Bye, Bye Binky

January 9, 2012 by
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When my little guy turned one I was very adamant that we were going to get rid of all the bottles and binkies in the house. We had been working on getting him switched over to sippy cups so that didn’t seem to be much of a problem. But then there was the binky. I personally loved it but my husband wanted to make sure he wasn’t too attached to it and still having one when he was 5. So we had a plan in set to limit it to just nap and bed time and then work down from there. But 5 days before he turned one he broke his arm. How could I take his binky away from him now? Then we went in for his one year check up and get shots. That wasn’t fun and it lead to a cold with an ear infection. His first ever so when we put him on his medicine we found out that he was allergic to penicillin. Now he was covered head to toe in hives and he had the cutest, little cast on his left arm. We had a VERY hard 6 weeks needless to say. So we never did get rid of that binky and I actually kind of forgot about it. Well by 18 month’s we finally got it down to just nap and bedtime. That was really nice. But how did we get rid of it permanently? I did a lot of research and asked all my friends and here were a bunch of tips that I got.

  • Cut the tip of the binky off and say it was broken.
  • Have just one binky and wait for it to be lost and then when its gone, its gone.
  • Take all your binky’s to the hospital or your doctor’s office and give them to all the new babies
  • Trade them in to Santa or the Easter Bunny for a new toy
  • Take them to the store and you can buy a new toy with your binkies.
  • Or just quit cold turkey.

I really wanted to trade in our binkies to Santa for a new toy but my husband didn’t want to wait that long.  So back in October we took away the binky cold turkey.  The first 2-3 days were pretty rough at bedtime but ever since then things have been great!  Some nights he cries for like a minute but other than that things are great!  And we don’t even miss the binky!

So how has everyone else gotten rid of the binky?  Was it a smooth transition or a really tough one?

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Filed Under: babies, Kid Stuff, Parenting
About Amy @ Oh So Savvy Mom

Amy is mom to three, wife to one, and a sister and aunt to many. Her family is a former military family now settled in Lehi, Utah. Oh So Savvy Mom began as a way for Amy to share parenting and product advice with others. Just as she has evolved, Oh So Savvy Mom has evolved into a resource for Healthy Living for Families, Food, Parenting, and Family Travel.

