Need Help Giving up the Pacifier

This worked like a charm for my 4 year old daughter when she gave up her binky 6 months ago... I told her that she is too old for the binky and we are going to go out and celebrate the fact that she is a big girl now. We took her to Easton to Build-A-Bear and had her pick out a stuffed animal to make and instead of kissing the heart to put in the bear we had her kiss her binky and she stuffed it in her bear. The Binky Bear was born! I told her that whenever she missed her binky that she could hold her binky bear. She was a little sad trying to go to sleep the first night but that's all it took. Hope this helps! Good luck!

My daughter was about 2 1/2 and we had decided it was time to get rid of her "bip". I was worried b/c she had a new baby sister and she had one so I thought it would cause some real trouble! Payton is a very stubborn little girl and I thought it would be a long drawn out process. Well it was not. We had tried several times before this one but always gave them back to her or she would have one hidden somewhere! One by one we got rid of them. Finally when we found them all my husband told her it was time for her nap, she asked for her bip, he told her they were all gone and she had to sleep without it. She cried for about an hour. He stuck it out and that was it! Bedtime that night she asked for it and we said "remember they are all gone, you are a big girl now" she never asked about it again. Don't know if this will help you but she was hooked on that stupid thing and all it took one day!

My son was not quite 2 when both of his pacifiers came up missing (and not on purpose either). I searched everywhere in the house for hours looking for it for him to no avail. When I finally decided that they were lost and not to be found, he cried at bed time and nap time for 2 days and after that he was fine. I didn't mean to take it away like that, but it was probably for the best. And he used to use one all the time, so it was a big step for him. Good luck and let us all know what you decided to do and how it worked out!

My pediatrician gave me the advice of cutting the tip off the pacifier. Cut just a little of the tip and that will be the worst for her and than just keep cutting a little at a time (weekly or daily depending on how quick you want her off). Eventually there won't be anything there for her to suck on. We did that with my daughter (she was 15 months at the time) and we had no issues. When we first cut it (she also had a paci at nap/bed times) she cried a little at nap time but she eventually fell asleep without it. She was completely off the pacifier after 2 weeks and never wanted one again.

For one of my girls, giving up the pacifier was really hard for her. I read somewhere about the "pacifier fairy" similar to the tooth fairy. We talked a little about what would happen when the pacifier fairy came and she seemed happy. The pacifier fairy left her a new toy that she really liked. It went well after that except we kept finding pacifiers in places that we forgot about. Like in the bathroom cabinet, or in a diaper bag, etc. (Where were all those pacifiers when I needed them!)

Also, that sucking action strengthens lots of muscles around the mouth, so let her use straws if possible when drinking her liquids. Some just like the sensory affect.

Good luck!

Hi!

My son is 4 and he still seems to find those hidden pacifiers. I tried for 2 years to get rid of his. I tried the "fairy" thing, yeah, exactly, he's a boy. I tried the "oops, you lost it." My son can give you directions to the store. He also knows what aisle they are in. So, I started to limit him. I am a single parent, so my son goes away every other weekend. First, I took them away when he went to his dads house. Yes, I let his dad be the bad guy first...lol. Then, I took them away at his Nana's house. Then I took them away in the store. So on, so forth. Now, he is only allowed to have them at his babysitters house during nap time. No need to aggravate the sitter when she has him so much. I talked to the dentist and he said as long as I used the right size, my son wouldn't have any dental problems. I talk to the pediatrician and he said not to force it. So, he can have it at the sitters until school starts for him.

If you want it gone now...

My sister actually told her daughter that as she got bigger her "binky" would disappear. So, a little at a time, her and her husband would cut the tip. Just enough to be noticed by their daughter. Within a couple of weeks, the tip of the "binky" had vanished and there was no more. That was a year ago and their little girl hasn't touched one since.

My son who is now 3 we had that same issue. He LOVED his pacifier. He was 2 when I finally broke him of it. BUT, hes now a thumb sucker which is just as bad. But i had to hide it from him. He threw a fit for about three days literally before he discovered he has a thumb that he can suck in place of it. I am now trying to break him of it. But the thing is that the pacifier was a miracle. He hates the carseat, but with that thing he was in heaven and did not try at all to get out of his seat. Now with the thumb issue, he has a cousin thats one that has picked up on the thumb sucking. But the hes wanting to play soccer and I tell him that they only allow big boys who doesn't suck their thumb to play soccer. Hes trying his best to remember that but it is a task for him.
So I would just take the pacifier from her and she will tough it out. She may be like you and never be upset at all. She may discover the thumb idea and she may not. Lets hope that she doesn't its bad for the teeth. But you will work it out. Hope this helps. Good Luck.

