How do i get my almost two year-old son to "lose" his binky/pacifier
by 
woodstock83
ANSWERS: 33
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I feel your pain! I've got a 17 month old with the same prob. I think we're gonna have to just bite the bullet and "lose" it for them one day, and just deal with the mayhem to come! I'll be interested to see if anyone has a better way of doing it....
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Thet will lose it themselves when they're ready, don't push it!
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Whatever you do, don't do what my aunt did with my foster-cousin... she had hers til she was 11! At a certain point you just have to take it away and make them deal with it.
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Most of my family has been a big fan of putting the stuff that tastes really bad on his thumb and just taking it away from him outright.
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My mom simply asked me to give it to her one day and never gave it back. She said I cried and was completely pathetic, and it broke her heart, but after a few days, I was over it. She just kept telling me it was gone, that I was a big girl now (I think she said I was three), and that I didn't need it. Eventually I guess I forgot about it! :) Ah, the amazing three-year old mind... :) Good luck!
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ok...my son was three before we decided to give his binky to the baby monkeys at the zoo. it worked like a charm...he never asked for it again.
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The idea of bargaining with an infant is absurd. Take it away. This is the thing shoved in a baby's mouth to keep it quiet? Well, they cause no end of speech impediments. It was for your convenience you gave it to the child, to keep it quiet, now just take it away and throw it away. Guess what? Yup, it'll whinge. Then it won't.
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I finally gave up my binky around 4 (my Mom still has the last tattered bits of it), I never was into a pacifier. Almost 40 years later, for this christmas, my Mom made new binkys for me and my wife. There is a certain comfort factor and happy feeling that goes with having a blanket that your Mom makes for you. Yes, my wife and I are adults, but there is still something about curling up on the couch on a cold winter night under blankets that were made just for us with love. I don't think a person ever outgrows it.
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The trust almanac says (lots of folks swear that this works) that the best days to start this are: Feb. 2-9, the 29th and March 1-8 and 28-31. I've heard lots of stories that this is very easy if go by the almanac where they have failed before. Not sure of the reasoning behind certain days but old folks generally know their stuff when it comes to such matters. Hope it works for you.
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You need to reward him with something sensible but desirable (maybe a star chart where 10 stars earn him a new book'/toy etc) for going short periods without it. If you stick to this and remain consistent then by increasing the time without it gradually it will eventually be a thing of the past. Toddlers may suddenly drop their use of them by mixing with kids who don't use one - bring a baby along who is using one and your toddler may start drawing his own conclusions. Good luck.
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I recommend cold turkey. That's what we did with my son -- I waited until garbage day (so there'd be no chance of fishing them out of the trash), then dumped every last pacifier and every baby bottle into the trash and hauled it out front. Yes, there WILL be much wailing and gnashing of teeth for a few days to a week; but if your child has no alternative, he WILL find a way to cope -- there has yet to be a fatal incident of "binkie withdrawal". Just make sure you give lots of extra time and attention to your child during this period of transition...
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My daughter was a binkie junkie too, she'd sleep with one in her mouth and one in each hand, LOL. Finally, we told her that there were other babies who didn't have any binkies, that they needed hers. So we went and got a bunch of helium filled balloons, and tied her binkies to them, and let them float away to the babies in need of binkies. She was 3 at the time though, I don't know what level of reasoning your son has, but this may work. Good luck : )
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I don't know if this will work for you but, I put it away during the day and said I couldn't find it and asked him to help me look, I made it a game and we had fun for about an hour and then I gave it to him and said well see, you just spent an hour wihtout it and had fun didn't you? and when he realised he did have fun and didn't miss it, he soon gave it up. Good luck , and keep in mind , you don't normally see 5, 6 or 7 year olds still sucking them.
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I told my daughter that as she got bigger the pacifier would start to taste horrible, after a few days of telling her this I painted it with "stop n' grow" nail biting formula (foul tasting but harmless) and also her spare one, after the bad taste of the main one she ran and got the spare...same taste, she then went around proudly telling all who would listen that she is big now :o)
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The best way is to phase it out. You need the help of your day care centre/nursery/kindergarden for this. First he needs to be told that he can not use it while there. This will take a few weeks and possibly a month. Once he is comfortable with that, start phasing it in at home. He does not need it while playing or watching TV for example, but let him keep it while being changed/sleeping. Wait until that is sorted out then start with the hardest part. Sleeping. Again, thats a long phase so just be patient, that last phase can take over a year so be very patient with him. Good luck :)
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I did it by replacing the two he liked to hold at night with small toys to hold instead. Then I took his binky and cut a slit in the nipple part. When they can't get suction...the sucking pleasure is greatly diminished. You must be careful about this you don't want to cut it in a way that a piece comes off. Once you spend about a week like that (their behavior will tell you when it's over)...toss them out...one at a time from their least favorite time of use one to their most favorite time of use one.
