up, a big girl now, etc...leave something she can grow towards or a great reward, etc...make it fun and not a harsh event....we had a great time with this with my son's blankets!

I snipped off the ends of my daughter's binkies when she was about 2 1/2, but I prepped her first with a few days of "Wow! It's so amazing that your binkies have lasted so long...they usually break by now!" Then, one by one, her binkies started "breaking" during the night, so that each morning she would wake up to another snipped-off one. SHE actually asked us to throw them out! The very last one took some courage to do (I let her nap with it for a few more weeks before I worked up the nerve), but it finally went the same way as the others, and she never raised the topic again. I have to wonder if the holes that the kids themselves put in them just don't work because that's where their teeth are going anyway. There's something about that nice smooth hole at the cut-off tip that takes all the squishy fun out of it.

Whatever trick you decide to use, just make sure you do it before your child gets old enough to catch on to the idea that you could buy more! Good luck!

My twins ADORED their binkie. But once they got teeth, they would bite holes in them. At a year and a half old, they said bye bye binkie. I just took it away. Didn't give it to them again. They adjusted just fine. My mom let me have mine till I have 5 and as a result, I have a huge gap between my teeth. My daughter has a similar one now. I say just take it away...it will be hard at first...but she will be ok.

This week we got rid of my son's binky, he is 19 months old. He still asks for it, but both my husband and I ignore his requests for it. It has been 6 days without it. He hasn't had it to fall asleep with or anything. My advice is just to have your daughter quit cold turkey. Throw them out.

This was hard!! Years later when she was over the binky we found tons of them hidden all over her room -- under the bed, etc. Cold turkey is the best we found.

We took our daughter's binkie away on her 3rd birthday. She only had it at naps and bedtime before that also. To tell you the truth what worked for us was we started to tell her that on her 3rd bday she would have to send all her binkie's too the mommies and babies that needed them. She was too big for it and they needed it more than them. She had already put holes in most of her binkies and that did NOT affect her, she still sucked on whatever was left! The first night she was like no mommy, no. It broke my heart. My husband had to sleep on her floor the first night and from then on she was fine. There were times when she would whine for it and we'd tell her they were all gone. It went REALLY well. I was expecting a fight because she was obsessed with it for so long. Good luck and I know that not all things work for every kid, but I thought that I would put in my input!! :)

Hi Im L.. When my daughter was 2 I decided to get rid of the binky. It was hard. I would throw it away and she would take it out of the garbage and I would see her sucking it again. Yuk. Well I then walked with her to the garbage one day (after trying so many other things) and I grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the binky and I told her "no more" She just looked at me and repeated "no More?" And from that moment on she did not ask me for one or try to suck her thumb in place of it or anything. Thank God that worked. I dont know if this helps, I hope so. I tried to keep her occupied with other things, coloring anything so that she would be distracted.

Just cut the tip and each day cut a little more. My son had no interest after 48 hours of doing this.

We still let our almost 4yo have his for sleep - I don't see a problem with it but every family has to do what works for them.

The best way is to poke a hole or two and add a few more every other day or so and eventually she'll probably throw them away.