I just took my daughters away at about 20 months, she cried at bed time for about 2 days, that was it. I have a friend who had her 3 and then latter her second one at 3 ½ through theirs in the pond in exchange for a bike, they pitched it themselves because they wanted the bike, and you can’t dig it out of the pond, but you can go visit it. I have also heard of people letting their kids go to build a bear and put it inside the bear, so they can keep it with them when they sleep, but they have to stop sucking it. Good luck, you will probably have to give your daughter the motivation to give it up.

my son was the same way. all i did was throw them all away and tell him "all gone" and he was fine with that. if they get upset it will go away. best thing to do is just take it away.

We had trouble with our son and his binky. When he was 2 1/2 he was asking what a New Year's resolution was. So I explained to him that it was something that you either try to do for that year, or it's something that you give up that you don't need any longer. He asked what could he give up for New Years? I told him that he could give up his binky. He thought about it. I told him that Baby New Year would come and take his binky and give it to a younger baby that needed a binky. He said that was a good idea and when New Year's Eve came he put his binky on the table before he went to bed and when he woke up it was gone. He asked where it was and I reminded him that Baby New Year came and gave it to another baby that needed a binky. He was binky free from then on out. Even now he'll see a baby with a binky that looks like the one he had and looks up at me and says that's like my old binky that baby new year gave away. My son is now 4 1/2 and we never had an issue with the binkies after that. I know it technically isn't telling them the truth, but it worked for us. Sometimes as parents telling them little white lies won't hurt them if it's benefiting them in the long run. Good luck with the binkies, and give this a try if you'd like. It worked for us!
K.

Hi S.,

I think many of us have this same problem. My son took his paci until right after his third birthday. In the weeks leading up to his birthday I would tell him everyday X amount of days til your ninny goes bye-bye. (we also only limited the paci to bedtime and naps!) We tried the pacifier fairy as well and that did not work. I also tried telling him he could take it to the toy store and could trade his paci for a toy---that did not work either. Finally he decided that HE would throw it away. We had a couple weeks where he would throw it away and then decide he wanted it back....finally---lo and behold---one day he decided it was for good. So, I really think he made the decision by himself...just with some encouraging and reminding from us.
A friend of mine did pretty much the same thing, but she used Easter as her target date. Her son had to leave his paci's out for the Easter Bunny to take and give to other kids. She had a couple days of a screaming kid, but after that it was smooth sailing.
Not that you want to put a negative feel on the upcoming holidays, but you could use those as your target date!

Hope this helps! Good luck.
M.

i never had this problem with my own daughter, but i actually know a mother who did the "sorry, your pacifier is lost" to her 3 year old and it worked immediately and that was that. her daughter wasnt scarred for life and everything is going well. a 3 year old can understand that things come up missing. maybe you could try this and then give her something in return to take with her to nap and bed like a small blanket or something...

We made a huge deal out of going to Toys R Us and getting anything our daughter wanted. Then at the register, she "paid" for it with her pacifier. We prepared her well beforehand and spent time discussing possibilities. She got a little upset that night, but when we showed her her Legos and reminded her that this was the deal, she was OK. It really worked well.

My daughter turned three in September and she used to be really big on her "paci" but is now paci free I had the same worries you do about taking it away and it was hard but we started with limited it to naps and bedtime then just bedtime and then I started offering her a sippy cup with a soft spout on it at bedtime and eventually that worked but there was some tears over the paci but I was more worried about the long term effects the paci would have on her teeth so I had to tough out the tears, she also had a bear that was and still is a big comfort item for her his name is huggy bear and she takes him everywhere. Not sure if any of this helps but I hope it does.

I noticed that you have your own billing/transcription buisness I hope you don't mind me asking about it but I used to be in medical billing when I worked full time and have been looking for a way to make extra money from home, not even sure if we are in the same area or not but if so maybe you need some more help?

This is very difficult to do but you are on the right track with limiting it to bedtime and nap time. I would slowly start to even lower that down to only bedtime. Tell your daughter that she can have it at bedtime, this is just a short nap and she doesn't need it. Some kids will allow this and others see it as just as bad.
Anyway then move on to trying to either throw it away with her approval OR give it to another baby. If you know another baby that your daughter wont hold a grudge on (not a sibling!!!) then you could tell her that all the pacis are going to go to ... Then at night when she asks for it remind her that she gave them to ... but she is such a big girl, also remind her that mom is still home with her to confort her. Then tell her that tomorrow you will get her another special toy. Basically combine what you have already tried but stick to your guns. She may cry but she will be fine within a day or two.
I agree with the other mom about having a countdown. In fact I would really get your daughter involved in this countdown by marking off days on a chart or tearing off interlocked paper circles. Now that I think about it christmas would be a great countdown (if you celebrate).
Just keep in mind that she may cry but it's ok, she will forget all about it within a week. Good luck!!!