Giving up the "Paci"

I wouldn't worry about it. Let her only have it in bed and in the car. Her 3rd birthday is a good time for her to understand that she can say good bye to it forever.

Hi M.,
I was able to wean my daughter off by 1yr. I started to only let her have it at nap time and bed time, then bed time only, after a couple days, I just did not give it to her anymore. She would cry for about 10min and then fall asleep, so it really wasn't an issue for us. My sister-in-law, cut the tips off the paci and told her 18mo old that they were broken and had her daughter help her trow them into the garbage or if one was found "unbroken" they would put it in a box to give to the "other babies that need them." Good Luck!

It was so much easier than we thought. But we did it when Hannah was 3. First, it could only be used during naptime, bedtime and on an airplane. They cut it out at naptime at school then. Then we told her for weeks that when she was 3 that the nukie fairy would come and leave her a little gift and take her nukies. She turned 3, we left a little something (don't even remember what), and we never looked back. She only asked about it a little at night for 2 nights, then it wasn't an issue. Good luck! It's so nice to be without it.

After 12-13 months our 2 boys only got their nuks in their crib for nap/bedtime (maybe an occasional long car trip and visits to the dr for shots) At about 2 we just "lost" it at bedtime. We looked and looked everywhere and didn't find it. We called the grandmas to look at their house, but they didn't find it. They were both a little sad about not being able to find it as they went to bed that first night, and talked about it a little at nap the next day but that was it. It went way better then we could ever have imagined. I guess we were just as dependant on it as we thought they were. Good luck!

C.

Frankly I would disregard the peds opinion or get a second opinion. There is rarely a real medical reason to give up a paci so young. Just before my son was 3, I encouraged him to give it up by telling him the paci fairy would bring him gifts in exchange for all his pacis. He voluntarily gave them up at that point and I always gave him the option of returning the toys and getting his paci back. In hind sight I probably would have waited even a bit longer because it became clear that he needed to have oral input and instead switched to biting and sucking his clothes (we got him a chewy tube to satisfy those needs). Once he was 4 those needs ended.

Nineteen months seems way too young to give it up unless the child stops showing interest on their own. IMO opinion it would be cruel to remove a comfort item like that. No one would ask a 19 mo to stop sucking their thumb and pacis are actually healthier for dental development than a thumb.

I think it's fine to wait a little, but I would limit it to in bed or in the car. I found if you get rid of it completely right around 2 it's pretty easy. You might have a few nights that they ask for it, but they have a much easier time adapting when they are younger.

I don't know if this can be classified as the most "gentile" method, but it worked for us within 48 hours when we weaned our twins at 19 months. We tried talking about it and that failed. We knew that when they didn't see pacis they were fine, but when they saw them they "had" to have them. When they were done getting in most of their teeth and healthy, we let them go to sleep with it and while they were asleep we took the paci from the crib and all other pacis and hid them. The next day they didn't notice the absence, but by the following day they caught on and fussed a little bit. I just said that the pacis were "all done" with my hands up in the air and they caught on. By day 3 it wasn't an issue. Sometimes they suck on their fingers, but since we still use sippy cups those seem to be their coping methods when they need it.

Good luck! Docs do have reasons for suggesting what they suggest.

Hi M.,
This is the first time I've heard a doctor say to give up the paci at this age. Medically, you don't have to be concerned until they are 3 - 4 years (our pediatrician said 3, the kids dentist said 4). I think most kids are more willing to give it up when they are close to 3. That was about the time my kids dropped the habit.
Good luck!

you know, i dont know what it is about doctors.

heres what i suggest. dont worry about what your doctor says. trust your instincts, and just limit the times your daughter can have it to sleep/snuggle times, and put it up all other times.

we tend to think that doctor knows best, but most of the time, they are pushing their ideas on us. trust yourself. my son is 2, and luckily, so far, my doctor has no opinion whatsoever about his nuk use. babies need to suck. for some, its the only way to go to sleep.
my son does spit it out once hes deep asleep, and sometimes hes tired enough to not need it at all.... but for the most part, nap and bedtime is the only time he has it, i take it once hes spit it out, and hes usually done for the night. it doesnt do as much harm as they think (especially the nuk brand - they are made that way for a reason...)

anyway,
just trust yourself, and follow your intuition and your child's needs. :D it IS ok. :P
when shes older, say 2, lol, they do start to understand better, and you can use the nuk fairy technique. ive heard that it works SO GOOD, especially when you can leave a toy like the tooth fairy leaves money :P i even heard a mom getting her son to leave the nuk, and the nuk fairy left a potty doll. he loves it, and its right in time for potty training! LOL.
2 for 1. LOL

1st of all please don't stress about giving up the paci- especially at 19 mon.! Everyone always told me that by 2 the paci should be gone... well.... my boys (twins) finally gave theirs up at 3. I started limiting it to just bedtime/naptime first and then we could never get past not having it to sleep. It was such a comfort, especially when they were not good sleepers until they turned 2! I stressed about their teeth, speech, etc. Finally when they were about to turn 3 we were talking about how pacis really were for babies, etc, etc. Then they just handed them over- didn't need them anymore! It was so funny, I really thought it would be a struggle. THen, I was worried for their 1st dental appt, but the dr. couldn't even tell that they were paci users. No harm done, I stressed about nothing! Just remember that this issue seems like a huge deal now, but just do what feels right and you don't always have to listen to what you're "supposed" to do! Mama knows best! :) Good luck in whatever happens!

