Letting Go of Binky

My youngest used hers until she was 3. We were never good at keeping track of the binkies and lost them all the time. When we only had one left, we told her once that one is gone, thats it! The first night was rough, but she started talking so much more when we got rid of it.

I have also heard of tying it to a balloon, and letting it go up into the air for the "stork" to give to another baby.

Hi C.! I broke my daughter of this in two nights, I cut the tip of the binky off and gave it to her. When she put it in her mouth she took it out and looked at it funny. I told her it was broken. BE STRONG, this was the first time I felt like my daughter really understood what loss was. Her face looked like she had just lost her best friend. In anycase, she went to bed and she kept saying it was broken. The next night she asked for it and I gave it to her again. Same thing only this time no sadness, just "Binky broke" and that was it. Occassionally she would mention it but just to state that it was broken. GOOD LUCK!!!!

We let the easter bunny take it away when she was almost 3. she had a bit of an overbite before, but it corrected itself after we got rid of the binky.

This may seem like a crazy idea, and it may only work with an older child...but it actually worked for us! My son was intensly attached to his binky until well after he was 2 years old. It was driving us crazy and we were soooo tired of looking for the darn thing everytime he lost it. So one day, we used an idea from SuperNanny. One night before bed, we told Devon that the "binky fairy" was going to come tonight. She was going to take his binky and give it to "a nice little baby who needed it." We got out a brown sandwich bag and he decorated it with crayons and stickers. We then wrote a note together that said, "Dear Binky Fairy, please take this binky and give it to a nice little baby who needs it." We then went out onto the porch and he set it down, and we again reminded him that the binky fairy was going to come and take it that night, but maybe she would leave a special treat for him.

That night, he went to bed with no problem, and no binky! We could NOT believe that it worked! LOL. The next morning, he was delighted to find the sandwich bag filled with a few little toys and his favorite snack. He never asked for his binky again :)

Hello my name is A. and i have a 17 month old and he also loved his binky but i did not want him to have it after he turned 2. One nite i said that is it no more binky and through it a way. Then i put him to bed. he did not cry the first nite but the second day was a little harder but it has now been 2 1/2 weeks and we still have no binky. all i can say is do not give in onece you take it away cause it will make it 2 times harder.

I wouldn't worry about the "binky" if she is just using it at bedtime -- my little neice who just turned 2 in September still uses one to go to sleep. My daughter was almost 3 before she stopped using one at night -- she is now 20 and didn't have any problems with her teeth or anything.

I took my kids on a "BIG KID" mini shopping spree. we went to walmart and looked at COOL sippy cups and they picked out the ones they liked. Than we went to the toy section and they got to pick out a toy.

later at home I showed them there was no room for both COOL sippy cups and OLD YUCKY bottles, so we needed to throw something out to make room. They threw all there bottles away on there own. So alls they needed was a few reminders that they threw them away and that was that.

the binkys were a bit tougher... but worth the struggle to break them of that habit. My 11 year old is being fitted for a lip bumper partly due to having his binky too much and too long.

With our son we told him that there was a binky fairy and to gather up all the binkys and when he woke up from his nap the binky fairy would take them to the new babies at the hospital and leave him a special present.

Funny to see this question. We just dropped the "Binky" about 9 days ago. My youngest son is 17 1/2 months old. I am a fan of cold turkey. We did the same thing with my older son. One night I just didn't give it to him. He was old enough to ask for it and I would completely ignore his requests. If you begin an exchange about the binky the child will always win. You need to forget it exists and so will they. I also think the younger the child the easier it is. They forget quicker. If cold turkey is not your style, try limiting her to naps and bedtime. Also cutting a small hole in the binky seems to work. They can't get the same suction and they seem to lose interest faster. Hope this helps and congrats on your upcoming wedding.

My daughter just turned 1 and we went to the pediatrician last monday and they suggested putting a slit in the nipple. This will make them not be able to really suck on it and they should loose interest on their own. I haven't tried it yet, we're waiting until she is 15 months. The ped told us that's when they really loose the need to suck.
Hope this helps!
Let me know how it goes!

Jess

Hi C.,
Well my son is 16 months and he still has his binky to go to sleep only. His pediatrician said for us to just throw it away in a few weeks, he said that he might get confused if we only give it to him once in a while. Try it see what happens and good luck. A. G

Frankly, I really wouldn't worry to much about it. The more one makes a deal over little things, the longer the kid will hang on to it. I had five kids and the ones who had their binky's eventually got over it. I have one daughter who used to like the satin edge that used to come on blankets. Even though she is 25 years old, she still likes to keep a piece of blanket with silky binding with her. Some people never get over their attachments!

