My son is now 2 year old (25 months exactly) and not ready to give up his "papsy", but the issue is, he's chewing through them! Is there a type of pacifier out there made for sucking and chewing? He's always used the Soothie brand of pacifiers. The thing is he needs one for both because he still uses one for sleep. All the ones for teethers are all bumpy and have ridges. Help Moms and thanks!
UPDATE: I've placed an order for the weaning pacifiers. Thanks!
UPDATE UPDATE: Had to cancel the order, but we went cold turkey with no pacifiers that night. It took only 3 nights and we're free from the papci!
He may not be willing to give it up, but he can't be given that choice. If he chews threw his paci and inhales it while asleep or super sleepy he could easily choke. It is time to take them away period. It will mean a few long nights, but that is a small price to pay for safety.
If he has it in his mouth for extended periods of time, it will start to affect his speech and palate development. This happened to us with our younger daughter at that age, and our dentist told us we had to get rid of the binky immediately. DD wasn't ready to give it up, either. Our wonderful nanny gave us the best advice about it - simply cut the tip off of all the pacifiers. Keep giving them to the child as requested, but they'll very quickly give it up on their own. Well, I thought that was crazy advice, but tried it. My daughter stood there at the binky drawer (yes, we had an entire drawer of them) and tried the binkies one by one. Finally after the last one, she looked at me and said, "They all BROKEN!" and wandered off. She never asked for one again. It was the strangest thing - but our nanny had said that was what was going to happen, and it did.
I would say if your son is chewing them, get rid of them. It's a safety issue at this point.
Just take it away cold turkey. Do it on a weekend and be prepared for a rough couple of days. He is too old to be using one and it is such a bad habit.
Updated
Just take it away cold turkey. Do it on a weekend and be prepared for a rough couple of days. He is too old to be using one and it is such a bad habit.
I realize every kid is different, but most pediatricians/dentists will encourage you to wean the paci by 24-30 months. All 3 of my boys had a paci and we weaned them right round 24 months. They only slept with them and we just cut them out cold turkey. The first 2 nights they all cried, but by night #3 they were just fine. Good Luck!
He might not be "willing" to give it up until children are making fun of him. Please don't continue with allowing him to have it. Longterm use of pacifiers hurts speech development and teeth alignment. It will be easier if you wean him off of it now.
Just get rid of them. I hear so many parents worry about this stuff. But really, do you honestly think he'll just say "I don't want it" someday? Every day we have to coerce our kids to do things they don't want to do. This is just another one. Throw them away and don't look back. I promise you, you'll thank yourself for it.
When my daughter was two she used the paci for sleep only. So one day, I told her that Grandpa needs her pacis. She said ok and put them in a bag for him to take home (I kept one hidden for my own sanity, just in case). At nap time, she asked for it and I reminded her that she gave them to grandpa. Off to sleep she went. She asked again that night at bedtime, and I reminded her once again and she went right to sleep. That was it.
A year or two later, we came across the hidden paci - she said - wow, did I use those??
A little white lie and cold turkey. Worked for us!!
Good luck!
I truly don't think there's anything wrong for a kid who needs to suck to have a pacifier. If you take it away and he still needs to suck he's going to find something to suck, a blanket, a thumb, a finger or two, or a toy.
It's nasty and gross and a pacifier is just much cleaner and safer.
I'd try to make sure his dentist has checked his teeth to make sure he's not festering an infection anywhere. He sounds like he's chewing to make his mouth feel better.
