Seeking Help with the Problem Below.

I personally have not had this problem, but my nephew Ethan will be 3 in November and his parents just within the last couple of months have finally gotten him to give up his pacifier (a batu, as he calls it). They tried everything, from hiding it, throwing it away several times-and him trying to dig it out of the trash can, losing it-and always end up giving it back to him. Within the last 6 months they got a lab puppy, named Bingo-how appropriate! The only thing that has finally worked was telling Ethan that "Bingo ate his batu"- somehow this has stuck with him and he has learned to accept that he can't have it back now. Although he has not had a pacifier since this has happened. He doesn't nap well in the afternoons since being without it, however he IS sleeping all night in his own bed. The permanence of the dog eating it has finally stuck! This was a battle for them for almost a year. So keep trying, I hope this can help you, good luck!

Hello well I hate to sound mean but the only thing to do now that she has had it this long is to just take it away. I know that dosen't sound like good advice but she is way to old to have a pacifer and it can do more damage the longer she has it. I know it will be hard but take every one you can find and throw them away. Good luck

Cut off the nipple on all of her pacifiers and leave them laying around like you usually do. My son was majorly attached to his pacifiers and we tried to hide them and he'd just get upset. I cut off the nipples on all of them and kept them around, so when he'd find one he'd try to put it in his mouth and it would fall out. I told him it was broken and he agreed. We left them laying around for about a week and then threw them away. He never cried or fussed about it at all.

My sister had a neighbor with an older child who they were trying to break of the binky habit. I loved her story. The binky always stayed in the crib and was only used at sleep time. So during the day before nap time, the mom went in and cut the end off of the binky. When her daughter found the binky at nap time - she examined it and held it up for mom very saddly and said .."mamma - binky broke". And mom said "what should we do with it?". And the little girl said "trow it in da twash". Anyway...the little girl went and threw it in the trash that was it for the binky for them. Hopefully your transition will go as smoothly. :-) Good luck

HI C.,
Well, when it was time for my daughter to have the pacifier taken away (we did it at 1 yr old) my pediatrician recommended that we put a whole in the end of it with a safety pin. Small enough the she couldn't see it, but big enough that when she sucked on it it would be harder for her. Then we just slowly kept adding holes will she was not able to suck on it any longer. She brought it to me and she told me it was broke. I told her "uh oh, time to throw it away then". So when I threw it away and she wanted another one I just put several holes in that one causing the same effect and she thought they all were like that then. So she told me she didn;t wantit and there was no more problems. Some say to cut the tip of the end, but she was smart enough to realize that wasn't right. Thats my success story. Hope it gives you some ideas or works for you too. Good Luck.
~C~

I have two friends who have won this battle...

The first just made no fuss over it, cut the tips off all the pacifiers and offered them to the baby as usual. The baby would try to suck them with no satisfaction, she would give them a funny look, then throw them down. It was "her idea" to stop the binkies since they didn't "work" anymore.

The second friend told her daughter that there were lots of little babies that needed binkies, and Santa was going to pick hers up and give them to the little babies. She gathered them all up for her mom, put them in a bag with a note to Santa. When she asked for one later, her mom would remind her that Santa took them for the little babies that needed them. It worked for her.

Hope that helps!

Good luck.

With my 4yo, we gathered them all up in a ziploc bag and took them to ToysRUs and let him use the binkies to pay for a truck he'd DESPERATELY been wanting for a long time. He only maybe cried once or twice for them, which was amazing, considering how dependant he was on them for nap and night. That did officially end nap time for him though, as his only incentive to take a nap was b/c he got to suck on his binkies.

