Okay, my son will be 3 on the 20th of this month and he will not give up his pacifier. How do I take this away from him with the least amount of horrific days to come. How long does it take to be done with the whole ordeal? I mean will it get easier in days, weeks???? He gave up his bottle at 1 with no problems. But he has become a little attached to his sippy cup and extremely attached to his pacifier. I really need to get him off of this and don't really know where to start. HELPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm a little curious about why you really need to get him off of it? Remember that a binkie is more than just something they suck on. Taking it away is the same as taking away a blankie or stuffed animal. It's all about the security. At three, there is no reason why you can not begin to slowly set limits about the circumstances under which he is allowed to have it. Start with not allowing him to have it at home during the day. Then work up to out of the house during the day (which is more stressful than being home, there fore will be more difficult to wean from). It should only be a couple of weeks before he's comfortable with only having it right as he gets into bed. At that point it becomes a lot more difficult. By the same token, many moms find there's no reason to push the child any further than that. If you decide to, how long the screaming fits will last depend on your child. There's really no telling. By the time the whole weaning process is through, some kids easily give it up at night and some scream for it for weeks.
My friend told her child that he could suck his binky ONLY in his room. He would be playing, decided he needed a suck, go to his room and suck it for a while, then come back to his play. That worked for her!
Amie, Now that you put it that way I don't really have a good reason. I just really thought he was just too old to have it still. He doesn't even suck on it he chews on it and we are going through about 2-4 pacifiers a week. Which is starting to get really expensive. But maybe I will give him more time with it then.
My youngest is 2 1/2, and I was wondering about this as well. She uses hers to go to sleep, then spits it out, and as she is just playing around the house. She doesn't go through them as quickly as yours, but we do tend to lose them regularly. :/ With my son, I just took it out of his mouth when he was talking, and wouldn't let him talk with it. He liked talking so much, it got aggravating for him. HOWEVER, he did have a little stuffed dog he carried around. After we took the pacifier, he literally chewed the dog to pieces.
If he's destroying them, I would toy with the idea of setting a limit of two a week. He needs to understand that chewing them up is not acceptable and you will not be his binkie vender. At his age, perhaps making him buy a new one for himself would be effective. Now, I don't mean trying to teach him the value of money. Maybe if he had to trade a toy for each new binkie he would think twice about destroying them. Of course, weaning him down to nighttime only would help the number you go through, as well. And he's not too young to learn to find comfort in other things during non-stressful daylight hours.
Jo Anna, I got Jeannie to give up her pacifier at that age for the same reason. Tracey Hogg wrote a book called Secrets of the Baby Whisperer. She tells how to get them to let go of the pacifier. Jeannie gave hers up immediately using Tracey Hogg's way. If you get her book and that chapter isn't in there, try her second book, Secrets of the Baby Whisperer for Toddlers. I think the pacifier chapter is in the first book, though.
If he's just chewing on them and you're going through that many a week, I'd quit buying them. This is just my personal opinion of course, but I do feel beyond 3 is too old for a pacifier. Dd had one till she was 3 but only at night- it was that or the thumb and I"m still paying the price for having sucked my thumb till I was 6. Well at 3 we moved here to VA. You know what got lost don't ya? Yep, the paci. Did we buy more? Nope. Bought her a new special little animal to sleep with and told her she was a big girl and big girls don't need binkies. I'd say when they're gone they'rs gone. Find him a special little stuffed animal to take it's place. Btw, when we lost dd's binkies, she never cried about it really. I think with everything going on with the transfer, me having job interviews, she just kind of forgot about it. She did ask for it a few times, but the only time she had it before that was for bed at night. Good luck!
Oh we have done the 'chupe' and 'bee bee' here!! Let's see....my dd was 3 1/2 when we moved to Texas. I felt she was getting too old for them, so I pumped up being a BIG GIRL and there were no chupes in Texas. So that worked.... When my second child was 3, I also had an 18 month old. So in that sense, I killed two birds with one stone. I had tried earlier than that, but the older boy *18 months older* kept taking the beebee away from the baby! So then I pumped up being a BIG BOY to the 3yo and told the 18mo old that he was a BIG BOY too. They didn't get their beebees except at night for a while yet, and then the 3yo started BITING them apart, so dh set his foot down and said NO MORE BEEBEES! Oh, they cried, but we went all around the house and found all the beebees, threw them in the garbage, and that was THE END. The 4th baby HATED beebees. Oh...I tried....I needed some rest! He much preferred NUM NUM....meaning *I* was the human pacifier. Until he was 2....then he weaned. Although I missed it, I was thankful that nursing was over....
