Kicking the habit

Babies are creatures of routine, so when it comes time to give up the binky or quit the bottle, it can be rough going. American Baby tackles three of the toughest quitting moments for baby and offers advice on how to make it easier for everyone!

If your baby is hooked hard core on his Binky, bottle, thumb or rocker, you want to mark your calendar to make sure she breaks these habits before she's 18 months old. Otherwise, certain items can morph into attachment objects that your baby clings to for comfort as she starts to exert independence from Mom and Dad. To ease any separation anxiety, babies latch on to these objects to give themselves a sense of security. After 18 months it may be even harder for babies to give them up.

You may enjoy the time you spend rocking your baby to sleep at night, but eventually she needs to learn to fall asleep herself. Start putting the brakes on rocking at 6 to 8 weeks when your baby starts to sleep more at night. By the time your baby is four months, you'll want to eliminate all sleep crutches, whether it's pacing the nursery or nursing her to sleep so that she learns how to fall asleep on her own. Start shaving a few minutes off your rocking session each night until you're ready to quit completely. Consistency counts. Just because you're no longer rocking doesn't mean that you have to give up pre-sleep cuddles.

The longer a child uses a pacifier the more attached to it he becomes and he'll rely on it heavily to fall and stay asleep. It may even interfere with speech development and lead to ear infections or even buckteeth. Nine months is the best time to take away the pacifier. By then his sucking reflex has diminished and he has not yet formed a real attachment. Rather than go cold turkey, limit the binky to naptime and bedtime then wean it from naps and move on to bedtime.

Babies love their thumbs. It's soothing, it's satisfying and it's available 24/7. Easy access makes it hard to give up. Thumb sucking can affect your child's teeth. It can also cause a callus that might become infected. Between 12 and 18 months is the ideal time to stop thumb sucking which coincides with when they're taking their first steps. Toddlers often wear themselves out walking so at bedtime they're too tired to suck. Around one year your child no longer has the strong need to suck but he'll pop it in his mouth out of bordem. Gently take it out and distract him with a toy that he needs both hands to play with. You can also try dipping the thumb in vegetable juice to deter sucking.

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