Getting Rid of the Pacifier... - New Baltimore,MI

A suggestion from my dr office was to tie it to a baloon and having them let it go. You can also tell him that he is sending it to heaven for the babies in heaven. When he asks for it remind him that he gave it to the babies in heaven. Good Luck!! I will be doing this with my daughter this summer and I have heard nothing but good results from this.

I pealed the rubber off the pacifier because it was ripped and gave just the base of the pacifier to my daughter. She would look at it and try to put it in her mouth. After a day or two of her trying to do this she gave it up. I keep a pacifier hidden just in case but didnt need it. Good Luck.

Oh, my son was 3.5 when he finally got rid of the pacifier. We tried EVERYTHING! Yeah, ya know what worked....My son went for his first visit to the dentist at 3.5 and I told the dentist to talk to him about it. Well, we got home from the dentist after he talked to my son and my son gathered up all his binkys with his butterfly net and we threw them all away in the big trash in the garage (so we couldn't get them back easily). He was totally fine after that.

When my daughter was 2 1/2 we had a 'graduation ceremony' where she threw all the pacis in the trash, we took pictures, and she got hugs and cheers for being a *big girl!* (hubby immediately took out the trash)

The first night was difficult; we had to keep reminding her that the pacis were *gone* and she was a big girl that didn't need a pacifier. After that it got easier... but it seems to me that quitting cold turkey is the key!

Good luck D.!

Trust me, you're not the only one...my daughter gave it up at 3 1/4 years old. We kept on, and on, and on about the paci fairy. Seriously, we talked every day about her coming to get the paci to take away and bring to another kid who needs it. It finally worked! She said herself one night "I need to give my paci's to the paci fairy!". So, we got a box, wrapping paper, etc. We let her do it all herself...she put the box under the tree (since it was around the holiday). She was soooooo excited. When she got up in the morning, a new present (all wrapped in pink since she's a girl) was waiting for her. She thought it was awesome, and that was the end of her need for a paci! Good luck!

We were in the same situation with our youngest daughter. She wouldn't use a pacifier at day care, only at home and then mostly it was just bed time, if she had it during wake times she would have it in her hand or "hold" it in her mouth. When we learned that she never used it at day care (we left a couple ther so we never had to leave them with her) we decided to pull it at home. We started with only allowing it at bed time in the evening. She didn't get it during the wake periods or weekend naps. After a week of this, we "lost" them and she didn't get them at bed time either. She was two at the time and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Our oldest just stopped using them after a really bad sickness, so I didn't learn anything from her.

Wow , this really is an issue for so many mothers, at least in my world! So no need to be embarrased, you're certainly not alone!

One idea I thought was an interesting approach, was I had a friend who bought a few helium ballons, tied the paci(s) to the ends and went out w/her child to send the paci's to the babies in heaven. Worked like a charm! Well, for her anyways.

Another idea is, with the birthday approaching, make 3 the deadline and use the "Paci Fairy" idea. The child puts it under their pillow on the designated day and in the morning a "treat" appears. Your call on what that is...a book, small toy, $$, whatever.

For my son,(it was actually his bottle! yep I'm bad), accidentally leaving it at the airport on our way to Co. for a vacation worked.(ok,maybe this wasn't exactly humane,lol, but it was accidental! We just capatalized on it!!) He did keep asking us to buy a new one, we kept saying we would, but we kept him so busy that he finaly forgot about the promised new one!Bedtimes were the worst the first few days...so we just spent extra time with him then, rocking him and rubbing him till he fell asleep and then prasing him for being so brave and big the morning after.

Those are just some ideas. More than likely, your child will have a few bad days, but just keep reinforcing the fact that you know it is hard, but that you are proud of him for being such a big boy. This will all be behind both of you before you know it!

Good luck!

J.

We told our 3 year old the Easter Bunny called and said he needed help with pacifiers to give to babies in their Easter Baskets. He had no problem gathering them all, putting them into a bag with a note to the Easter Bunny.....and they were never heard of again!! Good Luck!!

Hi - I see you've had a ton of responses already - but thought I'd let you know what worked for us. We finally got rid of the paci's for our 2 1/2 yr old and 1 1/2 yr old daughters this past summer by using the 'Paci Fairy'. We told them for a couple days that the Paci Fairy would be coming soon and taking their pacifiers away, but leaving gifts. Then the day that we decided she was coming, we gathered up all the pacifiers we could find and put them in a pile on the dresser. That night, when the girls went to go to bed they found that all of the pacifiers were gone and in their place were a couple stuffed animals, treats, and some coins for their piggy banks. They were so excited and although they wined a little bit (honestly not nearly as much as I expected!) they didn't do bad at all because they already knew that they were gone. My 3-yr old found another paci a couple weeks ago when we were cleaning out our car and didn't even want it (it had been about 4 months) - but immediately suggested that we leave it for the Paci Fairy to pick up! Hope that helps!