If your son is chewing them up, its becoming a choking hazard. I just wouldn't buy any more. Let him know with the last one, thats it, if he chews it you won't buy any more that they are dangerous for him.
Yes, if he is chewing them he don't need them.... Being 3 he is old enough to understand and he really should need them anymore.. just tell him they are for babies and he is a big boy now and needs to give them up for other babies that need them... I have to agree with Aball with him chewing he is causing other problems and choking is one I worry about...
I remember Emma's binkie days. I do not have any good advise except that if he has an urge to chew, can you purchase one of those really thick teething rings? I do not know if this would help. I had a bit of a time getting Ems off her bink. She was very attached to it. I would let her have it before bed for a few quick sucks then try to take it away. She would give me those big watery eyes and say in a sweet voice, "Binky". I crumbled and would give it back.lol Handsome decided he was going to put her to bed and he gave her the binky and told her to say goodbye. Then he took it and told her no more binky because she was a big girl. She actually was alright with it. I was surprised. I thought she would have a harder time then she did. I think the idea of Dad taking it is different then Mom. She also had her blankie that she loves to this day, even though it is too small. This might have helped in making things easier. Patty
I have been trying the big boy approach and well he lets you know he is the baby and doesn't want to be a big boy. But I do agree that the chewing is causing a chocking hazard and have decided that the few binkies left in the house are the last ones. I am not going to buy anymore. Gosh he is already potty trained (he just decided about 3 months ago that he did not want diapers anymore), it is about time to lose the binkie. The only thing is he ends up putting his fingers in his mouth when he doesn't have the binkie and it is hard to keep and make sure those hands are always clean. Thank you all for your advice.
Yea, Kristi has told me she doesn't want to be a big girl, and she doesn't want to use the potty because it is "yucky." However, we let her pick out her own potty chair, and she will at least sit on it now. That is a big improvement over a couple of months ago. I just tell myself that I have yet to see a normal kid graduate from high school that was not potty trained, didn't know how to tie his shoes, or still had a pacifier. It'll happen. Someday.
This is what we have gone with, too! My son turned 3 about 2 months ago and would throw a fit if you tried to get him to use the potty. Then a month ago we said, "Let's start wearing underwear at home" and he went along with it and now will only wear a pull up if we are going to be somewhere where there is not a clean bathroom. When they are ready they will do it! We have not had to fight the binkie battle. When he was tiny, ds would suck on my pinky, but not a binkie. And believe me, when I was trying to drive with my arm in the back seat, I wanted him to take one!!
(Those of you who have heard this before can turn to another channel now, lol!) Faythe was three, and not at all interested in the potty. Her b-day is in May. We picked up her big sister from Cubbies at AWANAS, and talked with the teacher. She informed Faythe that Cubbies were BIG GIRLS, and wore BIG GIRL panties, but she was SURE that by the time Faythe started in the fall, she would be in BIG GIRL panties, too! So my little monkey went home and informed my mom that she had decided she didn't WANT to be a Cubbie!!! The only way I was able to get her to use the potty was to let her run around the house bare-bottomed. And she was going 100% within 48 hours!
With my first, potty training was not very easy. After she had turned 2, I had tried 3 times. One day, before we were heading out the door and I was changing her diaper, she ripped the diaper out from under her bottom, and said "No! I want to be a big girl like Chelsea now! (my 4 yo niece)...easy enough!! Then when my big boy was 3y3m, I simply told him, "You are too big to wear a diaper now. You are a BIG BOY and it's time to go in the potty." Little brother, 21 months old, decided that he, too, wanted to be a BIG BOY as well....so that was pretty easy. Although training two at once, well, I had to clean the bathroom a LOT. Then when my 4th wasn't even 2 yet, he wanted to be BIG like "Brothers"....He looked so tiny up there on the potty that I was worried he was going to fall in!
I'm chuckling at all the potty training stories. My son was easy -- he just watched dad. Unfortunately, we are still trying to convince Kristi that she can't "go" like brother does.
