Seeking Binki Advise

What I did was take the scissors to the binki and cut the nipple off completly!!! Binki all gone, you say! It worked for mine. Don't let him see you do it though.

I don't know if you are still trying to break the binki habit or not, but this is what worked for my daughter. One night my husband cut the tip off of her pacifier. She immediately noticed that it was "broken." We told her we didn't know what happened. After a couple of days of having a "broken" pacifier she decided that it needed to be thrown away. She threw it in the garbage and that was the end of it. She did ask for it a few more times, but we told her she threw it away because it was broken. That explaination satisfied her and we have not had any other problems. Hope this helps.

I had the same problem 6 years ago. A man at the grocery store (I was buying a new binki because we could not find it!) He suggested I either sprinkle lots of the kind she likes in the crib so she can find it or cut just the tip of it off and act like I don't know what happened? She may just throw it out on her own. I forget how it all ended but, she did get over it :)
Good luck!

Hi B.,
My son was the same way. My pediatrician said to just take it away- but my son cried. My OB/GYN said it was no big deal and he would grow out of it. So, I let him have it until he was just over four. Finally, the dog ate it. He cried for one night and never asked for it again. So- I went against the peds advice, but it was really no big deal. Also, he would awake in the middle of the night crying, searching for his binky. So, we tied a small string around the binky and added two others so it would be easily found. Good luck!

Well B., for me I took my son's binki away when he turned one and like you it was the only thing that soothed him at night. We just did the cold turkey method Friday morning and by Monday he was fine. We did it over the weekend because we knew we wouldn't get any sleep at night since he would be up crying for it. It worked but the first three days are hard and after that it's all down hill! Good luck, K..

I had this problem with my daughter(now 12). I started putting the binkis away during the day so she couldn't easily find them, then I started doing it at night. She cried a little at first but eventually forgot about them. My friend took a very different approach - kind of radical, but it worked. I guess it all depends on the child...The night before Easter one year, she took all the binkis and threw them away. When her son woke up, he had a new tricycle but no more binkis. She told him that the Easter bunny took the binkis for the little kids and gave him a big boy bike! He bought it and went cold turkey! What ever you decide your child will thank you for breaking the habit before he is in a social situation(like school) and might be ridiculed by others for it. Good luck!

I told my daughter that the monkeys took it back to the zoo and were sharing it with the giraffes..... She cried and cried but we would just let her cry herself back to sleep....

B.,

I have heard that the binki will be easier to give
up if you have your son give it to a fireman or
policeman, someone they look up to - sounds
weird but it apparently works. Good luck!

option one limit the uise of binki to only night, then after a month or so, have him throw it away, and do not buy more!

OR

cut the tip off and when it doesn't work right for him he probably wont want it, but as far as he knows its just broke you had nothing to do with it. Once again have him trhow it away because its broken, and do not buy more.

Good luck!

Your son might be a little young for this, but it worked great for my daughter I think she was a little over 3 when we did this. We had the Binky Fairy come. At first the binky fairy put a present under her pillow every night that she went without a binky then after a couple of weeks the binky fairy was really busy helping other kids and could only come every other night then finally only once a week. It was still hard but it worked then she went around telling everyone that when she grew up she was going to be the binky fairy.

B., my son was a little younger (almost 2) when we did this, but it worked GREAT! First, pop a little hole in the end. It won't feel right to suck on it anymore, but at the same time, you don't have to take it away from him. Then every night, or every few nights, cut a little bit off the end. We found that our son dropped it within days, long before we cut it to nothing. Though I've heard that this way, some kids do hang on to it in their fist even after it's completely cut away. Still... better than in their mouth!!! Hope this helps.
C.

This is what one of my family mambers did with their son. Let him sleep with it for now but everyday let him cut a piece of it off. (With you supervising of course)Soon there will be no binki left and he will get used to it slowly "disappearing". Be sure to let him cut it and throw it away when there is nothing left there. Hope that works for you!

My son was two when we got rid of his pacifier. We went to his two year check up and his doctor told us that he shouldn't have it anymore because his teeth were beginning to protrude. The doctor told him that he would have to throw his pacifier away because he was getting too big for it. We went through the "motions" of "throwing" it away and left the office with the pacifier in our pockets. We never gave it to him again. When he asked for it, we told him it was at Dr. Z's office in the trash can. Two days later he stopped asking and has never had one since. His younger sister had one at the time and he never even put hers in his mouth. Hope this helps-sounds harsh-but worked:)

Hi,yes the binkis can be some else, but don't worry about it too much now,for he needs it for security...try to get him busy talking or doing something take binki out of his mouth & try to talk with him so he must answer,letting him see binki in your hand will resssure him it is o.k.offer him something else to replace binki sometimes...not alll the time,talking is good,eating a cool popsicle is good,get him involved in a project like play dough, he has to want top put it down,right now he is not ready. It may be he just needs more of your attention! Don't push him,or say any thing about binki.
M.

