Pacifier Help - Olmsted Falls,OH

I have heard that poking a hold in the nipple part of the paci (so that it flattens every time he tries to suck it) helps. But I have not yet attempted to wean my son off his paci, so this is all second-hand.

We just broke our 24 month old son's binky addiction, so I know how hard it is! Check out www.bye-bye-binky.com. We used that method (b/c you never actually TAKE AWAY the binkies, you aren't the bad guy!) and it worked in about a week. I'm not saying there were no tears or struggles, there were. But, cold turkey seemed mean to me and, like you said, my son at that age wouldn't understand giving them to a baby or the binky fairy etc. So, this was what worked for us! If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

My son was really attached to his pacifiers, and I thought it was going to be horrible when we had to wean him off. What we finally decided was to mail the pacifiers to babies who needed them. We got a big envelope and made a big deal of gathering up all the pacifiers in the house. He put them all the envelope, sealed it, and put a sticker on it for a stamp, and we took him out and let him put the envelope in the mail box. We snuck out later and replaced the envelope with a new toy and a note thanking him for his pacifiers & congratulating him on being such a big boy. He was so excited to find that in the mail box! He told everybody for weeks afterwards how he mailed his pacifiers and got new toys from the babies.

He had a little trouble falling asleep without one the first night, but once we reminded him that he had mailed them all to babies, he was fine with it. I was really shocked at how easy it was. He never asked for one again! Occasionally he will find a pacifier under the bed or behind furniture, and he'll bring it to one of us and tell us we need to mail it to the babies.

Snipping the nip is good , i heard lots of mommies get great results. I personally threw mine away. My Neighbor had her daughter wrap it up and give it to a "baby" or put it in the mail (pretend) to send to a new baby. Made her feel like a big girl. It will hell for the first week you decide to do it, but kids have to find another coping method. Go to the store and let him pick out another lovey since he gave up his paci. This will really help

My daughter still has her paci's (yes, 2 too!) At one time we found 5 in her bed that she was hoarding. She must have found all the ones that we had lost. The 2 came as a result of her waking up at night and not being able to find her one paci so we gave her another hoping it would help the search. Now she sleeps with one in her mouth and the other in her hand. Then was born the addiction to 2, we created a monster. We tried everything to take them away then I thought, hey, I sucked my thumb until I was 14 and I turned out ok. Of course I had to have braces but I probably would have anyway since both my brother and sister weren't thumb suckers and they had braces too. I did talk to her pediatrician and he said not to worry about it and maybe try taking it away next year. Hopefully she'll be a little older and a little easier to convince and understand.

My daughter turned 3 (December 22)right before Chirstmas. We decided that we were going to leave her binkies on the plate of cookies we left for Santa so he could give them to a baby that needed them. We prepared her for about a month in advance, mentioned it daily the month before Christmas and told her what a big girl she would be.Then on Christmas Eve, although a little reluctant she excitedly dictated a letter to Santa about what he needed to do with her binkies, we took a picture of "the last suck" and then she put them on the plate for Santa. Then on Christmas morning, Santa left her a "very special present" for being so generous. This approach really worked well for us. It taught our daughter about giving to others and also made a fun and exciting transition from "baby to big girl" Good luck with whatever approach you choose. All in all I think it was harder on me then her.

I agree with a lot of the posts with great ideas... However, I would likes to share a one cent thought. My dentist said as long as it was out by 5, there would be no dental harm ( consult your own dentist). When I stopped to watch my daughter I saw most of the time it fell slack or out of her mouth when she fell asleep. We did the only in the crib thing until she was three and then a big production of mailing it to a friend's new baby.

My big thought is this. My daughter did not sleep as well after we took it away for at least a few years. Her naps immediately cut down by about 30 minutes and I faced more nightwaking and earlier mornings (presumably she used to be able to self sooth with the paci). I also decided she was still a baby and there was nothing wrong with her needing a little comfort when she was alone in the dark.
She was emotionally ready togive it up at 3 and we never had to replace it with movies or anything like that. Enforce a only inthe crrib rule, and do both of you a favor, let him have it a little longer!

My

My daughter was one that had to have two to three in her bed with her. At age 2 when she started day care 2 days a week I took the binki or paci away from her except in the car and at bed time. She was not allowed to have it in day care. When she was 3.5 my son was born. I was afraid to take it away from her because of the changes that I knew were going to happen. However about 3 months after my son was born I took her to Build a Bear and had her pick out a stuffed animal. We had talked about this for about 2 weeks before hand and looked at animals on line. Her best friend had a giraffe and she wanted one. So I called the Build a Bear at the St. Louis Zoo and they had one. Well on the way there I told her that in order to get a new stuffed animal she had to put her binki in it. Well she wanted the stuffed giraffe so bad that it was not a problem. The girl at Build a Bear went through all the normal things then had Cindy put her Binki in her giraffe. That night when she asked for it I told her "Remember you put it inside of your giraffe." I took the giraffe from her and felt around and found the binki I showed her where to find it in her giraffe and that is where she held her giraffe that night. She had a little problem sleeping but not much. I was so suprised how easy she gave it up.
I had tried the cutting method only to find that she did not care that they had holes in them she just sucked on them anyways.
To this day (she is 7 now) she will grab her giraffe when she really needs comfort and find the hard spot where her binki is and rub it. She does not do this too often and it is sorta cute when I catch her doing it.
I would not be in any hurry to take the binki away she has no speach troubles unlike her brother who is three now and never would take a binki.
Good luck.

