My New Heartbeat

Paci Plight: When Is Enough, Enough

Every day I see the ways my little girl is growing up. She gets taller, her vocabulary expands, and her personality shines through a little more.

One thing, however, keeps her looking like the baby I brought home from the hospital – her pacifier.

The stupid, God-forsaken, evil pacifier. I often feel like it will be going off to college with her. Because she won’t let it go.

CeCe is 3 and I think it’s time to become a paci-free home. She sleeps in a big girl bed and has a full set of teeth, which I have been warned is at risk because of the pacifier.

So in my quest to eliminate all binkies, I asked other parents for advice. These are the solutions I have been offered:

  • “Bribe her. Candy, new toys, all the gold in Fort Knox.” I’m not ashamed to say I’ve tried. It doesn’t work.
  • “Leave it for the “Binky Fairy.” Tell her if she leaves it under her pillow, a fairy will take it away and replace it with a treat.” Because we don’t have enough fictional gift-givers to keep up with as parents.
  • “Give the pacifier away. If you have access to a new baby, let your kid pass along her pacifier so she knows “binkies are for babies, not big girls.” Then advise the new mom to throw said binky away, because it’s probably been on more restaurant floors than you care to admit.
  • “Cut a hole in the rubber tip so there is no suction.” That just seems mean.
  • “Deal with it. Just take the binky away and let her cry it out for however long it takes.” I try to avoid sobbing children at all costs, so let’s put this one at the end of the list.

All I’ve learned is that there is no magic solution. I am still figuring out what will click with my toddler to get her to realize she doesn’t need her paci.

Until then, I will deal with the agonizing silence that accompanies my daughter’s ruination of her teeth.

Watch Baby Bump Editor Katie Saltz on ABC36 News@Noon on the first Thursday of each month. She shares her favorite products and resources for parents and babies, and always has giveaway prizes for viewers!