When my wife was pregnant with our first, everyone kept saying “binky” and I kept nodding like I knew exactly what they meant. I’d heard the word, obviously, but I didn’t really know what they were talking about.
I genuinely thought maybe a binky was a different product, maybe a specific brand name or something. I went way too far down a rabbit hole on this.
Here’s the answer: a binky and a pacifier are the same thing. Binky is just a nickname — same as paci, dummy, soothie, bah-bah, suckie, or dodie depending on where you’re from. Same object, just different words.
The only nuance worth knowing:
Binky is also an actual brand (made by Playtex), so if someone specifically says “grab a Binky” that might be what they mean. But in everyday conversation? They just mean pacifier.
You’ll also occasionally hear “binky” used to describe any comfort item like a lovey, a blanket, whatever your kid is obsessed with. (Loveys are a favorite in my house, but we just call them Loveys, or by their specific “name”. Joe and Puppy Lovey, respectively.) But that’s uncommon enough that you don’t need to worry about it.
That’s it. One sentence. I’m a little embarrassed at how long it took me to figure that out.
(For the record, my girls were both MAM pacifier kids (Amazon link). That was the only one that seemed to really stick for both of them.)
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Hope this helps!