Our kid had a serious binky attachment, like, would’ve traded us for it if she could. We did the “binky fairy” thing and honestly, her teeth looked a little funky for a bit—tiny overbite—but it sorted itself out after a few months. Kids are wild.
We had a similar situation—my son was glued to his pacifier for way longer than I’d hoped. We tried the binky fairy thing too, but he wasn’t buying it, so we ended up just going cold turkey. The first couple nights were rough, but after that, he adjusted surprisingly fast. His teeth did shift back after a while, which our dentist said is pretty common if you catch it early. I totally get the worry about teeth, but kids’ mouths are more resilient than we think.
His teeth did shift back after a while, which our dentist said is pretty common if you catch it early.
Yeah, I can relate to that—our little one had a serious attachment to her pacifier too. We tried all the “gentle” tricks and honestly, none really worked until we just took it away. It felt harsh in the moment, but she bounced back faster than I expected. Her front teeth started looking better within a couple months, which was such a relief. Kids’ mouths really do seem to sort themselves out if you don’t wait too long.
We were in the same boat—our kid was basically glued to her binky for way longer than we planned. I kept reading about “gentle” methods too and honestly, none of them worked for us either. We finally just went cold turkey after a rough week where she kept tossing it out of her crib anyway. It felt like we were being mean at first, but she got over it surprisingly quickly.
Her teeth did look a bit off at first, which freaked me out. Our dentist said not to panic unless it dragged on for months. Sure enough, things shifted back after a while. Kids’ mouths are kind of magical that way... I guess the main thing is not to stress if you have to rip the bandaid off. It’s tough for a few days but then, poof, they move on (and so do their teeth).
We tried the “gentle” stuff too—cutting down binky time, talking it up, even a “binky fairy” (which my kid immediately called out as fake). Ended up with a dramatic trash-can ceremony and three nights of what I can only describe as toddler-level protest marches. But you’re right, she forgot about it way faster than I did. Her teeth looked weird for a bit, but all’s well now. Kids are basically made of rubber, I swear.
