Passage of the "Nee-Nee."

Oh, how good it feels to get rid of "the nee-nee" in our house.  I'm talking about my son's pacifier.  I'm not exactly sure how we acquired that name over here.  I know we started by calling it his "Nookie" {after the brand, "Nuk."}, but it affectionately became known as the "nee-nee" thereafter.  I presume because my son {at the time} couldn't pronounce the word "nookie."  Anyhow.  At 3 years of age, he finally has given it up.  And, much to my liking, it was done very easily.

Now, we had pretty well weaned him of it {he used it only for naps & bedtime}, but still...the thought of trying to rid it completely was daunting.  Afterall, you never know what kind of fight lies ahead of you!  How it worked over here was that he began chewing on them.  And as soon as a hole developed, we'd throw it away.  I just told him that once there was a hole, it could grow bacteria and make him sick, so we had to throw it away.  When we finally got down to the last one, he actually chewed the nipple off {yikes!}.  So that took care of that.  No more "nee-nees" meant no more "nee-nees."  Simply as that.  He did ask for it the first night without it, but that was the last I heard of it {whoo-hoo!}.

Now, I know some of you struggle with this very same issue - ridding the "nee-nee." I know this because I've heard story after story about how to do it and WIN the battle!  Apparently it's not usually a very easy task, so I wanted to bring to light some ideas I've heard of ~ ones I considered using myself if need be.  Thankfully, we didn't get to that point, but just in case you do, here they are:

A) Throw a "Bye-Bye, Pacifier" {or whatever term you may use!} Party.  My brother used this one with his daughter when she was 3 1/2 {I'd think do the "half" birthdays is best, so as not to confuse with the actual birthdays}.  They invited her friends over, had a cake & everything {in fact, it was a Barbie cake, with Barbie holding her pacifier!}.  After the cake was eaten, my niece simply threw the pacifiers in the trash, saying "goodbye," and that was it.  She was done, cold turkey.  A bit of a production for this solution, but possibly worth every penny!

B) Cut off the nipples.  Now, I find this solution a bit extreme myself because there's no expectation of them being ruined.  All of a sudden, they're unusable, and your little one's not only miffed but probably also terribly upset!  However, if you don't want to beat around the bush {or spend any extra money, for that matter}, this might be a good solution for you.

C) Donate them to a new baby who needs them.  Tell your little one that a new baby {maybe a friend's baby} has come along and now he/she needs them.  Have your little one take over the news as a special gift.

D) Binkie Fairy.  I thought of this one on my own...not sure how well it would work since we didn't actually need to do it over here, but perhaps you might give it a try and let me know how it goes!  Anyway.  The concept is like that of the Tooth Fairy, of course.  Only this fairy comes to take all your nee-nees and leaves coins for them instead.

E) Trade for Toys.  Gather up all the pacifiers you have, and take them to your child's favorite toy store.  Have your child pick out a new toy and "pay" for it with the pacifiers {talk to the clerk beforehand to let them know what you're up to}.

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