Boy does this bring back memories lol. My youngest daughter had to have a Mickey Mouse Binky, Nothing else would doo it got to the point where I had to buy a supply of them cuz that was the only kind she would use and if we didnt have a red Mickey to replace the one she lost,chewed,dropped, I was in trouble!! lol Well when you have just about reached ur ropes end like I did you will have to get rid of it and deal with it for a couple days but she WILL get used to it. I went to camp one year, my daughter was 2 yrs. old, at camp alot of traveling is done she chewed her binky so their was no rubber left! Well being a working mom at the time I figured vacation time is the best time to deal with this situation and boom out the window went the Binky! Her eyes were big, she cried a little I took her to the mall let her pick out her favorite stuffed animal and shes 16 and she still has that animal but she doesnt have that terrible Mickey hanging from her mouth lol!! Let me know how things go and good luck! Remember your not being mean by doing this and as she grows, trust me, it wont be the first time she gets mad at u! :)

My 13 month old son is the same way. He has to have his pacifier to go to sleep. They stay in his bed though and he is only allowed to have them when he is sleeping and doesnt need them any other time. I asked his doctor about it at his 1 yr checkup and she said dont even worry about it that in most cases they give them up on their own by the time they are 3. I would say let her keep it for sleeping if that is what comforts her. I always tend to worry about what other people might think about my son still having a binky but in the end it doesnt really matter what they think about it, it is comforting to him and when he is able to communicate his needs better to me then we will worry about the binky if he hasnt given it up on his own. Hope that helps. T.

In what I have read this far orthodontic damage doesn't happen until after 2 years old which was my concern. Set a date and inform Brette that she will be getting rid of her binky each day until you do it so she can somewhere in her little mind adjust to the idea of not having it. Others say just take it away and be prepared for a couple of sleepless nights.

My almost 15 month old still uses her binky but only for naps and at bedtime. She's always been like that. I'm OK with it for now but, like you, I don't want her older speaking full sentences with a bink hanging out of her mouth.

That was about the age my son was when we got rid of it. We went cold turkey. We just took them all and hid them away where he couldn't find them. For a few nights he had a hard time falling asleep. He would either play in his crib not realizing it was time for sleep or he would cry. It took about 3 bad nights and he was going down without it. Occasionally my husband needed to rub his back to help him go back down when he woke up in the middle of the night but that wasn't too bad. We did keep a few around just in case and have pulled them out for doctor visits or when he is trying to sleep in a strange place. It is tough but it is so much easier to do now than when they are older. Good luck.

When it was time for my now 6 yr old daughter to let hers go, (around 18 mos)I made it a game that made her feel good about what she did. We took her binky and her bottle to the hospital maternity ward. When we got there, I begged the nurse to take a gift bag full of things and hide it behind the counter for me. When my daughter had a chance to look at all the babies that had been born, I told her that these new babies needed binkies and bottles to make them feel better. Then she really wanted to help them and make them happy, so she gave her baba and binky to the nurse who in turn handed her the bag of goodies that I had given to her earlier and told her that it was from the new babies. I had filled it with sippie cups, toys, etc.. She was so excited to see what the babies had given her and she was so proud of helping, that I never heard another word about either of them. It worked for me, I hope it might help you. Sometimes we just have to get creative!!! Good Luck!!

If she's only using it to go to sleep, you might want to wait til maybe Christmas and have her leave it for Santa Claus to give to another baby and he leaves her a gift for doing so! We did this with our son, it worked !

Or you can get rid of all but one... and bribe, yes, I said BRIBE her to trade it for something LOL..

whatever works that causes the least amount of stress on you and her!

Good luck!

M.

Hi C.
Gosh that name sounds familiar. Well I saw an episode on supernanny that they get all the paci's (the kid helped) and they hung them in a basket on the tree outside for the paci fairy to take and then the fairy left the "big girl" a gift. Try that. I have also heard have them all thrown out and have the baby go cold turkey. I think she will lose it on her own don't worry. She will know when she's ready. Heck sometimes I Still use one. LOL Good Luck

My son is now 5 and he used the binky until he was 3, only for sleeping from age 2 to 3. What I did was took a binky, cut it up in front of him, and threw it away in front of him. It sounds cruel, but it showed him that there was no more binky to ask for. Of course, I kept one hidden just in case, but he never asked for it again. Another person also suggested cold turkey and I also suggest it. It may be hard for a couple of days, but distract your daughter with something else when she asks for it, like read her another story, or sing to her and hopefully she will forget about it.

My daugter had hers till she turned 3.The doctor said it was ok but after 3 she needed to let go of it because it could cause problems with her teeth About 6 months before her B day I told her "Big girls don't have Bubbas" and talked to her about it up to her B-day. She had no problems letting it go and she LOVED her Bubba.