Talk to any reasonable parent who never took a pacifier away from his child. Ask them if their child was still sucking on it when they went to high school. You know the answer. Children stop sucking on binkies when the time is right. And the time will come soon enough. As soon as their friends cannot understand what your child is saying the pacifier will be dropped all by itself with no cajoling or pleading from you.

Leave your children alone. Teach them the important things in life. Never harm another person. Never lie to your parents. You know what the important things are. Getting into a knot over binky fairies is rather pathetic. Stop it. Let your children be children.

If you are worried about the binkie malforming their teeth, even 25 years ago when my children (Yes I am a parent of two boys and I am now a grandparent) had their binkies I bought the kind that were shaped properly to avoid pushing the teeth forward. Both stopped of their own accord and without fuss and bother. And they never whined.

And if you've already done the deed and taken away your child's binky - don't worry, I'm not calling you an idiot - you didn't know any better. The idiots are those that read this post and persist anyway in treating their children as if they were barnyard animals.

Here is an excellent blogpost on binkies:

Babycenter: Momformation, Pushing the pacifier

Some of my mom friends think I’m crazy. After all, binkies can be the source of major meltdowns when they’re lost, when they fall out during the middle of the night or when it’s time to wean a child (which I’m told can be hellish for child and parents). Pacifiers also have been linked to increased ear infections.

But using a pacifer has benefits, including satisifying a baby’s natural need to suck and potentially decreasing the risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS.

I’m also told it can help speech development, which is why I want my son to take a pacifier.

Most people have heard that pacifiers hinder speech development, and this can be true if a child uses a pacifier for a prolonged period of time. Also, ear infections can also cause speech delays.

But not using a pacifier during the first year or so of life can also cause speech problems. Or so I was told last month when the speech pathologist in our community’s school district assessed my child’s speech.

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Trackposted to Perri Nelson's Website, and third world county

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For more of my articles like this see Advice, -Children, Health, Open Trackback

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