I'm a little embarassed to say this but my 3y/o still depends on her pacifier at night time.  We tried to cut the tip off and it didn't work.  She talked about the "binky fairy" and she didn't buy into that at all.  We tried to just take it away and that was so incredibly traumatic for her.  She screamed and cried for hours!  We stuck with it for over a week.  Now we have been preparing her that there are no more binkies when she turns 3, which is December 9th.  We plan to just cut her off cold turkey.  I'm going to try to have a behavior chart that will hopefully motivate her and we already said we will take her to "Build a Bear Workshop" when she lasts for an entire week.  We really hope this works but I'm feeling a little unsure that it will work.  Any other suggestions to help her get through this or other ways to make sure this happens?

Sorry I don't have any advise for you but I'm in the same boat.

My daughter turns 3 Jan 18th. She's know for months that at 3 she's a big girl and will no tlonger have her binkie.

She wants to get her hair cut so we are going on her birthday and she's giving the hairy elephant, (specialty kids place) her binkies to get her hair cut. She went once a couple months ago and ended up loving it.

What area are you in? just curious incase we can suffer together.

Good luck to us both!!

Okay, so i was in the same boat, however my daughter is now 3.5 and has been without the binkie for some time. Cold turkey was the way for us. I do have some advise though as this is what I was going to do if "cold turkey" didn't work.

You mentioned "Build-A-Bear". My "plan B" was to take her to "Build-A-Bear" and have her build a bear with the binkie INSIDE the bear. This way she would know where it was and have the bear to sleep with at night. My only fear was that she would rip open the bear, but she was only 2 years old at the time. 

The only other thing I could suggest is cold turkey. It will be down right hard for the first few days, but once she realizes she has lost the battle you will be on your way!

Dear Amy. I personnaly would not recommend "cold turkey" for anything that is related to child's soothing and comfort zone. I have read about and personally encountered a lot of "cold turkey" cases where children ended up with thumb sucking later even up to the older age of 7 or 8 (sometimes even older). Every child is different and should not be approached with these rules of weaning at the same time and same way. You can't say that at the age of 2 or 3 or 4 they are all over sudden grown up from one day to the next. I have learned that weaning has to be gradual because pacifiers, bottles, breast - they are all a great source of comfort and security for a child. When you take away comfort and security very suddenly you will most likely win the battle but lose a war (like with thumb sucking after sudden weaning). So what my recommendation will be is give her pacifier to fall asleep and take it out as soon as she is asleep. Leave it next to her for a while. Then take it out and take away from the bed. Then try to not give it to her and see how she takes it for a couple of days. Maybe replace it with something, like give her a small amount of honey in the spoon instead, or whatever little treat she likes. Make a bed-time routine that will keep her distracted from pacifier.

My daughter used pacifier until 2-3 months before she turned 3 and she pretty much weaned herself. I did a very gradual weaning and it worked. However she is still using baby bottle with nipple to have her milk in the morning and at night-time. She does not even recognize milk in any other container. And believe me, I really tried to switch milk to a sippy or regular cup. She drinks water, tea and juice from regular cup and straw cup with no issue, but not milk. This is because milk is not just a drink/food for her, but source of comfort. So I let her do this for now and will try gradual weaning again soon.

The most important thing is to listen to your mother's instinct and your child, not to rules and the fact that other children were weaned at 1 years of age or never took pacifier. DO NOT feel embarassed about things like these. They are perfectly normal.

Best of luck!

Becki- Thanks for the support and letting me know that I'm not the only one :) I'm in the Toledo, OH area.

Sandy- We actually thought about putting it inside too but have the same fear. She might just rip it open one night. We may try the cold turkey first since we've been warning her for several months now.

Thanks for the responses.

Well Amy - my daughter has given up her binkie..

Sat 1/15, the sat before her actual birthday I ask her if she was ready to get her hair cut. She said yes. She ask for a bag and put all her binkies in a zip lock bag. We went she happly gave her binkies to the "hair cutter lady".  We discussed before her actually appointment to ensure she understood that binkies were not coming back, that we can't buy anymore (she knows I get them at walgreens).

at nap that day she was a little sad. She ask for her binkie and I explained that she was 3 now, not a baby and that she gave them away to get her hair cut. She fussed, not a bad cry or anything, just extra tired cry. She went to bed that night just fine.

The next day at nap she fussed a little but not much and nothing at night. It's wierd because she doesn't get her bink for nap (at all during the day). She has not been allowed to have her bink at all, no exceptions, during the day if she wants to play or do something. Only in bed.

It's been over a week and its a thing of the past.

Good luck to you. Let me know how it turned out for you.