As most of you know, Claire turned two a few weeks ago.
I didn’t realize it with my first daughter, but two is kind of a big deal.
All of the sudden, we’re talking potty training and letting her go down the big slide by herself. I’m ready for most of that, but there’s one baby thing I’m just not ready to give up…the binky.
I know, I know. She’s too old to have it. Her teeth will be messed up. The longer you wait, the harder it is. I’ve heard it all. I try my best to ignore all of that.
I love the binky.
The binky quiets a crying Claire. It puts her back to sleep when she wakes up in the middle of the night (still almost every night!). It settles her into nap time mode. It’s also handy for keeping car sickness at bay, which is a major issue with Miss Claire.
All of these excuses, though, are just that – excuses. I know it, and so does my husband every time I use of the reasons to justify her still having it. We both know the real reason it’s still there.
Claire still has her binky, because Claire is still my baby.
The second it’s gone, she’ll miraculously transform into a toddler in my mind(even though she’s been a toddler since she was about nine months old).
There’s just something about her with that binky that pulls at my heartstrings. There’s something soothing about driving my car and hearing a sleeping kiddo sucking on her binky in the back seat.
Plus, look how cute she is with it….
I don’t want to give it up. And I’m not going to….not yet, anyway.
How long did your kiddo hold on to a pacifier?
Tagged: binky, get rid of pacifier, pacifier
My daughter spit her pacifier out when she was just weeks old. I didn’t “force” one on her until she was almost 2 and waking up for her bottle. I used the pacifier to help her get past that. She only used it to help her get to sleep! Each child is different. Do what you feel is best for you and your child.
Thanks! Nice to hear that every now and then
Bryna didn’t stop using her nuk until she was 3 and I was ok with that. Though starting at 2 she was only allow it during naps and bedtime. Also her teeth are fine.
Thanks, Hillary! Nice to know I’m not scarring her for life (or at least until her baby teeth fall out)!
Sassy used hers until right around 11 months old. When her teeth started popping through her gums, she didn’t like the sound her teeth made on the binky. She started refusing it during the day, only wanting it at nap or bed time. Then she started refusing it at those times as well. I know what you mean about not wanting to give it up because it will make them seem older. Sassy is my baby. I just had a mini melt down last night when I realized on her next birthday she will be SIX.
Excuse me while I go sob in a corner…
Oh, Brandi, I feel for you! I can’t imagine SIX! You’re lucky it was so easy to get rid of the binky. My older daughter gave hers up pretty easily, but this one won’t be like that, I’m sure.
My little girl is 10 months old and she loves her pacifiers, we call them Nenes. I thought I would take it away when she turned one but I am rethinking that. I am not ready for that plus she finds it comforting. I say to with your mama instincts.
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Lanaya
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I think at 2 or so, we started limiting the pacifier to certain times/spaces. (Naptime, bedtime for us. Sounds like the car would be a good one for you, too, ‘though it wasn’t really needed for us!) But we didn’t insist on her giving it up until she was biting it and causing a safety issue (choking hazard, with pieces falling off). And by then she was old enough that we could tell her that (not in such detail, obviously).
Only one of mine so far has really taken a paci, though. The first one liked tags. The third prefers her thumb.
The paci helps with carsickness?! That’s something I’ve not heard of before, and I am intrigued!
I’ve started to limit its use, too. Mostly, she gets it at bed time, nap time, and in the car. It does help with her car sickness! I tend to compare it to when I was pregnant and was always sick – sucking on a piece of candy always seemed to help ease the nausea. I think this is kind of the same thing.
For what it’s worth, although I don’t think it harmed her teeth, the paci *did* seem to jumble her speech, once she hit a certain age. She’d try to talk around it, instead of taking it out, and stopped enunciating well. She *still* mumbles now, at 5. That was the biggest reason we started limiting it to bedtime – so she didn’t have it when she was talking to us.
My Little Man stopped using his and switched to his thumb somewhere between 3-6 months. I wish he was still taking the pacifier so that I would know that I could take it away eventually. Right now I don’t really have control over it. I don’t know what I would do if he still had the pacifier.
I would love it if you would share this (and anything else you have been working on) at my party! http://domesticrandomness.blogspot.com/2013/01/friday-fascinations-9-everything-linky.html
Oh isn’t she cute! My oldest used to have one in his mouth and one in he pocket, always changing. She will stop when she’s ready!
http://itsabouttakingthejourney.blogspot.de
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Nan
http://www.blogshe.net
You’re my binky twin…I have a ton of excuses too! Our son will be three in April. Every time we’re about to take the plunge I find a reason not to…
[...] may have read last week about how I’ve been struggling with the decision to take away Claire’s pacifiers. While I’ve been reluctant to do so, I have been taking steps toward life without the [...]
Ah! My daughter, now 16, didn’t develop a Binky addiction until she was nearly a toddler and saw all the other kids in day care with one. It drove me crazy — up til then she had ignored them, even at night. It wound up being a short-lived phase and when she finally gave it up at nearly 3 she did so telling my husband, who smokes: “Daddy, if I can stop my binky, you can stop smoking.” Sadly, even that didn’t help his addiction. Visiting from the blog hop; stop by and see me at http://www.pushingonarope.comm.
We didn’t give up the paci with my oldest until after she was 3. DD#2 has a paci addiction going strong at 17 months. I think yanking it before they are ready is more detrimental. To mommy or baby, I don’t know, but either way I let my kids set the timeframe (within reason).