Kiddo used a pacifier until she was about three years old. Just at night, while she was going to sleep. It was time for her to give it up...but we knew we needed a little bit of creative thinking to do it. I mean, The Binky had been around her whole life.
What did we do? We offered a trade: if she gives up the Binky, we would get her a fish. The week after we proposed this, we welcomed home Bubbles, a blue beta fish and that night, she didn't have her pacifier. It totally worked.
Getting rid of that pacifier can be a tough one for parents and kids. If your kid isn't into fish, here are other ideas to try:
-- Call on The Binky Fairy. Talk about the Binky Fairy and how she delvers binks from big kids to little babies who need them. To really add to the fun, prepare a letter from the Binky Fairy that comes to your kiddo in the mail, requesting that she leave her binks out on a specific night (as far in the future as you think your child needs) and the Binky Fairy will leave her a special gift. Of course, pick out something grand - a new huge stuffed animal or a new scooter or something - with a note from the fairy, saying thanks and how proud she is of her, and so on. Your kiddo may have a rough few days, but that will fade quickly.
-- Send them off in style. Tie them to balloons and send them off to special binky birds or pacifier pelicans or whomever you want to say, with the idea that they deliver the binks to babies coming into the world. Plan for a big celebration after you send them off, trip to the toy store, ice cream place, a movie date with mom and dad - something.
-- Use Someone else. My friend's dentist asked her if her daughter still had a binky and she said yes. He asked if she wanted him to say something to her about it, and she thought, why not - couldn't hurt. The dentist told her kiddo that she was old enough not to use one anymore, so she should think about giving it up soon. That very night, her daughter didn't use the pacifier. If your little one is into firefighters or doctors or pilots, use them to help ditch the pacifier.
Do your kids use a pacifier? What did you call it -- and how did they give it up?
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Both of my older boys gave it up when they were maybe 2.5 years old. We told them that they could buy whatever toy they wanted at the store but they had to pay for the toy with the pacifer. For my oldest it was easy, he picked his toy and never asked about the pacifer again. My second son traded it for the toy but by that night wanted to take the toy back, lol. It only took a night or two though and he was over it pretty quickly. My youngest is 15 months so we haven't even tried it yet.
My daughter slept with a pacifier for a long time. The only real negative effect I could find was that it might mess up her teeth. But chances are she'll need braces eventually anyway. My husband and I both did.
So I didn't worry about it.
We finally decided to get rid of them when she started biting holes in them. I didn't want her ripping off the nipple and choking on it.
To say goodbye, we had a pacifier party. We acted like it was a typical rite of passage. I made a cake, we had a few friends over, and we threw out the pacifiers. It worked really well.
Quoting VisionSeeker:No pacifiers here anymore...wish I had these ideas a few years ago though :)
yes, they each had a binky. we started by taking it away during the day and only allowing it at night. after a little while of going without during the day and being fine, it was time to get rid of it at night. we made a chart and put a sticker on the chart for every night they went without it. after a week they were given a small reward. after a month they got a bigger reward and all was fine and the binky was gone.
One night when he was 2 and a half, I forgot to bring it upstairs with us at bedtime. I didn't feel like getting up to get it so I asked him if he could be a big boy and sleep without it. He said ok, rolled over, fell asleep and hasn't used it since. DD is not nearly as attached to it-she uses it sometimes in the car but hardly ever at night, so I don't think we'll have much trouble weaning her off it.
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- HeatherNYC
on Jun. 22, 2012 at 12:00 AM