Getting Rid of Pacifier - Phoenix,AZ

Hi, M. -
All three of my children had their "duppies" until they were three, and then (pardon the pun) I pulled the plug. Up until that age, I think they are still babies and need the comfort. After that, it just ruins their teeth and isn't socially acceptable, and I did worry that every day that passed would just make it harder. You know what? At three, you can explain that they are big boys or girls now and don't need it any longer, and then you just take it away. I absolutely expected the worst, and it just wasn't that bad. We had one or two nights of difficulty getting them to sleep, but after that it was simply over and done. Not the drama I expected, and my kids were addicts. Each one of them wanted one pacifier in their mouth and one or two in their hands, would have them every minute they could get them. They would put it down, take a bite of food or sip of drink, then replace it. Anyway, my point is that if kids addicted as badly as mine were can kick it in a couple of days, I think most kids could.
Good luck!

I posted a question similiar to this about 2 months ago for my 18 month old. I did it cold turkey, and it worked great, however he is considerably younger than yours. I did substitute a stuffed animal for the comfort level, but other than that I don't regret it at all. I say do it and don't look back, the longer you wait, the harder it will be. Maybe since he is older, take him to the store and let him pick out a stuffed animal or blanket that he gets instead since you are getting rid of the pacifier. May make the transition smoother, it did for my son. good luck!

Our son kept his "binkie" until he was about 2 1/2. He used to have it at naptime, bedtime, and car rides. We told him that the "Binkie Fairy" was going to come get his binkie so that she can give them to babies who need them. It was his job to put the binkie in a gift bag and hang it by the front door. In the morning, he woke up to find a present for him in the gift bag, from the Binkie Fairy. We were lucky in that we really didn't have any problems with him going to bed or riding in the car without it. Every once in a while he would ask for it, but we reminded him about the Binkie Fairy and the other babies who need them.
Asking for advice is good, but in the end, you need to do what's best for you and your child. Go with your gut and you can't go wrong.

I totally agree with Amber N. We did the same with our daughter. I really didn't want her to let it go, but it is for the best. We gathered all of them and told her that we had to give them to the babies because they needed them, like you are wanting to do.

BTW, she hated those "babies" for the longest time...

She is now four and thinks pacies are for babies! LOL!

Good luck :)

M.,

I posted about this issue not long ago.

Read this post and the responses.

http://www.mamapedia.com/questions/693268995943497729

Good luck in whatever you decide!

I agree!! its hard to take away what makes your munchkin happy!

If you believe its time to let it go- have you tried introducing a blankie or stuffed animal that might take its place?

I wish you luck- and cheers to a tear free transition :)

I had a VERY similar situation a year and a half ago when my daughter was turning 3 as well! To make matters worse she has always been big for her age, and that made it more socially unacceptable because she looked like she could be about 4 years old! (just a funny side note). She constantly had a pacifier in her mouth. When she could get away with it she would carry 2 pacifiers and trade off.
So I fretted about how I was going to take it away from her. I decided to do so after a vacation we were on over her birthday, so as not to stir things up too much or make things too difficult for all of us when we were away from home. The funny thing is that when we were back home I just packed up her remaining pacifiers, explained to her that she was 3 years old now and did not need a pacifier anymore. I think I had a few days beforehand mentioning it to her to help prepare her. We threw them away and she never fussed about it whatsoever! I don't know if your experience will be so simple as was ours; hopefully it will be!

We were in the same boat... 3 and crazy about her paci for sleeping. Her dentist recommended snipping off the end of the paci and then gradually cutting more and more. Like someone said below, she thought they were "broken" but when she wanted her paci, we still had something to hand to her. We told her that she was growing up and the pacis were getting smaller... After a couple of weeks, she was not interested anymore and gave them up and did not look back... Hope this helps.

Time to let them go..... with that said, we cut a slit in all of our daughter's when she was 2 and only using them at night, she tried it took it out of her mouth, looked at it, tried it again and took it out - said it was broke and threw it out. couple of days went by and we did it to the next one. With in a week they were all "broke" and in the garbage and she did it all by herself. We just made the slit so she could not see it.

Just send it off to the babies in need like you planned and be done with it. At age 3 he's old enough to not need it so it's more of a habit at this point. Trust your mom instincts; they are usually right 99.9% of the time.

Hello! I had the same issue with my daughter. She is 2 and was still using a pacifier and a bottle for naps and bedtime. The problem was that she was biting them and chewing holes in the nipple. I was concerned because I didn't want her to chew a piece off and eat it or choke! So, we let her have the remaining pacifiers and bottles until she chewed a hole in it and then tossed them out. We took her off of them that way. One day she chewed the last one and that was that! Boy, those next few days and nights were horrible. We tried replacing them with stuffed animals etc., but nothing worked. She just cried it out, and within 5 days she was fine. Now we will go to my sister's house and she'll find one of her daughters and gives it to me and tells me "Baby"! So, it worked for us, and it didn't scar her for life! lol So, don't be afraid to take it off of him. He doesn't need it and actually it can cause dental problems if he's older and still is using it! So, ditch it before it's too late.

A lot of people will tell you that it's mean and will 'scar him for life', BUT this worked for me twice and I plan on doing it for my son... take all the paci's, and toss them. Cold turkey. He's a big boy and doesn't need them (not to mention he could permenantly damage his teeth). My kids were pretty mad for a few days, but I stuck by my guns and they got over it in less than a week. You can do this! Good luck and best wishes!

My son was a little over 3 and still had his "bubbie" we cut him back from all the time to nap and bed time to just bed time. Our Dr said that as long as he was talking well and not depending on it all the time it was ok. She mentioned that like potty training we dont ever see children heading off to college in a diaper or sucking on a paci but you do at times see one sucking their thumb! Anyway What we did when the time came is take him to build a bear and he got to pick out a special animal to hold his bubbie. He picked a dinosaur and he did the stuffing, kissed the bubbie good bye and shoved it in. To this day (he will be 5 soon) he has that dino and he tells everyone that his bubbie is inside! I was scared he would try and open the animal but he never tried it!

I took my daughter's away at 3 but the next day she was bitten by a scorpion (mommy, buggy bite me. she was fine but i gave the pacifier back to her) it was a little harder the second time, a few months later. my daughter's was strapped to her toddler bed and she would go to her room and put herself to sleep with it (fairly quickly). We cut the rubber part off and she still tried to use it without the end on it. don't think it lasted too long. but she did like it there for the transistion. she is now a junior in high school and i still occasionally have to tell her not to put plastic in her mouth! (toothpicks, plastic bottle caps...)some kids are just like that.
one thing i do remember was that the dentist (or orthodontist) usually gives a little lecture to the child if asked, sometimes that helps. They explain what can happen to their bite if they continue putting no food items in the mouth.