Cut off the niples of all of the pacifiers you have left. Let him find them and tell them they are broken and have him throw them away. I did this with my 18 month old. She was mad when it was bedtime for about 1 week, but she never asked for it again. Good luck. Remember, the first and second nights are the worse, then it gets easier. Stay strong!

I would first get the pacifier for bed only.. not go cold turkey but make the rule that the paci is for bedtime only..

That is the rule we have here.. my daughter is 3 and loves her paci.. but it is in her bed and never leaves her bed..

funny story about how we got it back to the bed... there were pacis everywhere... I got sick of it and hid them all just leaving the paci in her bed... she looked for the paci.. and couldnt find it.. I asked her where the paci went.. and she said the dog ate it.. so that was the story.. the dog ate it.. (the dog has been known to eat toys and things....)

I am pondering making holes in the paci --starting with a pin hole and then cutting them.. the dentist says my duaghters teeth are being damaged by the paci..

I am a long time daycare provider 30+ years and now a gramma. I do remember tho what happened when we accidently broke our daughter from the pacificer. I was evidently more worried about it than my daughter. She was getting close to two years old and I like you thought it was way past time because of her teeth. One night we were doing the bedtime ritual stories, prayers etc. and when I put her in her bed she asked for her picky (as we called it). Well I couldn't find it anywhere. I looked high and low. I didn't have a car at the time so I couldn't go out and get one. I just very honestly and earnestly said to her, "I am so sorry but I can't find your picky anywhere." I told her at least she still had her blanket and dolly or stuffed animal whatever she still clung to. She looked at me so forelorned, but she knew I wasn't lying to her. I told her she was perfectly fine to come and look for it herself, but I didn't know where she had put it last. Well she believed me and we made it thru the first night ok. The next night she asked again and I told her I still didn't know where it was. She bought it...which was the truth as I really couldn't find it. Then the next night I assured her she was such a big girl she didn't need that baby picky any more that it was for babies and she was a big girl now. And that was that.

Now I am sitting for another little girl and the same thing sorta happened with her. After the first couple of nights without it, she didn't even ask for it any more. I will say with her tho since day one we never ever let her walk around with her picky or blanket. It was always left in the bedroom in her crib. So she associated very young that that was only for nap and bed times. So it was much easier.
Perhaps you will have to start with him as leaving it in the bedroom high enough on a shelf or dresser that he cannot just go back in and get it any time he wants to. Being consistant in any endeavor you decide to do is the key. If you give in once, it will take another 30 days to correct the habit. You have to say what you mean and MEAN what you say. Follow through! C. from Kalamazoo

Hi D.,

I have an almost 18 month that also needs to get rid of her pacifier as well. I have found out with my 3 older children that it was easier to get them to take it only at night time for a bit and then to just quit cold turkey. With my oldest she cried one night for it, with my twins they cried 2 or 3 nights before falling asleep and none of them have ever looked backed. My 18 month old has only ever used it for bed time, so I'm hoping it wont be to hard to take it from her.

Good luck :o)

I have to be honest here. I think that it is ok to allow your child to use his pacifier. My children gave them up when they were ready. My first son was never big on pacifiers or thumbs but he has a linus that he carries around with him when he wants it and he will be 3 the end of May. He takes it where ever we go and sleeps with it as well. He gave up the pacifier and thumb all on his own. And with my second child, who is almost 18 months old, when he found his thumb I just took the pacifiers away and threw them away because I would rather him suck of his thumb (its always thereLOL). Now some people don't agree with me and think I should stop my son from sucking his thumb and I say good thing you have your own child or go have your own and do it your way but I am a strong believer that it is our job to guide our children not control them. And it doesn't sound like the pacifier is a big deal to you. And for your son it sounds like he is slowly breaking himself away from it already. But I choose my battle. My suggestion if your going to take it from him just explain to him because he is old enough to understand. Say ok we are going to throw these away now because your a big boy now. And give him something to replace it. Like hey lets throw these away and then tell him that there will be something for him in the mailbox now or where ever. Saw supernanny do it once. She made it into this huge experience that I can tell you later about if your interested just email me. I have to go get to church. Every parent is different so I am sure whatever you decide will be fine. Good luck...

