Tricks of the Trade: Binkie Blankie

There are some perks to being the fifth baby in the house. You know the story: the first baby is the trial and error, the second one we have a plan but are still learning. By the time we got to John, we felt like we knew what we were doing. Or, at least we knew what didn’t work. He’s still shown us all sorts of new tricks, especially by being a c-section, colicky boy.

But we do have some tricks up our sleeves…on the days we get enough rest to remember them. In hopes of remembering them, I’m going to try to post some of my favorite “hey-that-worked” tricks and my “epic-failures”. Very few of these are original ideas; most have been acquired from other experienced moms, either face-to-face interaction or through blog posts or facebook stories. That said, I know what worked in our house doesn’t work for everyone. Maybe some of these will work for you, and maybe they’ll just save you the time on the big epic fails.

(Non-moms or non-aunts might find these all boring and tedious and a waste of time. Sorry!)

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This first one is an easy one.

I have a love/hate relationship with pacifier clips.

When they are brand new, I love them. How, the joy of knowing where the dastardly pacifier is. Baby starts crying? Just look around their belly button region and plug it in.

But, the first time baby urps up on it or it drops in the dirt at a pig show or other nasty germs hit it, then what? I’ve tried wiping them down with antibacterial wipes, but not good enough. I’ve tried running them through the washer and the dishwasher, but both ways it shrinks the plastic on the loop or kills the Velcro to hold the paci. It’s one little tool we haven’t been able to use more than a few weeks…which seems like a waste.

And on number five, I discovered the magic of a blanket. I feel pretty dumb for taking so long to realize I could just do this:

We just pull his soft flannel blankie through the pacifier ring. The pacifier is in a known location. Baby can even suck on the paci and snuggle with the blanket at the same time. There isn’t any cord to worry about. And washing is as easy as a load of laundry.

I wouldn't want to try this with a heavier blanket, for fear of a suffocation risk. And we don't do this at night in the crib, for the same reason. But it's great for the car seat, church, etc.  

Think how much I could have saved on those dang pacifier holders. (Except on Lainie…she was a thumb sucker. But that's another story.)