I Need Advice on How to Wean off Pacifier!

I think 13 months is too young to take away the pacifier. My son was 23 months when I cut the tips off, but he was old enough to understand that they were broken. I don't think a 13 month old can really grasp that concept. Also, just because the daycare has a "no pacifier" rule, that doesn't mean that you can't give him one at home. You're right, he is going through a lot of changes, and he has to have something familiar to comfort him.

One more thing - I hate to say anything negative about your daycare since I don't really know anything about it, but it concerns me that they would make a child give up a bottle and a pacifier before they can move to the next class. If you really like the childcare center, then that's great, but if you are bothered by this rule, then you might want to start looking for a center that treats the children as individuals. Not all children are ready to give up bottles and pacifiers just because they turn 1. I have worked at a few daycare centers (and my mom actually owns one), and they don't have such strict rules. Just something to think about.

Hi A.,
When my son was about 17 months he was in daycare and loved his pacifier. Well one day they said they couldn't find it. So for about 3 days my son went without. I really believe the people watching my son put it away so my son wouldn't want it any more. Anyway it was a hard battle at first. Well the daycare found the pacifier after a while. What I remember I believe we let my son use it at bedtime and stopped his use of it during the day. As time went on he no longer needed it. There is one thing we kept doing and I know it might not have been the best thing to do, but we let him have a bottle during nap and one during bedtime. Of course at the public daycare he didn't get a bottle during nap, but at home he did. I hope this helps in some way. I wish you the best.

My daughter is almost 2 and was still using a binkie...until I lost them! She only really relied on it when she was sleeping or in the car wanting to fall asleep. Well, we went two days without them, and once I found them, I hid them! I figured she went the last two days without, she can do this! It wasn't easy, she would whine herself to sleep for a couple weeks, but she got over it fast. I understand your empathy towards your son, that is a lot of security items to lose in such a short period of time. My daughter is still using a bottle for milk (she drinks juice, water, everything else out of a sippy cup), and she does NOT want to give that one up! Good luck.

A friend of mine had a problem with the pacifier and they cut off the tip of the pacifier so there was no more suction. The little one was still able to use his pacifiers and not get upset that they were all of a sudden gone! Eventually he stopped using them becuase they weren't working!!