What worked for us was that when he lost one or forgot one somewhere, we told him it was gone. No more. It took a while but it worked. eventually we got down to one nuk left and he was very cautious with it for a while but eventually missplaced it and that was that. He never had a problem with not having it. We also keept telling him that they were for babies and he wasn't a baby anymore. Telling him he was a big boy was a big help too i think. Good luck. Happy New Year.

At 1 I just got rid of all the pacifiers with my first son. He was a bit whiny and had a hard time but was fine within a week or so. I am not sure how that will go with my younger son though. I was going to do it soon but we are going on a vacation next week so i think it might help him wiht the pressure changes. I will probably get rid of the pacifier later this month after the trip. I don't have any ideas for you though. Maybe only letting her have it in bed for a little while, and then maybe transition to some other "lovey" and get rid of the pacifier??

Our son only used his nuks during car rides, nap time and bed time since 1 year old. At 1-1/2 we took it out of the car rides. Then at 2-1/2 we had our son give his nuks to the nuk fairy.

I started a week in advance letting him know that on Saturday the nuk fairy was going to come and collect all his nuks for little boys and girls who didn't have any of their own. I would tell him this every time I would give him his nuk that week and also ask him during the day what was going to happen to his nuks to make sure he understood. Then on Saturday when he was getting ready for bed I asked him to put all his nuks into a paper bag so the nuk fairy could come get them. He did this very well until the last one, and then he needed a little coaxing. It took me an extra 1/2 hour to put him to bed without a nuk but that was the only night I had problems.

I had him put his nuks outside the front door. I told him in exchange for his nuks the nuk fairy would leave him a special gift. For him I actually had the fairy leave him a boy baby doll that pees and it is even anatomically correct (to help prepare him for potty training). Got two purposes served with the one mission. And he LOVES that doll and does like to have it sit on the potty.

He has never cried for his nuk, he did on occasion ask for it but I just reminded him the nuk fairy gave it to other babies that didn't have any and all he said was oh ya.
But the one and only downfall of the whole giving up the nuk is that he will now not take naps for me anymore. Makes for VERY long weekends, by 3:00 he is a crabby monster. He takes naps fine at my moms house (she watches him during the week without nuks either). I wish I would have waited until he was 3 just so I could get thru the winter first, since in the spring time he would have alot more time outside to wear off his excess energy and maybe take naps better. Its now been 1 month of no nuks and no naps on weekends : ( Hopefully I make it thru the long holiday weekends without my hair turning gray : )

Good luck and I hope this helps.

It was easier than we'd anticipated. We first started leaving it in the crib, so our little one only had it for sleep. Then we snipped the tip with a sissors. I did it at first and took just the very tip off. My husband saw it, laughed and took over half of it off. The idea is that you still give them the paci, but because it no longer works, they give it up on there own. We were suprised at how well this worked for us.

I would highly suggest waiting until your daughter can understand that her paci is going to be gone. And to do it in stages, like lots of people have said. 19 mths just seems too young for her to understand why you're taking one of her favorite things away!

I was told that cut back the paci in stages. First is when she is least likely to need it. Then after a couple of weeks extend that for a longer time. Go for the days hours first and night time last. The night time will be the hardest. Hold strong.

M.,

My daughter was just turned two when we got rid of her nuk. She was only using it for naps and bedtime, but always needed it. I took one, and cut the tip off halfway, and she found out that it was broken. I made a big gesture that we needed to throw it away and that the garbage man would come take it away. The next day, we went and got her a "big girl" toy for getting rid of the nuk. If she doesn't sleep with an animal or special blanket, introduce one at bedtime to replace the nuk. (Our doctors advice) Hang in there. Expect a few days of crying at naptime and bedtime, just don't give in! When it is over with, you will be glad you stuck with it!

My son was very attached to his when he was little. You have to do it slowly if you are ready to give it up. With us, we told him he could only have it at nap times and bedtimes... then it was just bedtimes... then not at all(of course at a slow pace). We had no problems. If you don't think you are ready for giving it up yet, wait a bit. I don't think we started weaning our son off of it until 2yrs. We told him we couldn't hear him talking with it in his mouth. Luckily, our daughter wasn't a nuk baby... but she sure is a 'blankie' kid!

Do what you feel in your heart. I sometimes did opposite of the dr's advice. Go with your instinct.

~SR