How to get rid of a binkey

[scrap_junkie]

I have a 11 months old daughter and I'm wanted to break the habbit of her binkey. She only has it when she's sleeping. So my question is do you have any tips or advise of how to break the habbit?

Thank you~

[ra11en]

I broke my DD at 12mo, and she was still too young for the cutsie paci fairy ideas and whatnot, so I just took it away cold turkey. I waited for a long weekend because I anticipated a battle. Friday morning when I took her out of her crib, I took the binky and told her she didn't need it anymore because she was a big girl. She was sort of cranky during the day (she still used her binky at all hours night and day). Her nap time was a huge battle - took 45 minutes to get her to fall asleep without it (normally 5 minutes) but I didn't back down. By that night at bedtime, you would think she had never had a binky. She went right to sleep and has been binky free ever since (now 21mo).

Kids that young especially tend to adapt VERY fast. Its us parents that have a hard time. :)

I say cold turkey and stick to your guns. Its much easier to go cold turkey if you have a regular nap/bed time routine.

[carolinadaisy]

My oldest son will be 3 in a week, and still wants his "ninny" for naptime and bedtime. He can fall asleep without it, but he WANTS it REALLY BAD! My ped. said that he should abandon it by himself by 3, but i dont think he will. I learned from my mistake and when my youngest turned 7 months i took it from him and left it in his crib for when he woke up in te night. After he quit waking up, i took it completely and it worked. Now i dont know what to do with my bigger ones habit, but it drives me crazy. Im glad you decided to do it early, i have been telling my sister in law to take it early cuz after the one yeat mark it gets harder and harder. Good luck!

[MommaC]

I haven't had to do it yet. So far my daughter's only using it for sleeping, but I want to get rid of it by the time she's 1. I'm hoping if she has other sleep cues (white noise, lullaby CD, darkness) and comforts (she has 2 "loveys"--they're lightweight burp rags she likes to rub her nose in when she's winding down) the transition won't go too badly. Good luck to you!

[luckymama2]

I let my daughter, just turned 3 in April, have her binky whenever she wanted until the day she turned 2. Then after she woke up from naptime or in the morning she had to leave whatever binkies (she had like 5!) in her crib then bed. On her 3 yr birthday after talking about it for about a month just left all her binkies on the kitchen table for the fairy to come get and leave her a present. We told her the binky fairy would take them to babies who needed them. She whined a little but to my surprise was asleep in like 10 minutes no crying. Just whining before I left her room and I just kept telling her she was a big girl and didn't need it and that she would get a special treat in the morning. She collected her gift the next morning excitedly (a little mermaid doll and new mermaid pjs) and was very happy. She did good for a week then started asking for it randomly and I would just remind her gently that the binky fairy took them and that she has the mermaid now. That seemed to be enough to get the whining to subside .. it was as if she needed a reminder. And she has a little brother who is now 10 months who has had his own binky this whole time and to my shock has never tried to put his binkies in her mouth or take them. We just told her he's still small and when he's 3 the binky fairy will come to visit him too and that seemed fair enough to her and shes never asked why he has one since. It is now June (2 months since she gave it up) and there has been no mention of her binkies in over a month! :) I am just surprised how fast ppl get their babies to grow up sometimes...I can understand it but even my pediatrician and dentist said it was ok until 3 yrs of age esp just at night. They grow so fast as is! And I really don't think a one yr old walking around with a binky is "too big" for it.

[scrap_junkie]

Thank you so much for all the advise! I'm going to take it away tomorrow morning when she wakes up so wish my luck and I'll let you know how it goes!

[scrap_junkie]

Okay so i took the binkey yesterday morning. And she did great! It's not hard at all to take it away. Both times when I would put her in bed she would cry for about 5-10 mins. So not bad. I just don't understand why I didn't take it away sooner, plus when she woke up from her nap yesterday so was in a better mood! So thank you again!

[awaltman]

We let our son have his pacifer way too long until he was three. He only used it at night but it has affected his teeth and his speach. He now goes to speech twice a week for a lisp. We finally told Dayton that he was going to have to give all of his pacifers to the dentist at this checkup because he was too big for them. A few weeks before the checkup we begin reminding him of the big day. The morning of the checkup, we gathered up all the pacifers and put them in a zip log bag. At the dentist, Dayton handed the bag to the dentist. He never mentioned the pacifer! A few weeks later we found one under the bed. I was really worried but Dayton asked me to take it to the dentist because we forgot one. To avoid dental and speech problems, nip this habit early!

[ra11en]

The younger they are, the easier it is for them to adapt (for most things).

Glad to hear she did so well!! We noticed a change in our daughter's behavior after taking away the binky as well - for the better!