Bye Bye binky

My daughter was addicted to the all green rubber kind  that they start you out with at the hospital.  She had just turned 2 when my son was born and we planned on him being a paci baby too.  The Dr. said don't take it away until she adjusts to the baby and we were ok with that because I wasn't ready for that fight either - especially with a newborn.  We took her to the dentist for a check up a few weeks later and he said he could see the effects of the paci since the last time she had been in.  Well, that is all I needed to hear.  He told me to cut the tip off a little at a time and eventually it just wouldn't work anymore.  I did this and I only had to make the initial cut.  My dd said, "It's broken!  Throw it in the garbage!".  This was working pretty well but she had so many hidden in places we didn't know about.  When she found one of these "'hidden treasures"  we just told her that that one was her brother's and that hers was broken.  She usually chimed in with the fact that the garbage truck took it away!

so sorry to hear about your f-i-l  I remember you mentioning how sick he was.

As for the binky (which must be a western NY term btw b/c people here give me funny looks when I say it) good to hear it may be gone for good.  Eli did the same thing as Matthew, he just didn't get it one night and slept all night without it.  We've only kept it around for times of travel and sickness...and for babysitters if he cries at bedtime.  His is DEEDEE.  He has bearbear, keekee(actually it's a wombat), jojo (a bunny) and a beebee (blanket).  When he does think to ask for it now (we used it every nap and bedtime at disney for over a week), I usually just give him a longer rock and snuggle and he calms down (and I like the snuggle better).

Hope this continues for you...just one more thing you wont' have to worry about forgetting when you go out the door.

HFM is  how my youngest lost the binky also!  He  weened from the bottle because of it as well.  What a horrible disease for the kids to go through isn't it.  Both my boys actually just had it again 2 weeks ago.  I hated to see them in so much pain and to go without eating for so long.  Can't imagine how bad strep had to be on top of it.  That had to just be a week from hell for you cause when they are in that much pain of course all they want is their Mom.

very sorry to hear of your father in law passing.  

My two oldest stopped using the pacifier the same way!  At around two years they each chewed it until a tear resulted, which freaked them out and never wanted the pacifier again.  There were one or two nights that they had trouble getting to sleep, but that's it!  I  hope my youngest and last babe lets the pacifier go gently into the night, with no more fuss than his sisters.

I did the cold turkey approach at a younger age.  I didn't want my first daughter to go into day care with a binkie because I knew that's all they would do, just stick it in her mouth instead of giving her attention.  I stopped it at 3 months and never looked back.  It was a non-issue at that point.  She never slept with it and truly used it very little before that.

My second was harder.  Some may have read my post about binkie blues and taking it away.  She started to sleep with it, but the screams when she would lose it were coming far too often, so I managed to kick it at night, but she still used it other times.  She had reflux so the suck/swallow action helped keep everything down.  To make a long sory short - she started sleeping with it again when I transitioned her from her hammock to the crib at 6 months.  At 13 months, went cold turkey again.  She cried for maybe 5 minutes, and that was the end.  Timing is everything - I waited til she was in between teething, wasn't sick, and was generally in a good mood.

Some of my children have loved the pacifier, and some have cared less and spit them back at me.  I have always taken them away cold turkey at about 1 year of age.  I take the bottles away at this age too.  I have always figured it would be better to just wipe the slate clean and let them find other ways to self-soothe while they are still too young to argue with me about it.   :)  

Both of mine were easy.  They pretty much lost interest in it right around 13 months.  With my ds we have just gotten a puppy and he kept chewing the binkies up so we were down to one so I was only using it at night and keeping it up on the kitchen counter during the day so he just quit using it.  Then one day it got left at my mom's and we haven't had one since then.

'The Binky Fairy'

Step one:

Make sure there are no stresses in your childs life at the time.

Tell your child they are too big for binky.  Explain that the binky fairy will come and collect the binkies for other babies who really need them.

Step two:

Go on a binky hunt.  Have everyone in your family go on a binky hunt on the 'big night'.  Make a game out of it.  You need to find all the binkies (so no set backs later).

Step three:

Set all the binkies on the window ledge in your childs room.  Just like the tooth fairy, the binky fairy will come and leave money/candy/glitter/a note (use your imagination).

Step four:

Wake up and watch as your child is so exicted!!!

This worked great for my daughter.  We tried several other tricks, but she was stubborn!!  She would ask about the fairy and the other babies, but she never cried or had a fit over the binky anymore.

Good luck to other moms.

I was having major problems with my son's binky use; well actually it was more along the lines of an addiction!  My friend absolutely raved about the cut method, and all of the psychology behind it.  She found it on www.bye-bye-binky.com which is great that it was free.  Desperate with nothing to lose, I tried it.  OMGosh... worked beautifully for my son with NO tantrums, not even one! Thank you God.  Five days later he did not want anything to do with his binky.  Highly recommended!  I am also interested in others experiences.... Bella

I was having major problems with my son's binky use; well actually it was more along the lines of an addiction!  My friend absolutely raved about the cut method, and all of the psychology behind it.  She found it on www.bye-bye-binky.com which is great that it was free.  Desperate with nothing to lose, I tried it.  OMGosh... worked beautifully for my son with NO tantrums, not even one! Thank you God.  Five days later he did not want anything to do with his binky.  Highly recommended!  I am also interested in others experiences.... Bella