Hi,
my 23 month old is 'addicted' to her binki as well. I don't know how true this is, but I have heard that at this age the easiest thing to do is wait till 3, or just take it away cold turkey. I am choosing 3. I know it is a pain, but I think i might have an easier time with it as well as her at 3 than now.
What I have done is bought another pacifier and stuck it in the crib with her, that way if she drops one, she can still find the other. Also, I try to limit it during the day (when possible) and only give it to her at night. Of course, that doesn't always work, because she seems to have them hidden around the house.
HTH
S.

My sister was in a similar situation. What she decided to do was cut a portion of the nipple off. Her daughter couldn't get suction from it, so after awhile she gave it up on her own.

I have been told to start cutting the tip off of the pacifier a little at a time. Eventually, they will loose interest.
K. C

I went through this with my older daughter. When she started chewing on them I decided it was time to toss them all out because of the choking hazard. I explained to her that she was a big girl & she no longer needed them. It was hard. I have an 11 month old that loves his binki now. My neighbor gave me a great idea. She said to cut the tops off of the binkis. This way they are still around but they are less appealing. When he comes to you tell him his binki is broken & to throw it away. Not sure how well this works as I have yet to try it. Good Luck!
Heather

Okay so I'm sure your son has never heard of "The Binki Fairy". Talk about this fairy for a couple of weeks so you give him fair warning about what is about to happen. Tell him that soon the binki fairy is going to come and take his binki away and she only does this when she thinks you don't need it anymore. Or something like that. Then after he gets that part of it and understands that one day his binki will be gone he will come to expect it. Then one day it just disappears. I swear this really works and does them no harm.

Goodluck
D.

Hello- My advice is to throw ALL binkis that you have inthe trash- so you won't be tempted. THen tell your son no more binki- even if you have to say it 50 times- and don't cave once. Eventually- he will stop asking-in the meantime give lots of hugs and kisses- this too shall pass! Hope this helps-L.

When my son was about 18 months, I asked my pediatrician how to wean him from the pacifier - I hadn't tried it yet but I was worried about it. He told me to cut off half of the pacifier nipples and give them to him as I normally would. After a while he'd get tired of not getting what he wanted out of it and drop them, and if he didn't I should cut off the rest of it and give it to him. I never had to do that, so I don't know how well it works, but the advice did come from my seasoned pediatrician and it made sense to me. Hope this helps. :)

we told my daughte that on her third birthday she was a big girl and we had a throwing away party. We collected all the binks and my daughter threw them in the trash. It took a few days of us reminding her that she was a big girl when she would ask for a binky, but because she was the one to throw them away it made it a lot easier.

Throw them out and have him do it with you. Chose a day you're going to do it and that morning gently & kindly explain that it's time to be a big boy so you'll both throw out his binki. This is not a negotiation. Give him the choice to either do it with you or you'll do it alone. Tell him w/ great enthusiasm that you're going to get a cool new blanket or pillow (something that he can ONLY use in his bedroom to soothe him - that's what we do with our son...he has a blue blanket that he loves, but we don't let him carry it around w/ him all day - we have him leave it in his bed so he can sleep with it...but we set very clear, consistent boundaries regarding it - and we never break them. And he is totally OK with it - never bend once you set a rule, otherwise that's when it gets really messy). Empower him. Let him know that it's an exciting time since he's growing up and let him know only babies use the binki and that he can have another item to comfort him at bedtime. Good luck!

I had a similar problem with my daughter, who’s now five. Sometimes the “cold turkey” doesn’t work, especially if the child is sensitive. Wean him off of the binki like you would wean yourself off of coffee. Explain very simply that it’s too hard to find binki in the middle of the night and when the lights go off binki goes up. This way he can gradually get use to not having a soother at night. Then once he’s accomplished that limit binki during the day, if you haven’t already. Use excuses like we can’t take binki to the store because it might get dirty” (or whatever sounds logical to him.) This method works like a charm and the best part is it works for everything (blankies, bottles, sippy cups, ect.)