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There really isn't any need to take it from him so soon... and its really better for him to suck a binkie than to suck his thumb. But you could take it away and only let him use it for nap time and sleep time... no other times...
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My children were never really into the paci, but I saw this exact situation of Nanny 911 last week. What she suggested was to decorate an envelope, have the child put his pacifiers into the envelope to mail to the paci-fairy. Explain to the child that the paci-fairy gives the pacifiers to new babies who need it more than him because now he's a big boy and let him put it in the mail box. It worked on edited TV, who knows what happend behind the scenes?
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With my son, we went cold turkey -- I waited till trash day (so he couldn't fish them out of the garbage) rounded up every last binkie and baby bottle, and walked them out to the curb. Yes, there'll be much wailing and gnashing of teeth for about a week or so; but if your son has no other options, he WILL find some other way to cope.
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If he's got a blanky, I wouldn't worry but pacifiers look ugly and silly and a child who is nearly two is certainly big enough to give up their dummy/pacifier. One way is to soak it in a solution of water and vinegar to make it taste less attractive. Keep putting in more vinegar if necessary.
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When i was a young young child,Iremember my mother throwing my bottles away into the trash and explaining to me that I was too old for them now. Perhaps a similar method of honest would be appropriate.
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Lose it for him.
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I thought my son would have a fit, he could have cared less. He never asked for it again. Also I have heard that if you cut a hole in the tip, it loses the reason they are sucking on it in the first place and they could just lose it themselves. Something else too, is maybe take him somewhere where there are babies and show him that they need them not big boys and ask him to donate them to the babies to make them happy, you never know it might just work!:)
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Create a really cool baby box and put everything of his that signifies baby in that box. Make it a big deal and have him put the stuff in that box. Tell him that its time to be a big boy. Might work. Might just open the doors for potty training. I just took it away from my son in the middle of the night. When he woke up, it was gone. I said "Its ok, you didn't need it anymore, your such a big boy." It was his new years resolution so to speak.
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Freddy, I mostly agree with that. Too many parents are letting their kids dictate to them. Trouble is, people get desperate from lack of sleep and get worn down. The longer you leave it, the more the kid will get attached so better to get rid of the dummy well before their 3rd birthday and preferably before they are 2.
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In my experience, most children have a tantrum at some point and throw their pacifier on the floor in the street. That's the best time to say ''it's lost!'' -- and in fact my nieces never really complained when that happened, but they did protest when it was confiscated. If that doesn't happen, I'd take them away one night when he's asleep, and claim they'd disappeared overnight. Then I'd avoid letting him in the aisles of shops where pacifiers are sold for a few months.
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Cut a tiny slice in it, or poke a hole with a needle so that it no longer holds air in it. He'll lose interest in it when it doesn't work anymore. Worked like a charm for my daughter. Thumbs are much more difficult. We used nail biting stuff on my son's thumb. It tasted nasty and couldn't be removed unless you used nail polish remover.
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We had my son put all his pacifiers/dummies under his pillow one night and the "Dummy fairy" came and took them. We told him that when you get too old for them the dummy fairy takes them and cleans them and gives them to babies who need them. I was really surprised at how well he dealt with it. He went around the house collecting them "for the babies." He was really proud of himself when they were gone in the morning because the "dummy fairy" had deemed him a big boy who didn't neeed them anymore. Every now and again afterwards he would say "I gave my dummies to the babies because I'm a big boy and I don't need them any more."
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do it gradually like taking it away during the day & letting them have it at naps or at bedtime & then take it away at naptime & then bedtime to be the last hold-out.
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Start soaking it in a weak solution of vinegar or stop and grow. Make the solution a bit stronger over time. That way he will give it up himself and you won't be seen as the big bad meanie.
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My son was 1 year old and i just took it one day when he wasnt paying attention to it cause he had his sippy and he never thought about it again or even knew it was missing. My mom never gave me one and told me never to give one to my kids cause it can be hard to get them away from it but he was premie and had to have one to learn to suck when he was born. So did my sister and my mom just took it one day and that was that.
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I feel that you should start taking it away when they get up in the mornig and start by only giving it at nap time for a week and bed time and then start taking it away at nap time and only letting them have it at bed time for a week and then take it away all together. Be prepared for a struggle but stick to it and maybe read to them at the time when they are getting ready for their nap and bed and it might take their mind off it as much. At 2 years it is really time.
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my mum only gave me my dummy when i went to bed at night maybe try just doing that?
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