Hi T., I'm going to be honest, as soon and I saw 20 months and pacifier to read no furthur. I never believe in using things that would end up adicting with my baby's /toddles, I Also I don't believe in lying to them to get rid of it, pacifier fairy etc, parents are in charge and should not have to lie or trick their children. Just throw it away he does not need to understand, he just needs to know that is is to big and to old for it. Parents never lie to your children. Just be parents, make the rules and stand by your rules. J.

This is one of those things I changed my mind about as I had more children. With our 1st, we got rid of them when he was about 15-16 months old because 'everyone told us to'. (media, magazine, books, blogs, whoever). We cut a little hole in the end and made it bigger everyday. By the 3rd day it was big enough - he got MAD. He'd yell "it's broke" and throw it to us - everytime he asked for it. He had been a >great< sleeper but once this happened, he slept horribly (waking muliple times a night, delaying bedtime for hours by crying/screaming/etc) for an entire month!

When kid #2 came along, we ditched her pacifier when she was 2.5. But by her 2nd birthday it was for naptime/bedtime only and she knew she had to leave them in her crib. Often when she was upset during the day, she'd go to her room, stand next to her crib and reach in a grab one and stand or sit next to crib (she couldn't crawl in) and suck on it for awhile until she calmed down. Then she'd leave it when she left (or we came to get her).

So when #3 came along, we just didn't worry about it. There are WAY too many other more important things to worry about with young children. We limited it to crib only after 2nd birthday. As they fell out (she usually had 3-4 in there) we gradually (a few months before 3) just stopped replacing them and tossed them until she was down to like 1 in her crib. We'd stick it in the corner or under her pillow and if she asked for it we'd 'look' for it and give it to her. After a week or so she'd just stop asking. It was a habit and she slowly got out of it herself. After a couple weeks we noticed she was never using it so we took it out - she never even missed it. And she was hardcore addicted to it at 2.5 years old!

Anyways... if you limit it to crib-only once they turn 2 then it won't really affect their speech. One rule we had from the beginning was that they could NEVER talk with the thing in their mouth. Zero tolerance, even from a babbling 11 month old. The 1 year olds would pop it out of their mouth to say something or we'd yank it out.

It also helps to have your child get attached to another comfort/transition object like a blankie or stuffed animal.

My husband and I wanted to stop our daughter at the time to stop sucking on a paci. She loved paci's it was so bad that when she ran out or if we could not find an emergency binky one of us was running to the store no matter what time of day it was. But when she turned 2 my husband took her to the duck pond by our house as she called it the quack quacks. And my husband told her that everytime they quack that means they are crying and they are asking for a binky. So my husband told her to throw them to the quack quacks while on land of course and she did because she loved them. And never again did she ask for it or want it again. She went cold turkey and we never looked back. Good luck!

Hi T.,

I just broke my daughter off the paciifier and she was fine in a couple of days. I took all of her pacifiers and cut a slit in the nipple and when she put it in her mouth it wouldnt work, no suction. She came to me and said it wasn't working and I said to her I guess there broken, she was sad for a little while but was fine. Just make sure that when you go shopping that you don't go down the isle with the pacifiers :) Good luck!!

S.

Start limiting his paci's. Maybe first start by limiting him to one at a time, but be sure to let him choose which one he wants. Then start limiting him as to when or where he may have his paci, such as only in his room or when he is sleeping. Eventually, just stop replacing them as they wear out. Be sure to let him know when it is his last one, that there will not be any more after that one is lost or broken. We weaned our son off his paci this way. He was upset that first night, but was fine after that.

hi my little girl had one until she was 3. but the way i got her off it was. told her the paci fairy was going to take her paci and give her some thing for them and give her paci to baby's that dont have one. so that night i got a cute bag she help me get them all and hang them out side in a tree. when she woke up we went out side and her paci was gone but the was a gift for her a nd letter that read think you for give your paci the baby s will love them help you like your gift love the paci fairy she loved it every now and again she would ask for one and i just told her the paci fairy told them and have you that gift and she run and get the stuff animal she got and after a will she did say nothing a bout one and dont really care a bout the stuff animal to so it worked hope this helps