Hello,
There is no easy way to take it away.My daughter who is three years and five months had to have her binky to, I started at the age of two by not letting her have it during the day except for nap and at night. Then by the time of three, she is old enough not to have and able to put herself to sleep, so I took it. She also woke up crying in the middle of the night or nap time cuz she couldn't find it. Talk about hard. One nap time she was giving me some trouble so I told her I was going to put it in the trash and it would be all gone. I figure that would stop her fit but it didn't so guess what I did. I put it in a bag and threw away and showed it to her. It did take a while, two weeks to be exact for her to stop crying for it. She did ask for it but told her that it was gone and in the trash. The one thing was hard to was not going in the room to try to comfort her. Luckly my husband is more sturnor hard headed, he was the one that kept reminding me to not go in. The reason is they get used to that and will do it every night or nap time and it will take a lot longer for them to adjust. I just had to make sure that there was something that distracted me like the tv being loud so I couldn't hear her or taking a bath or go outside and check the mail and just relax out there until she is done. All kids are different some will take longer and some it will only be a matter of days. My daughter takes after us and is very hard headed. Just be strong and tell your self that it will be over soon. Trust me it will. There is no easy way or better time to do it. I had to get rid of all the spares around the house so I would be albe to give in. It will be hard when they are attached to it. Earlier the better. I wish I did it a lot sooner but my husband was in Iraq and then came home for about two months and left for school for three months and then we moved her to Albuquerque. To many changes for her so I waited until we settled down here to take it away.
Goodluck,
K.

Hi B.! We had a problem gatting the sassy (binki) away from my little sister when she was about the same age as your son. One day we went around the house while she wasn't there and picked them all up and put them away. When she got home we explained to her that the "sassy fairy" came and got them to take to a new baby that needed them. We gave her a present for "giving" all her sassies away. It worked! She didn't ask for it again, and anytime she would come across one that we missed she would just say that the fairy forgot one.

Ok here is what I did.. FIRST I ONLY gave it to hi,m at nap.. THIS IS A HARD THING YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO BE TOUGH... Anyways, Then One night I took ALL OF THEM and threw them out.. The next day they were gon including the one he had.. It took my son about 3 days or so to get over it then he didnt care.. It works it will work for you you just have to be tough my son was 2 also when I did it.. Goodluck let me know if you do it and if it worked!

Hi B.,
I agree with Heather suggesting cutting the tips of his binki off. We did that for my 2 year old daughter. Once we said "Uh, oh! It's broken" she would throw it away. When she did go to bed, she would cry for it and we would have to do the whole process of throwing away the binki again. After a few days, this worked great and without any crying at nite-nite time. Good luck!
C.

Hi,

Its been a long time for me my son who is 9 now used to have a Binki too and he was the only one of my 4 children that took one so I'm not an expert or anything but I was able to stay home with my son & he was just about 2 when I put it in a high spot during the day that he could still see it like on the fireplace mantle. Then when he wanted it I would always tell him "This is yucky because its for babies & you are a big boy". He would take it anyway and look at me like I was crazy and I thought he wasn't listening to me but one day (3 or 4 days later of doing this) he had it in his mouth and he took it out and gave it to me and said "yucky" and pointed to the fireplace mantle for me to put it up there and there it stayed even at night! I was shocked! But it worked so I didnt question it..LOL

Hope that helps in any way I know it is hard but just remember he won't be in college with the binki...hopefully... LOL. Good luck!
Lizett

I have a 2 1/2 year old daughter and the only way that i was able to break the binky habit was to just take it and have a couple horrible nights with no sleep. I was so prepared for that but it was easier than I thought. The only other thing I can tell you is to put something gross tasting or maybe some tabasco on it before you giver it to him and maybe he will think twice about wanting it again! It sounds harsh but it wont him in anyway it will just make him spit it out. Good luck!

My oldest daughter was a binky addict too. I started by making it a bedtime thing. The only place she could use her binky was while she was lying in bed. Then when it was actually becoming a safety issue because she was chewing on them and I was afraid that she would choke on a piece in the middle of the night. I gave her the last binky we had in the house and told her that when this one was broken she would be ready to say good bye to it. I kept telling her this and when that last one was all done I had her throw it in the trash and say good bye to binkies. I will admit it was a little rough for her to fall asleep during the next few nights and when she would ask for it I would just remind her that she was a big girl and said good bye to her binkies.