I started by telling my daughter that the pacifier was for bedtime only when she was about 14 mos old, if she wanted to get out of bed, she had to give me the pacifier. Then we moved and things were stressful, so I caved a little. At 18 mos I decided it was time to give it up completely. Now, at this point, she only was allowed to have it in bed for naps and night time. I picked a day and when she woke up, I told her that her pacifiers were going bye-bye. It was time for her to be a big girl and there would be no more pacifiers. I'm sure she had no idea what that really meant...until naptime rolled around. She cried and kept asking for it while we were reading a story. When I wouldn't give it to her, she would try to get it down from the place I kept it. I showed her that it was gone, reminded her that she was a big girl, and put her to bed with no pacifier as she was sobbing. It sucked and it was incredibly hard, but I toughed it out...OK, I had to go outside and call my Mom, but I still dealt with it!! That night, same thing. She cried for a long time but we toughed it out. I thought we would be up all night, but she slept the whole night through. The next night, she only cried for a few minutes and after that she has never complained or asked for it again. I even kept a few on hand in case I could go through with it, but I never needed them. She is almost 3 now, and I just found them the other day hidden in her dresser! LOL!

At 3, your grandaughter is more capable of understanding what you are telling her, but she also will have more of an opinion about it! Good luck with however you decide to wean her! Does she have a lovey? Maybe you could trade the paci for a loved stuffed animal or a doll? Again, Good luck!!

I told my daughter that the "pacifier fairy" was going to come and take the pacifiers to other little babies who needed them. We went around the house and found them all, put them in a basket, and then when she woke up, there were a couple little gifts in there instead. She was excited about the toys and that she helped other babies.

Hi, I've heard the Binky Fairy story a few times. I think it's based on a book, but I'm not sure. Premise is you tell the child about all the other children who don't have 'binkies' <or whatever she calls it> and you explain what a big girl she would be for helping the fairies give the babies back their binkies. You tell her that you will need her to gather up all her binkies and leave them on her windowsill for the fairies to come get them. And sometimes when the fairies come to get the binkies, they leave a little present for the big girl who left them. That might work! OR, I've heard of having a binky release party...where you could gather any other kids she knows whose parents want to rid their kids of the pacifiers! (or it could just be her) You get helium filled balloons and tie the paci to the ribbons and let the balloons go so the binkies can go to the other kids that REALLY need them. Or you could make up whatever you wanted too I suppose!! My daughter sucks her thumb so if you know a way to break that I'd love to hear it! LOL Good luck!

I have heard that if you make a hole in the pacifer then it will make it a bit less comforting. Also, maybe try to cut back on the times they can use the pacifer and slowly wean them off of it.

Also, the child is old enought to be explained why its time to give up the paci. Maybe even making a big kid chart with their progression might motivate them to stop using it as well.

Good luck!

Hi C.,
We have a 3 1/2 year old that lover her pacifer, we took it away when she turned 3. We made a game of picking up all the pacifiers in the house togther and then we her and I threw them a way because she was a big girl. We then immediately went to Toysrus and spent an hour there letting her pick out a new toy.She picked out a new teddy bear and some books and she still slleps with the teddy bear.
The first few days were rough at naptime and bedtime she cried and asked for her paci and said she was not a big girl she wa a baby but after aboout 3 days she never asked for it again.
I think you just have to make up your mind and throw them away but be prepared for some tears for the first few days.
Good Luck.
K.

My son's paci stays in his room. He is only allowed to have it at nap time and bed time. I used to also give it to him in the car, but he has started throwing it down if he's not tired. So, we're starting to think about breaking the habit entirely. For a gradual transition, our pediatrician recommended replacing the paci with something else, like a blankie or a stuffed toy. Of course, then you have to worry about getting rid of the blankie some time down the road, but maybe that's not as big of a deal as a paci. Our docs also have recommended cutting or poking a hole in the pacifier. After reading all the other moms responses to this, I'm going to go find a safety pin and hunt down all the pacifiers....Thanks!

First, you shouldn't worry too much about the pacifier. Most dentists today say that using a pacifier will not have any long term effect, unless it is still used after they have lost their baby teeth and have their permanent teeth.

Tell the child that starting tomorrow (or whatever day) the he/she will no longer be able to use the pacifier during the day. Remind him/her what a big boy/girl s/he is being when not using the pacifier. After a week or so of that, let them know that soon you will not use it at night. A "big kid" reward might be in order for conquering the task. When you decide to stop using them, get rid of them. Seeing one around is too much of a temptation. Good luck!

