This Darn pacifier!!!!!HELP!

If it's not around, she'll look for it then if she can't find it will soothe herself with her hand or something else. It's the same with a bottle or anything. They adapt pretty quickly, really. Don't feel badly it's not like you're witholding food or something vital, she will live and even thrive.

We waited until my son was almost 2 before we took his binky away. That was dumb on our part. He was REALLY attached to it. We decided to pull it cold turkey and it seemed to work just fine. The first 3 days were tough, but he was pretty much fine after that. You can try to give her something else as a "lovey" to try to take her mind off of it, like a stuffed animal or a blanket or something. Our son had some trouble sleeping at his nap time for the first couple days, and he wouldn't sleep as long as he usually did. But gradually over the next 2 weeks, he went back to normal. He stopped asking for it and we have never had a problem since. I would do it sooner than later, because they will just get even more attached to it. It usually takes 3 days to get used to a new routine, so you may want to start on a weekend and then have the third day at daycare if you can. Hope this helps.

My son just turned 3 and we had his pacifiers get "lost". The whole family "searched" but could not find them. This started last Thursday. He is still unhappy at nap time and bedtime, but it is getting slightly better. He had one fav one, that I cut. When he saw it he said it was broken and threw it away himself...then amazingly we could not find anymore in the house :) He tells everyone we see about it.
If you are serious about taking it away now, I agree you have to do it cold turkey. It will be harder for you if you don't!You will be the one giving in when the tantrum starts! One other suggestion is to use the things that hook the pacifier to their shirt. My youngest used it for a long time. It worked great in the car and he even used it when sleeping. As long as you hook it in the right spot, it is too short of a ribbon to cause any worry.
Good Luck

J.
Mom of 5 boys

Let her have her pacifier, for goodness sake.

We got rid of my daughter's paci when she was around 15 months, I think. We started just giving it to her when she slept and it was a rough week or so during naps and nighttime. Then she got used to it. After that we pack all of them away and didn't give them to her. Again it was a rough couple of weeks, but she eventually got it. I know it is hard, especially if you are working full time, you end up feeling bad because she wants is so much and it is just easier to give it to her, but you have to stick to your guns. She'll get it eventually!

Get rid of it. Don't even keep any in back up just in case. Literally gather them all up and throw them away.

I think you're overanalyzing this and making too many excuses (she might be teething, she *needs* something to calm herself, she's cranky) for her. Seriously, throw them away - out of sight, out of mind.

I would just go cold turkey on this one. It will take her about 2 days to figure it out and then she'll be fine. If you want to do it more gradually, have the daycare people take her out of her crib (and away from the paci) as soon as she wakes up. Does she have a "lovey" or similar she likes to snuggle with?

My daughter briefly went through this but now if I try and shush her in the middle of the night with a paci she chucks it at me :-o I decided that was my cue to take it away from her.

WOW-- it always seems like this question gets the most strong responses on this board. First off Mom---STOP feeling guilty for "creating a mess". Those Mom who dole out the guilt about pacifiers tick me off--- you did what was right for your child and you have no reason to be beating yourself up. Every kid is different in his/her need for oral comfort. Our older daughter literally threw her paci away herself at 7 months (and would pull other kids out of their mouth if they had one). Whereas our younger kid was, and still is at age 6, a very oral child. She needed that pacifier and her blankie to comfort herself. She actually would put the paci in her mouth and wrap a little piece of her blankie between the paci and her nose. We started slowly helping her to wean herself probably about age 3. It was a LONG process. The losing paci didn't work nor did the "paci fairy". We started with just allowing it during movie night at home, at naps, nighttime, and during car rides. Eventually we got rid of the movie night, then car ride allowance. (BTW-- we didn't have her use it in public from about 2 or 2 1/2 unless she seemed really tired, upset or seemed to really need it) What finally did it was a trip to the dentist at age 3 1/2 or 4 where he told her she had to stop. She ended that night---funny she was mostly concerned that without the paci she couldn't figure out how to keep her blankie next to her nose. (BTW-- her teeth moved into a perfect smile in about 6 months completely on their own).
I suggest you enlist the help of the daycare in talking to her. Tell her in the big kid room she can't have it because they do so much fun stuff it gets in the way---also try the old "you are so busy it might get lost" line. Promise her she can have it on the way to and from daycare. If they let her have it during naps make sure she knows that, but explain she has to get up when nap time is over. Ask the daycare for suggestions---this isn't the first time they've had this problem. It helped us to have her teacher with us so she could explain their policy and promise her the will help her. Also, don't encourage the thumb---that's an even harder thing to break and you can't take it away. Whatever you do, please use compassion--this is a really tough transition for your child. Just imagine how hard it would be for you if someone took away something that you use for comfort or rely on everyday to get you through the day...and she's just a little kid. If your kid is truly an oral kid keep an eye on her---ours would and still does jam stuff in her mouth. We've had to force her to spit out Polly Pocket doll heads, caps off of markers, tape, her shirt--- you name it.
Good luck Mom---stop knocking yourself and consider this major milestone for you and your daughter.

I made my daughter go cold turkey at 2 and she was a nightmare for a full year...until one day she found one of her old binkys and started sneaking it around. Now I don't even make her hide it and she's a much more likable child. So yes...it can last a long time. Are you really that attached to your day care?