Hi D.,
With both of my girls, "we gave them to a baby because you're a big girl/boy now. The baby needs them." It worked for both of my girls. When they would ask about their paci, we would just repeat "we gave them to the baby....you're a big girl now". Another idea I thought about doing was using their paci's as money to get a toy. They were too young for that at the time, so we went the new baby route. Good luck!

Hi! I almost didn't respond because you have so many great responses already. But I agree that there are times when a child is "ready" for something. Our daughter loved her passy n I was fine w/that. But when she was 2 and 4 months I came home from work n my mom told me the dog ate her passy n I was sick n tired of replacing them! So she was old enough at that time and I feel like it was the perfect time for her to be reasoned with so we told her that the dog ate it n he was a bad doggy but the passies were all gone. No issues, I cried myself to sleep bc I wasn't ready lol but my daughter on the other hand was fine!! So good ol fashioned reasoning and a solid explaination did the trick! But good luck n remember, there only young once! ;-)

Well when I got rid of my daughter's paci's I just let her know. For about a week before I told her that on sunday we were getting rid of them. Then every day I told her you have this many days left. On sunday we both threw all the pacifier's in the garbage. Then I let her go to the dollar store and pick out 2 things. It got her mind off the paci's. My daughter was like your son, she'd be gone all day long or even all weekend and be fine without it. Sounds to me like he'll be just fine.

Have you tried cutting the tip off so there is no suction. Or explain to him you need to take them and put them in a bag so another baby can use them, or you can tell him your gonna collect them and take them to the fireman who will give them to a baby who needs them. Good luck.

I was in the same boat as you but I got lucky when my son was slightly over 2 years old. My son only used a specific pacifier...the green ones you get from the hospital. I believe they are called Soothies. It came to the point where we were not buying any more and he only had a couple left in the house. Ironically, the nipple on one tore from overuse and he hated it! So, we went with the idea and put a small tear in his second one. That was it. That is all it took. He hated the nipples torn...it must not have provided the right suction/comfort. So he threw them in the garbage. Like I said we got lucky. Out of habit he would ask for it for a few days but he was fine once we kept reminding him they were broken and in the garbage. Good luck!

D.-
My son is 1 and I have been thinking about taking him off the pasie, but I don't want to because I feel like he is a baby as long as he has it, and I know he will be the last child my husband and I have...lol. I did though start giving it to him ONLY at bed time. that is what I did with my other 2, then after I thought they had it that way for long enough, I just took it away and let them cry themselves to sleep. I know it sounds harsh, but sometimes being a parent requires harsh decisions. They were all fine after a day or 2 of not having it. Hopoe this help and good luck!!

I grew up in the south, where folks planted gardens and did certain things according to an almanac. There is a best day of the month to wean, and I know people who consulted an almanac before weaning from a pacifier. Those "best day" and "worst day" calendars might be available on-line, if you're interested. Sounds a little crazy to us now, doesn't it? :)

We were "Bad" parents like you ;) Our daughter had her pacifier at 3 as well. Yikes!!She NEVER used it at daycare and really only used it at home to sleep at night or once in a while if she was hurt, but the fact is, she did use it. We told her right after she turned three that it was time to go to the dentist and the dentist was going to tell her no more pacifier. I may have told her that she was going to have beaver teeth too, but that's only because I was REALLY trying to get her to be done with it. Not nice I know. As soon as the hygienist saw on the sheet that she had a pacifier, she told both of us that it was time for it to go. Much to my surprise, my daughter walked in the house after her dentist appointment, grabbed her pacifier and threw it away!!! WOW, that easy?!??! The first night she was a little sad going to bed, but she did amazingly well. And the craziest thing is it's only been 6 months since it has been gone and she does NOT recall using it (and she remembers everything)!!!!! All that trauma on us as parents and the kids end up being just fine. Maybe this will work for you…worse case, your child has it for a few more months-probably won't ruin him for life :) Best of luck to you!!!

I haven't tried this personally but I hear it works well. First you make your pacifier a home in a jar of water. Every morning you stick it in there. Than every couple of days you swap our some water for vinegar gradually adding more vinegar and less water. The thought is your child will not like the vinegar taste and decide to give it up. The only other thing I've heard of is to gradually cut the pacifier tip till nothing is left and it's "broken". Good luck.

My friend recently did this with her son who will be 3 in Aug she put all the pacifiers in a bag and the pacifier fairy came to get them then the fairy left a gift for him... good luck...