Just remember that it could be worse he could suck his thumb. I don't know how parents get there kids to stop that you sure can't make there thumb go away.

good luck

although it may be very very difficult (and loud) in your house for a while, have you ever thought about just letting him cry it out and not giving it to him when he loses it? or going in there and trying to soothe him on your own without offering it to him? my niece went through this and they were able to substitute the binky with a little security blanket that she snuggled with and that seemed to work with them. it did take her a few weeks and some sleepless nights for the parents for this to work although. good luck!

We just went through this with my 2 1/2 year old son. On Sunday, July 9 I told him that ginky (what he calls it) is going in the sky and another little boy needed him. I told him he was a big boy now. So when Monday morning came I asked him if he remembered what I told him about ginky and he said "going bye bye in the sky". From that day on he has not had his ginky. (I also have a 1 year old girl - I got rid of hers at the same time. It was easier that way and she really didn't need hers.) Yes, it was hard. The first 3 weeks were very difficult at bed time. Sleep time is still not back to normal for him. His ginky relaxed him and he just doesn't know how to calm down at bed time now. He doesn't talk about it anymore. Sometimes he will see an airplane in the sky and say bye bye ginky. My 1 year old never missed it.
My advise to you is: do it now - don't wait he will only get more and more attached. After I got rid of his ginky there was a segmant on The Today Show about how and when to get rid of pacifers. One lady had a brillant idea to tie them all to balloons and let them go up in the sky. I wish I would have thought of that because the child can be a part of it and it gives them a visual. If you decide to it...talk about it the day before so he knows what is going to happen. Good luck and stick to your guns. Throw them all away so you don't give in once you've gotten rid of them.

You can try leaving it in his bed and making sure he only gets it at nap or at night. My son was very very attached and it seemed to be the only thing to get him to sleep so I just made sure he knew he was a big boy and could not have it during the day, when we were out, etc. I did that for a few months and then I said wow what a big boy you are and then I said it is time to get rid of the binky altogether and he wanted to be a big boy so bad that he actually threw it away. He cried for 2 nights and then nothing...peace. Funny thing, one day after a few months he found an old binky in his toy box and he came to me and threw it away all on his own. It was great !

hi B.,

When my daughter turned 2, the "Dummy (we are Australian so in your case "binki") Fairies” came and took the dummies to give to all the new born babies. In return for the generous gesture on our daughter’s behalf the fairies left a gift for her. She only asked for her dummy once after that and we just reminded her about the fairies. We worked up to this for about a month so that she was ready on the night and let her put out the dummies in a special bowl with a note. Good luck, hope this helps! I have also heard of someone donateing them (nuge nuge) to the mcdondalds for babies at ronald mcdonald house but this relies on having a cashier who is a little smart, and can just say ok and take the dummies.

I have a 2 1/2 yr old son too who looooves his binki (we call it plug)He is only supposed to have it at nap and bedtime but perodically he'll fuss for it during the day when extra comforting is needed like when sleepy or if he gets an "owie".

We're planning on doing the same thing as we did for our daughter after she turned 3. As Christmas was approaching we started telling her that now that she was 3 and a big girl she didn't need her binki any more and Santa needed them to give to other babies. On Christmas Eve we made a game of finding all of her binkis and left them on the plate of cookies for Santa. In the morning they were gone and Santa left her a nice note on what a big girl she was and how happy she'll make new babies w/her old binkis. The withdrawl syndrome lasted about 24-48 hours and then it was done. Make sure you tell all family members too so one mistakenly gives your son one after "the deed is done".

I've also seen some department store Santa's who actually have a basket to collect binkis and give special toys for the kids who give them up.

P.S. When throwing the binkis out I mixed them with fireplace ashes so I wouldn't cave in and give her one when she cried for it :-)

Check out this web site. www.coulsoninstitute.com or www.srcoulson.com This lady is amazing! She is in Denver. My Pediatrician recommended her and it worked for my 4 year old and 2 year old who sucked their thumbs. I'm not sure if she deals with pacifier habits, but it's worth a try. It seems like a miracle. She is so good! Sandra Coulson's number is ###-###-####

I'm not sure if your son would understand if you told him that binkis are for babies. If he would I have heard that you can take them to a fire station and "donate" them to babies who don't have them (I would call first). It makes them feel special and it's really cool to go to the fire station. Also I had a friend who had her daughter bring all of them to my son(newborn at the time) and give them to a baby who needed them. My friend had a special big girl present wrapped for me to give her when she gave up her binkis to my son. She said she asked for them for a couple of days and then forgot.
Good Luck!!
J.