Our daughter was almost 4 yrs old and VERY attached when we finally got it away from her. We went to my mother in laws house 12 hours north of here for x-mas.Grammie did lots of talking to her and telling her how big she is and fianlly she agreed to give it up. Grammie and my daughter went out to the almost frozen river behind Grammies house. There were some ducks floating in the water and Grammie told her to throw it out as far as she could so the ducks could take it to there babies and she did. We thought the 12 hour ride home would be nothing but crying, we were wrong she was as good as could be and only asked for it maybe twice. I beleive they have to want to give it up or it will be a huge fight and lots of crying.
W.

I love some of the ideas from the other mothers on this post. I wish I had been so clever. My daughter was 2 years old and was constantly losing her "fahver" (aka, pacifier). We had used those little ribbons that attach to their clothes to keep her from losing them when we were out and about. One day, we went to Walmart and I forgot the little ribbon thing. I told her she had to keep the pacifier in the car because if she didn't she would lose it and it was the very last one we had and we were NOT going to buy any more. She promised she wouldn't lose it and wanted to take it in. About 10 or 15 minutes into the shopping trip, the "fahver" was gone. She didn't notice it until we were almost ready to leave but I had already noticed and had tried to retrace our steps to see if I could find it. Since I couldn't find it, I just used that opportunity to calmly explain that I told her to leave it in the car but that she didn't and she lost it so there would be no more "fahver". She asked for it a few times over the next couple of days and I just reminded her she lost it in Walmart and she never asked about it again. There were never any tears, but I kind of felt bad putting the responsibility for it on her. When she would ask for it, I would try to distract her with something fun so it made those "guilt feelings" a little less strong. ;-) At the time, I wasn't planning to take it away from her because I knew it wasn't causing her any harm, but it was a perfect opportunity so it worked out pretty well for us. Good luck with your situation! With all these great stories of what worked for other moms, I bet it'll be easier for you than you think! :-)

My little girl was horrible to take the pacifier away from...my last resort which truly worked was...I had to cut very very tiny slices off the end of the pacifier...One little cut every other day so she didn't exactly know what I was doing...by two weeks it would not stay in her mouth to suck on and she gave up,with no fits....everything else I tried before that did not work...
Sincerely,
K.

With my son, I weaned him from having it at all times to just at bedtime so he knew it was just for night night. Once we did that, a couple of weeks later I started taking it away during the night so he had to put himself back to sleep without it if he woke up.... then a couple of weeks later... Easter was coming and so I told him the Easter bunny would be taking it away with him when he came and that he'd leave a special treat behind. So for all he knew the Easter Bunny took his last binkie and left him a great basket of goodies... never had a problem after that.

I had another friend that did a similar thing but not as long in between..

and my aunt with her son pricked a hole in the end of the pacifier so it didnt provide the same type of soothing feeling b/c it shrank when sucked instead of kind of filling (if that makes sense)... she nipped a hole in it..

Hi! Well it depends on how quickly you want it done...All 3 of my daughters had pacifiers and because of pressure from everyone, I took my oldest daughter's away "Cold Turkey." She cried off and on for about a week, I don't remember it being tramatic and she was about 3.

My middle daughter was a little younger, 2 maybe and she could only have her pacifier when she was laying down in bed. I was really strict with that rule and didn't bend. So even during the day when it wasn't nap time if she asked for it I reminded her she had to go lay in bed. Well, needless to say, that got old quick for her because what 2 year old wants to lay in bed all day. So she slowly stopped asking for it and finally we got rid of them.....less tramatic than the cold turkey method.

I hope that helps!

We cut off the tip. My son was not able to suck on it the way he used to. He still held on to it for awhile, but it just didn't soothe him anymore. We substituted a burp cloth to hold on to. This gave him comfort and the pacifer was history.

We took my son's pacifier when he was about 2 1/2. We waited much longer than we planned to because we were so sure it was going to be a horrible experience, then it turned out to be no big deal and we wished we had done it sooner! We started by limiting to only in his crib, then to only at night time, then we took it away altogether. The first night he fussed for awhile, but the second night was better and the third hardly at all and then we were done for good! We explained to him that the dentist told us we couldn't let him have it, because it was bad for his teeth and that carried more weight than us just saying the same thing. Feel free to send back questions and good luck!