Hi D.,
Please don't feel so guilty over the pacifier thing. Although it is easier to do when they are younger, there is nothing wrong with having waited, especially since i see that you have a new baby as well. We did the same thing and a few months ago ended the pacifier for my daugter. We had gotten her down to only using it for naps and bedtime, she would put it in a specific location in her room. While she was out of her room one day, i just cut the nipple off the pacifier and put it back on her shelf. When she went to get it at bedtime and put it in her mouth, it fell out. She said "oh no what happened". I acted suprised and said it looks like it is broken. We talked about it several times and she definately asked for it many times, but never got upset. She wasn't angry or thinking that i took it away from her, instead just that something happened to it. It was much smoother than i imagined. The trick is to NOT make a big deal about it, then they are going to be less anxious about it. Good Luck

Tell him his is a big boy and throw them away. There is no easy way to wean, esp. at 3. We did this at a little under 2.5 and it wasn't that bad at all.

D. - I'm sorry, but I had to smile! This reminded me of my niece. The girl went everywhere with her pacifier! She was the flower girl in my youngest sisters wedding and the Florist put a really long ribbon on her basket so that her pacifier could be attached to it, "just in case" she needed it during the ceremony. My daughter was 4 at the time, and she had a pair of jeans that my niece loved. So my dad went to the store bought a pair for my niece and gave them to her, with the understanding that the pacifier went in the trash. When she saw her new jeans, she put the pacifier in a plastic bag and put it in the trash. Her mom, figuring bedtime would be traumatic, got it out, sterilized it and at bedtime tried to give it to her. The girl had a fit because if Papa found out, he would take her jeans. She threw it back in the trash and it was never seen or heard from again. Sometimes as parents we have to resort to a little bribery! :) Is there a toy your son wants really bad?

Good Luck!

Hi D.!

I had a pacifier kid too. My son loved his paci and even made up a little song "blue paci" he would sing about his beloved pacifier. That being said, it was a difficult decision to make but it was easier than expected to take away permanently.

We went the cold turkey route and didn't look back. We kept all the pacifiers in the same spot. So one morning we threw them all away. When he went to get one from the spot they weren't there. We told him they were gone in the big garbage. He looked in the garbage (he couldn't see them) and out the window for the garbage truck then went on to play. He was 2 yrs. & 2 mos. old when we did this. The first day when it was nap time and then again at bed time there were tears but after that he didn't even ask for it anymore. It's never easy to hear your child cry but I thought it was better to take them and be done with it then to allow him to have it at nap or bed time and go through the trauma of taking it away on a daily basis. Kids are wonderfully resiliant. He bounced back just fine.

I hope you find a method that works well for you and your child. Good luck to you!

K.

D.,

I have 5 boys and have age gaps in between them that are similiar to your childrens spacing in age. I never made the "passy" an issue. Mine usually would give it up voluntarily when they would see the "new baby" needing one. Somewhere in the first 6 months of a new, younger siblings life, they realize that passy's are for babies.

Sometimes it helps to help the issue along if once in awhile the passy gets "lost". Make a big deal of looking for it....ask your son to help you find it. Then just give up the search, (so to speak) and let your son know that it will turn up eventually and can he help you by going without it just this one time?? Depending on how well he deals with that you can put off "finding" it forever, or if he has a really difficult time with it you can suddenly discover it. That way you can guage his readiness without making it a power struggle.

Good luck and personally I wouldn't push him very hard to give it up at home yet- just for the fact that he's still adjusting to having a new sibling. Good luck.

Hi D.!
We got rid of our pacifiers effortlessly...here is what we did! Our little guy was about 2 1/2 when Christmas rolled around. We talked for 3 months prior to Christmas about giving Santa all of his pacifiers so that Santa could give them to babies who needed them! Worked like a charm. Christmas Eve came and he packed his pacifiers up in a brown bag, we wrote Santa a note and put it under the tree. Santa left him a big thank you note and a great present for a 'big boy'.

Not sure your religious beliefs...perhaps the Easter Bunny could take them????? I believe that it takes preparation & not just cold turkey.....talk him through it early & decide a date! Good luck.

Ditto on cutting the tip. My son didn't really care which poor babies were getting his binkie or that the fairy was coming. All he knew was he wanted his binkie. We cut the tip and that was it! We told him it broke and he really couldn't suck on it with the tip cut off so he was all done. There was only one kinda bad night and we just reminded him that it broke and that was it. Good luck, let us know what you chose to do.
L.

my daughter was 3 when she stopped using her paci too. she only had them at bed she would keep them under her pillow, one by one our new puppy would get them from under her pillow and chew them up untill she had none. she always had at least three one in each hand and one in her mouth.
maybe slowly take them away. if you don't have a dog excuse you can think of something else.