When I had to take away the “Binky” from my oldest someone passed a great idea to me, and it worked like a charm. Spend a few weeks weaning them. Only let them have it at nap time or bed time. (This is not necessary, but it made it easier on me.) Then when they have become adjusted to that, cut a hole in it. Cut the tip right off, not prick a hole in it, cut it off! When they can not get the sucking sensation they will become annoyed and stop wanting it all together. This way you are not taking it away from them. Just say “uh-oh it’s broken. I’m sorry, I don’t have anymore.” This is actually usually a smooth transition and not hard to do. Many, including myself, have said it was easy. Once you decide to do it.
- You should only have one Pacifier in your possession. This takes away your temptation to pull out the uncut one.
- Remember if in a moment of weakness you “Find” one that is fixed you have lost, because then they will know you can get another one.
- People do away with the Pacifier at different ages. Of course this works best with a child over one, because they understand “it’s broke”. My advice though is to do it before 2 years. Why? Because Emily was 2 years and she began developing her speech through her “Binky”,causing a slight speech impediment. She has outgrown it, after correcting her pronunciation of things, but you can avoid the bad habit altogether. Plus, as my Dental Hygienist mother-in-law would add it is not good for their teeth.
Sounds like a good idea – but have you tried it?! If it works for you, you should post this at Minti, too.
Yes I have and it worked great. Once you cut the hole in it, it only takes once or twice of offering the broke one before they are done with it all together. It takes all of about a day.
~Angel
hi,my 3 year old son is still on the binky ! I’m going to try what you’ve said ,i hope it works.He is having troubles with words because of the binky, do u have any advice for that?
I really think the binky removal will be successful. As far as his speech, just find the sounds he messes up the most on, for Emily it was “Sh” sounds, and “Th” sounds. When you catch him saying things wrong stop him and say “Honey it’s SH-Sh-Ship” and have him practice, that sound. IF you are not harsh he will receive it and correct it. And be consistent to try to catch it as much as possible. And be sure to praise him when he says it correctly. It will change quickly.
I will try that with my 2 1/2 year old. It sounds like it will be easy on ME which is good. Do you have any tips on potty training?
HI Elsy, i do have a few tips on Potty training, I will make a post about it soon.
What has happened since you have tried it? I just cut the tip off while she was napping. I am very afraid to find out what will happen when she goes for it and there will be a hole in it.
Well, tonight when she wants it, give it to her. She will tell you she is broke, and just act surprised, and say “Uh-Oh I guess you wore it out” If she asks for another one just tell her,”I am sorry mommy doesn’t have anymore” Depending on your child she may cry or be upset a little at bedtime, or she may just throw it away and never need it again. But it will not take long. Remember,let her throw it away. Let it be her decision. And do not have any “fixed” binkies around.Let me know how it goes.
It was horrible and I ended up giving her a new one. Which I know I shouldn’t have. I feel like I am taking away her friend. She just did not understand what happened and did not want to throw it away at all. Even w/ the new one she still keeps the broken one in the crib with her. She only takes it when she is sleeping. She is not allowed to have it any other time so I feel horrible about taking it from her but I know it will have to happen. I am just not prepared
I am so sorry it was horrible for you, it has worked so great for so many i know, including myself. Emily did not shed one tear. Don’t beat yourself up about giving her another one, all moms have weak moments and go against our better judgement.
You can try again later, when you are more ready. I hope you will and let me know about it.
My daughter is almost 19 months old. I have been wanting to take the pacifier since she was 6 months old but my husband wasn’t quite on board b/c he was just as dependent on having it FOR her as she was. I took matters in to my own hands and cut the end off of it yesterday and told her it was broken. She got mad about it before her nap but was able to sleep an hour of her normally 2+ hour nap. I was shocked that she was able to fall asleep at all! Then bed time came… absolutely horrible!!!! There are not enough words to describe how awful it was. She was flat out pissed off and threw the pacifier in anger. She got to the point of coughing and choking on the verge of throwing up. I seriously contemplated giving her another one but knew we were past the point of no return. It’s very important to me that she knows that I don’t go back on my word or decisions. I finally pulled her out of bed and sat with her for a while until she could calm down. She ended up falling asleep and then I just put her in her crib. She woke up at 3:00am wanting her “pop pop” again so I let her try to cry it out. She is not one to “cry it out”. She will throw up before she will fall asleep as she is extremely stubborn. So I let her get to the point that I felt I needed to intervene and then went in there to try to help console her. I just tickled her back and played with her hair and she ended up falling asleep by about 4:30. It was an AWFUL night and I felt like a terrible Mommy. But when she woke up, she was happy to see me and we had a great day. I took her swimming to wear her out before nap. She laid right down with no pacifier at all and slept for 2 hours… SUCCESS!!! I just laid her down for bed tonight and she was fussing but not screaming like last night. It lasted for about 20 minutes or so and now she is silent. I can’t believe it!!! We did it.
Wow! I am sorry for your first night, but you absolutely had success. Some children are different as to how they initially respond, but you proved that if you stick it out they will give up and NOT hate you in the morning. 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing, because it will encourage other moms who may face the same with their children!
i want to say i tried this last night and it was horrible. my son is 2 and 2 months and clipped the tip off. he didn’t say anything about it just cried forever in his crib. when i asked what was wrong he just said he wanted up.. never said anything about his paci. we screamed so hard for so long we finally gave in. in 3 days we are going to throw them all away and deal with it!!
My daughter is almost eight months old. I just read all these tips and decided to try cutting the binky. She looked at it and tried to suck it then whined a little and went right off to sleep. I don’t know what will happen at bedtime tonight but I am hoping for the best. My boys were both off the paci by seven months but she is a little harder. And just so everyone knows, the earlier, the easier.
Woo hoo! Glad to hear it. And I totally agree, the earlier the better!
Im trying this tonight. My seven month old only uses it at bedtime so we are going to try to break it all together. Wish me luck !
I read this and that night I tried it with my 2 year old son. We had him so that he only had it at nap and bed time. But we could not get him to give it up on his own. So I tried this the night that I read this. And IT WORKS!!!!! I snipped the end off at bed time he tried it and I told him it was broke he said “its broke?”. Well he fell asleep without it. The next day at nap time he laid down I went to give him the broke “NUK” and he said ” No mommy it broke”. Four days later now not even mentioned it!!!!
If you ever want to see a reader’s feedback 🙂 , I rate this post for four from five. Decent info, but I just have to go to that damn yahoo to find the missed bits. Thanks, anyway!