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I am a big believer in pacifiers! In fact, I don't know how I would live without them! I've never had a baby "not take" a binky, my problem comes when they are about 2 and I'm ready to take the binky away! We tried for months with my oldest to convince him he didn't need it. He was never convinced and it wasn't until after he was about 3 that the binky finally "disappeared". With my daughter we decided to be a little more creative and we came up with the "binky fairy". Every night that Mayli went to bed without her binky she would get a treat under her pillow from the binky fairy. This seemed to work perfect. But now I have another binky lover and though he's not 2 yet I thought it would be a good tricks of the trade question to ask all of you how you've weaned your kids off a pacifier or their thumb!! You can't just take away a child's thumb so what do with a thumb sucker?
7 comments:
Because our oldest was totally addicted to binkies (she had to have at least one in her mouth and one in her hand to go to sleep), we had to get rid of them quickly to keep our sanity. (The final straw was when she collected all of them in a basket and wouldn't let her basket of binkis out of her sight!) We cut a little bit off the tip of a binky everyday, so she could still suck on them for a while. But then she just got annoyed and would leave them alone. It only took about 3 days and then we were happily binky free!
Mikelle was totally addicted to the binki. I tried to snip the end of it but she would just scream and scream so I would end up getting out the "unsniped" binki for her. So finally I decided to "mail" it to Grandma who lives 1500 miles away. We discussed it every day for a week, then when the day came, she was ready. In fact she woke up and knew that it was the day to mail it away. She colored on the envelope and put a stamp on it and walked it to the mail box. That night before bed she called Grandma and Grandma told her how well the binki was doing and what a big girl Mikelle was. When it came time to actually sleep without it, she cried a little bit so I rocked her and gave her extra snuggles. After she fell asleep she didn't wake up. After that one night we didn't have any more problems. It worked out great. We of course discussed how we mailed it away for weeks following, but there was no more screaming at bed time.
With both of my girls (2yrs and 4yrs) I cut the nipple off entirely-to ALL of the binki's (having a backup binki will help you give in-not good). You have to do it while they are not around or not looking so they can't associate it with you. They just find that for some reason the binki doesn't work and it is easier for them to let it go. Both my girls had a had time figuring out how to fall asleep without them, but by the 3rd night they easily fell asleep and they slept better, too!
I've also heard of putting it in a teddy bear (Build-a-bear workshop).
As for the thumb sucking-I have no idea. My sister bit her finger nails and my parents used to rub nail polish remover on her fingers when she got caught. But she still bites her nails and she's 23. Change is hard for kids which makes it hard for mommies-have patience and make distractions your sidekick and soon you'll have a new routine without binki's or thumbs.
I never had a binki baby, although I tried for a few weeks. I never really thought my kids were fussier for not having them, but they did nurse more frequently, which kinda stinks. OK, a lot. Anyway, I now have a thumbsucker with my 4th and have no idea how to deal with that when the time comes. Oh, well. For now, it's nice. I'll let you know in a year or two!
My two year old sucks his thumb. Luckily, he associates it with his blanket, which he only gets for naps and bed time. So, he doesn't suck all day like he could because try as I might I wouldn't be able to hide that thumb! With thumb-suckers, I think it helps if they attach it to some other object. Then, just maybe, they will stop when it is gone.
If there was the tinniest hole in my sons binky he woiuld not suck on it. SO, we put holes in all of them. He was about 3 too though! Good Luck!
Thanks for the great ideas! It's fun to get comments from people I don't recognize too! Thanks!!!
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