2 Yr. Old Shredding Pacifier!

At her age, and with her biting through them, I think it's time to say Bye, Bye Binkie. It's a safety issue now.

I know you said you don't want to get rid of it, but I think she may be telling you it's time. I mean, really, you don't want her to bite the end off, suck it into her throat, and die of suffocation, do you? I would be scared to death if I were you...definitely not looking for replacements. Take them away! I bet within a week it will be SO a thing of the past. Safety first. It'll be okay, I promise! :) I bet she won't have as hard a time with it as you think. Good luck!

If she's biting through them then it's really time to get rid of them. End of story. I'm surprised you'd rather wait to tackle it until after she's out of her crib. It's a behavior that you can replace with a different soothing behavior/method. Make a big deal out of the new method and introducing it when she changes beds is the perfect time. Big girls get new beds. Big girls don't use pacifiers or cribs. They use Big Girl Beds and Whatever You Replace Pacifiers With.

I would make the change from crib to toddler bed or whatever big girl bed AND take away the pacifier as soon as possible. They're both really big safety hazards.

I'm sorry some mamas won't agree with me, but pacifiers are not necessary. I have 3 children and another due any day now and not one of my children ever, and I mean NEVER had a pacifier. I never offered them, never used them. If you're using the paci to keep your child in the crib, that is really a a shame because IF your toddler can climb out of the crib at all, the crib needs to be dismantled. You may not want to hear this, but my toddler broke her collar bone from a fall and she's lucky it was just her collar bone. Once she clearly demonstrated her ability to climb out and got hurt over it, the crib was dismantled. The paci is not going to keep her safe from a fall but it shouldn't be used as a crutch either to keep her in her bed either. The reality is that you may never resolve the one issue at all and if your toddler is chewing the paci up, I would be MOST concerned that this is nothing more than a choking hazard. I understand you are looking for advice but I hope you will consider what I have shared from a safety standpoint.

Well if she eats them chews them.. they are all gone.. She will be fine.

No more pacis..

FYI, Once they can climb out of the crib, you cannot stop them. Our daughter climbed out of the crib at a year. She was like a monkey.. We did not want her to hurt herself or god forbid hang herself, so it was time to get rid of it.

You need to follow your childs development, you cannot hold her back.

I would rather have a "new issue" than have her choke on a pacifier. If she
is biting and chewing them, she obviously is not sucking it. I say now is
the perfect time to get rid of it. Do not replace them. Just warn her when
the last one is chewed, that is it. No more.

I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but when our 2yr old started doing this, the pacifier had to go. Perhaps you could elevate the pacifier situation, and deal with the "crawling out of bed problem" next week. It only takes a few days to get them off of the pacifier when you go cold turkey. Sounds like you are already having long nights anyway, so you may as well give it a try. It will be a long 3-4 days, but it's wonderful, when they stop depending on that darn thing!

when mine started chewing them I used it as an opportunity to get rid of them. I think I had two or three in the house and when she chewed one I told it was broken and she had to throw it away - she did. When they were all gone she knew she had thrown them away and after one night with some crying at bedtime she was over it.
In my experience parents seem to think getting rid of the pacifier will be harder than it actually is.
For safety reasons I think it's time for her to get rid of it.

i'd take this opportunity to put her in a bed with already chewed off paci and that will become her new normal.

As much as you don't want to "introduce a new issue", for safety reasons it has to be done....get rid of the pacifers. Kids are always going to have more than one thing going on at a time.

Get rid of it or she might choke, there is no super tough pacifier. As far as the climbing out she needs to go into a toddler bed or at least get a crib tent, she could end up breaking something. It'll only be hard the first few nights, good luck!

Yeah she might be climbing out, but this is a safety issue. She NEEDs to stop with the binki now. Maybe it's keeping her up because she is knawing at it instead of sucking.

