Mommy 1
Today is the 7th day we are "Binky" free!!! It was very hard the first 3 days. My son is 18 1/2 months old. We always used the binky during nap and bedtime. He is usually not a crier, but on the first day of taking the binky away he screamed, cried and was very restless!!! It was terrible..I cried my heart out too. BUT....he got used to it. You as a parent have to be strong and be there for the cuddling when they go through the "binky" withdrawal. It took a full 3 days to have no crying fits and now he doesn't look for it anywhere. I have every binky we own stashed in the back of our cabinet. Be strong...it will be okay.
Mommy 2
My son gave up his beloved pacifier at age 2 1/2. He never had any other "lovey" except his paci, and was never without it. He is a typical boy and loves fire trucks. One day we noticed there was going to be a fire truck at Toys-R-Us for a carnival. So all morning we discussed with him what we were going to do. In the past we had told him that pacifiers were for little babies who were sad and needed them. So we asked him if he wanted to give his pacifier to a fireman, who would give it to a sad baby who needed it. We even acted out the scenario, with us pretending to be firemen, etc. He was very excited. When we got there, he gave his pacifier to the fireman (who looked a little bewildered until our explanation) and told the fireman to give it to a sad baby who needed it. My son never looked back! And then we went in the store and got him a new cuddly bear for him to have as a lovey. To this day (he is 3 now) he has never once asked for his paci back. Although if he sees a child with one, he will talk about how he gave the fireman his paci to give to a sad baby. If we see a crying baby without one, he will say "Fireman needs to give the sad baby a paci!" The important thing to remember is that is was HIS choice to do what he did, he understood what was happening and that he would never see his paci again, and it was a very positive experience. And he was fine with that! Now he takes his bear everywhere instead. I honestly think that making it his choice was better than simply taking it away all of a sudden without his having any part of it. Granted, we had a few restless nights without it, as he was using it to help himself get back to sleep, but he never asked for it back, even in the middle of the night. I am proud of him for what he did, and he is proud of himself too! And by the way, he is going to be a fireman for Halloween :)
Mommy 3
I really don't see why parents want to rush their kids to grow up. They have only been on this earth for two or three years, give them a break!! They are not mature enough to understand why they can't have their binky so why fight the battle? Why not wait until they give it up on their own.. which, by the way, they will do, they all do.. eventually! How many adults do you see walking aroumd with a binky in their mouth? none!! because they all decided sometime in childhood that they were ready to brave the world without it. And when was the last time you went on a job inerview and they asked the question "when did you stop sucking a pacifier?" Never! because it is irrelevant! I get so upset when people tell me that my child is too old for her binky.. she's not even two yet.. she still wears diapers, people! My daughter's binky is her comfort item. Some kids have blankets, some have toys, she has her binky. She likes it! It helps her sleep and makes her feel safe! It is not harming her in any way, so I don't see what the issue is! Get over it, stop trying to get your child to do something they aren't ready to do. It's not worth it! I hope that everyone who reads this who is having binky trouble will stop fighting the battle and let their kids be who they are.. happy to have their binkies! If you have any comments, feel free to email me at ck1092@txstate.edu
Mommy 4
I have three children under 4. My oldest handed over hers by 3 because she said she didn't need it anymore. Her speech was fine and her baby teeth moved back into their right place (not as spread out) within 6 months. The dentist said she is fine. My three year old still has it but only at bed time and it is on it's way out. My 9 months old was a thumb sucker and it took me 4 months to get him to TAKE the pacifier. I can take the pacifier away when he is older but the thumb can go on for YEARS or forever. I have found that if you take away the pacifier at night when they are young, they often turn to their thumbs. I always prefered taking it away when they are old enough to understand or when they give it up on their own. Plus, if you give an infant something to comfort themselves with, why do we have to take it away so young? I never saw the need and I still don't. Don't sweat the small stuff.
Mommy 5
Our daughter had one favorite pacifier. The week of her 2nd birthday we decided that it was time to let it go, since using it only at nap and night was starting to cause tantrums when she couldn't have it during the day. So, I cut the nipple off to about a 1/4", and showed her that paci was "broke", since she understands what broke means. We left other pacis in the crib (although she didn't want those)for a couple of days while she dealt with the grief of not having her favorite. We knew she didn't like the others, but thought taking all of them out at once would be confusing to her since they had been there before. She had difficulty falling asleep for 4 days, accompanied by angry tantrums while falling asleep, but only asked for "paci" a couple of times, since she understood her favorite one was broke. I think this was a good method, because she was upset at paci for breaking/wearing out, not necessarily mad at mom or dad for taking it away... I don't agree with the "fairy took it method" I've read about here, because I want to always teach my child reality (sometimes bad things happen and you have to get over it). It was worn out, and unsafe to use, so I felt less guilty, too :) After the 4th day, she is back to falling right to sleep with no trouble.
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