Comments

  1. Shannah @ Just Us Four says
    January 9, 2012 at 11:39 am
    With my daughter, we packed it up and sent it on an airplane ride. She really didn't mind much but will occasionally say "I wonder if my binky is on that plane". With my son, we might plant it the yard under some flowers. I have a friend who did this and it went over really well.
  2. Beth R says
    January 9, 2012 at 11:48 am
    I wish we had a binky. My son hated it and would pull it out and put his thumb in his mouth. So now we are trying to break that. That is much much harder than trying to get rid of the binky sadly. Good Luck
    • Kate says
      January 15, 2012 at 12:39 pm
      My daughter never took a binky either. But she also wasn't interested in her thumb which is good though. I have heard of painting a nasty tasting finger nail polish on the thumbs so they won't want to taste that when they pop the thumb in there mouth. I'm not sure if it would work but it might be worth a try!
  3. Betty Baez says
    January 9, 2012 at 3:16 pm
    With my first son we traded it for a sippy cup he wanted badly so it worked out in our favor with my second and now third son they didn't get a binky at all and to be honest it was a wonderful decision not to, not saying that anyone is wrong for giving it to their child, to each their own....but in my opinion it was better to opt out
  4. MSRheinlander says
    January 9, 2012 at 5:26 pm
    This is something we just started working on.... it seems that as Alex has gotten older she gets more attached to it!! So right now we are limiting it to certain times and have talked to her about saying bye bye to the paci : )
  5. debbi says
    January 9, 2012 at 9:38 pm
    Each of my kids was different, but they all had given it up by age two (we let my son keep it the longest, because he tended to put his mouth on everything...like the handle of the grocery cart, etc. YUCK!). We did the cold turkey route, too, and it sounds like it was pretty much the same. A few rough days, and then no problem!
  6. Amy @ Oh So Savvy Mom says
    January 9, 2012 at 10:22 pm
    Since I didn't write this post it's okay if I comment, right? LOL We just said goodbye to Little Brother's last pacifier. He was seriously attached. We gave him a pacifier from the beginning since he was so colicky (I wrote a bit about why in a breastfeeding post a while back). He is very sensitive and also a little anxious. The pacifier has been a blessing for him so he can soothe himself, and for us, to prevent us from going absolutely nuts. My husband and I talked about getting rid of the pacifier, but Little Brother loved his "fa-fa" so much we just couldn't do it. We knew last week, however, when Little Brother bit through his last pacifier that there was no going back. He was devastated. The first couple nights he held his pacifier, but whenever he'd put it to his mouth he'd instantly pull it back then look at it and cry as if the pacifier had committed the ultimate act of betrayal by breaking. It was one of the saddest things I've ever seen from my one of my children. It took him a few days, but he came to grips with it, and is now just fine without it.
  7. Kimberly K says
    January 10, 2012 at 8:03 am
    We had the Binky Fairy come to visit my daughter at night. She had packed up all her binkies and then the next morning there was a new doll waiting for her. She never asked for the binky again. That was five years ago. My son, on the other hand, may be more difficult :) He's a year and a half and will hold on to his binky with a death grip :)
    • Kate says
      January 15, 2012 at 12:42 pm
      That is so cute! I love that idea! I'll definatly use it on our next little girl if she takes a binky. I hope she does for my sanity. Good luck with your little guy. Maybe he'll find something that he's been eyeing at the store and the binky fairy could bring that to him.
  8. Cindi @ Frugal New England Kitchen says
    January 10, 2012 at 9:57 pm
    I vote cold turkey - when my DD29 was 2, hers fell over-board from our boat, and that was the end of that!
  9. Shiloh K says
    January 14, 2012 at 3:01 pm
    My little one gave up the binky when she was 6 months old, after her first cold! Sometimes I wish she would have continued to take it for awhile to self soothe!
  10. Donna George says
    January 15, 2012 at 10:35 pm
    My son never would take a pacifier, but he had a hard time giving up the bottle. Finally, when he was 2, the Bottle Fairy came and took away all the bottles and left a present. It didn't really help the first few nights, but then he didn't miss it anymore at all.
  11. Crafty says
    January 16, 2012 at 4:48 am
    What great suggestions to stop using the binky. I like trading them for a toy. With my second child, I never gave him a bottle in the bed so giving that up was very easy.
  12. Rita Spratlen says
    January 25, 2012 at 9:49 pm
    I didn't have any trouble with my sons. It just seemed to move to a cup to hold and make a big deal about that. He didn't ask for it either.? Not sure why!
  13. Shendale12 says
    March 29, 2012 at 8:04 am
    Pretty nice tip.. I will surely follow this.. :) Thanks for sharing this with us!
  14. Chelsea says
    July 11, 2012 at 10:07 pm
    Hello. My daughter is now 21 months and has to have her binky 24/7 if we lose it she screams for hours! I hated it! It messed her teeth up and the dr said that is what kelp her sick all the time!i told myself she was gonna be off it before she turned 2. Then I saw the website bye bye binky I did everything it tOld me to and actually on day 2 (within 4days the binky would be gone) she didn't want it any more! Today Is day 4 and she threw it away! I asked her if she wanted it shed say no it broke! I'm A very proud mommy!
  15. Amber says
    January 6, 2013 at 3:47 pm
    Fun reading the strings. My son was so attached to his pacifier that it started to become a real problem. We could not go anywhere without making sure that we had a pacifier in hand. My friend absolutely raved about the bye bye binky method so we decided to give it a try (she found it at www.bye-bye-binky.com ). All I can say is WOW, worked beautifully for my son with no tantrums, not even one! Super easy and four days later he had no interest in his binky. We really were amazed… highly recommended… Amber