I had a very, very similar issue as yours. Our daughter took a MAM paci only at night, and she began shredding hers right before 2 years old. I was fearful of the same thing (choking). She still sleeps in her crib, but she is very tiny - she is only in the 16th percentile, and she still wears 18 month clothes. If you aren't ready for her to be out of the crib yet and have issues with her possibly falling, you can buy a crib tent that will keep her from climbing out. It is essentially a mesh tent that attaches to the top of the crib. I've never used one, but I have seen them.

As far as the pacifier goes, we just took it away one night. We told her that they were all lost. She would make statements that her "Pooh" was lost, but she never cried about it or made an issue of it. If I had realized how easy it was going to be to take it away I would have done it sooner! lol Our 7 month old son has never taken a pacifier. I've never really offered it. Our daughter got started on one when she got a terrible case of thrush at 5 weeks old and it was the only thing that she wanted.

I had tried several other brands of pacifiers before we took hers away. They all shred easily. We finally decided that the risk of her choking was not worth the screaming we may have to endure for a few days to take it away.

Best of luck to you!!!

Sounds like she is ready for a toddler bed. My daughter is almost two also and she was climbing out of her crib like yours, I though she was too young for a toddler bed but since night one she has been back to her great sleeping schedule.

Also, if she is using it to chew and not to suck, she doesnt need it anymore. It sounds like it is no longer a comfort item to her and she chews it out of boredom.

She's 2. Get rid of it.

To deal with the climbing issue, if you're not ready to convert the crib to a bed then get a crib tent.

You've got two issues that are potentially harmful to her health - choking on bits of the pacifier and possibly falling from the crib. I'd take a few days of screaming over something that might really hurt her.

The pacifier has become a nasty habit, get rid of it. I was in a ER waiting room one night and I was reading a pamplit on pacifiers, and it said that pacifiers we desing for premies and new borns to strenghten their jaw mucssels so they could nurse. J. C

I completely understand not wanting to introduce a new issue. My two year old was having sleep problems and has a binky at bedtime too thats on it's last! She has bitten a hole in it and it looks horrible. I continue to remind her not to bite on it and if she ruins it there are no more. I aslo inspect it every morning. I was praying she didnt ruin it before we get issue one resolved. And thankfully she didnt. Anyways sorry back to your issue I would look for a firmer pacifier. From what Ive been told the older age group pacifiers are firmer. Is her pacifier for her age group? I know mine still sucks on like a 6 month one. I agree maybe she's ready for a toddler bed. Surprisingly when I switched my daugter to one she will not get out of it until Im in her room. It's strange she's been in it since 18 months and will not climb down. Good luck to you!

My kid basically eats hers too..has been for about 4 months. I was worried about the choking thing too. I usually just inspect them for loose pieces and rip them off or cut them. I too am not in a hurry to get rid of the binki.
Also climbing out of the crib..ifyou dont want to get her into a big girl bed, you have the option of the crib tent...mines in one (well tonight is her first night in the big girl bed...crib is on standby just in case) I use advent binkis so obviously I dont recomend them. for my shower I was given a bunch of pacifers that she seemed to not like so I plan on using all of them...hoping that gets me til she is about 3 and then we can just get rid of them.

I have seen teethers that are in the shape of a binky... so that would probably be more solid, but I'm not sure if they would be tough enough to withstand 2 year old teeth gnawing on them all night... I have seen them at the Maternity Store... I think walmart has some too if you want to try them out... But I also think you should just toss them. I'm sure it will be tough, but it will be a heck of a lot tougher if she does happen to choke on one!!!

Maybe try a NUK paci. They are tough ones!

For the climbing out of the crib you could try a crib tent. While I have not used one I have only heard raves for them

But since you clear you weren't ready to get rid of the paci - it is not my place to push that choice. There is a pacifier that is meant for teething. It is made out of a tougher material and has nubs that are intended to be soothing. It is called Razbaby RaZberry Teether. I know Amazon carries it. That is where we bought ours.

Whatever you find as a solution I wish you well.

Yep, has to go. :( They do make very durable "teethers" though, and you could give her a cold or frozen one at bedtime when you first take the pacifier away. Not quite the same thing, but she might be interested in it enough to "mouth" on it instead.