12 Month Old Addicted to Paci!!!!

How funny! You said he has 7 or 8 pacis in his crib? Who's in control? You are! If he has that many in his bed I imagine they are everywhere in the house also....why wouldn't he draw the conclusion that he SHOULD have one in his mouth? and also in both hands? He lives in pacifier land!! What else would he do with them? Get rid of them all but 1 or maybe 2. That way if he really wants it there is one, otherwise, out of sight, out of mind. You'll be amazed at how he does other things. I'm guessing that you prefer to have him chew on one than to listen to him yelling or crying. But you're also missing out on the cute babbling and almost talking they do at this age, so fun! Just give it to him on occassion and he'll stop wanting them. Good Luck!

My kiddos were never paci kids for long and my third baby @ almost 4 mos has seemed to found his fingers. ;o) That'll be a whole other challenge. That being said, I have had friends successfully use Build-A-Bear or such where you can make an animal and exchange one comfort (the paci) for another (the bear). The child/parent go to B-A-B and make a bear and when you put the heart inside, they also put the paci in there... the paci was still around and the kids have been happy that they are in there and have another lovey to keep with them. Now 12 mos might be too little to get the idea, but you could do it at about 18 months when there is more ability to comprehend where the paci is. Good luck!

I have known friends who just started cutting small pieces off of the pacifier nipple, until the child threw it away themselves.

Reduce by one pacifier each night, the number in his crib.

It is a good idea to break this habit.

My older son loved his paci too and gave it up when he was about 2, I think. We gradually started limiting when/where he was allowed to use it and eventually weaned him off of it.

My first thought when I read your post, though, was "don't sweat the small stuff." You see, James is no longer with us (at least not physically). He died three years ago when he was 8. My real advice to all the moms is don't borrow trouble and don't worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. Just enjoy the precious gift that is today.

Love and Peace,

M.

I can totally identify with you! My third boy is addicted to multiple binkies. I wrote about it about a year ago here: http://www.junecleavernirvana.com/2007/11/be-careful-what...

and then updated it here: http://www.junecleavernirvana.com/2008/10/notice-of-potlu...

and then here: http://www.junecleavernirvana.com/2008/10/must-see-rhettt...

and again here: http://www.junecleavernirvana.com/2008/10/at-least-it-was...

I hope this will give you a laugh and know that you are not alone in the world! Rhett turned three this last week. I decided about a year ago that I would not buy any more pacifiers or work hard at keeping track of the ones we have. He is down to one that he thinks "works" and often misplaces it. I leave it up to him to find it. He only uses it in his bed and occasionally in the car for longer trips.

It is a big pain, but they are little for so short of a time, I am not stressing out about it!

Good luck!

My daughter was the same way. I started removing one a night from her bed. After that, I started with the "only paci's in bed". She would sit in bed with her paci for a little while. I would play in her floor. After a little while she would want to get out and play. She is now 2 1/2 and still sleeps with her paci (only at home though). The sitter and my mom have broke her from it at their house with no problem. I still tell her every morning to leave her paci in her bed. It will be a struggle. Good luck!!

At his age, the pacifier is filling a need that he has, and taking it away will only make him more needy, not less. It would be biologically normal for him to still be nursing at his age, so the pacifier is just substituting for the non-nutritive sucking that he is missing. I agree with those who say give him another year, even two. When he is a bit older, you can cut down on his paci time to just naps and night time, or just in his room, or whatever seems reasonable to you. And 7 or 8 is probably too many!

Hi Kristen. I just wanted to tell you that your son sounds EXACTLY like mine! Totally addicted to his binky still and he is 2 yrs and 4 months. We have talked about it going away, I bought a book to help him see that he is a big boy and doesn't need it and we've even talked about him giving them to his new baby sister due in Jan. So far nothing has worked. I really hope you are able to break your son of it soon because the longer it goes the harder it gets. Good luck!!

Hes only one... I would not worry about breaking day time paci until around 2... then let him have it at day time and you can get a Chewy tube (I prefer the yellow or red one for paci transitions) to help ease the chewing mouthing desire during the day at let him have paci at night until age 4 ish then if still needed at night you can use the chewy tube at night... if you break the paci habit to early before they are ready they will just turn to their thumbs and that is a harder habit to break and does more damage to the teeth...

you can find chewy tubes on Ebay just do a search for Chewy Tubes...

Good luck
A. J
mom to 3 boys ages 5.5, 4 and 2

LOL~My son had his till he was three!!! I wouldn't worry about it yet. Its a source of comfort for your baby. The paci-fairy came and got my sons right after his third b-day and,really,the first night was a little tough but after that he was fine! I think at age one,he isn't gonna understand why you are taking away his beloved paci. At three you can explain to them why the paci fairy is coming to get them!(the fairy was taking them to babies who didn't have any!!) It worked for us!

Hi there Kristen! One of my kids had a huge need for a paci as well...I decided that I wanted to break her of it at age one as well...not b/c I was insensitive...I just thought that maybe it would become more difficult as she got older...anyhow, I just cut the tops off...she thought it was humorous...she would stick her finger through the hole and try sucking on that, but, found no pleasure in that and was over the paci after about a week...REMEMBER to cut ALL of the tops off or else he may find one and go right back!! At one, my little girl was at the cute uh-oh phase...we could put our hands in the air and say "oh no? uh-oh where did it go??" and she would do the same...we would even laugh along w/her and say "look at your silly pacifier where did the top go??"

Don't worry or rush. He is only 1. There is no need to even think about it until he his closer to 2. If you must start the process then don't offer it to him or clip it to him. take it when ever he is distracted and then don't offer it back until he is needing it. We just saw our dentist and he even said not to worry about it until at least 2.

Mine is the same way and she is 18 months and all of my kids have been so I have been through this twice and I have the same method with both 19 months I start giving it to her only at bedtime and naptime then after she gets used to that I take it away at naptime and once again when she gets used to that take it away at bedtime. When my oldest daughter woke up she would automatically give me her pacifer to put up until it was time to give it back. But when you are ready to take it make sure you find every single one in the house and throw them away!!! Don't keep anything that away you won't have the urge to give it back the first few days might be rough but they actually get over pretty quick kind of like out of site out of mind. Good luck!

I would start limiting how many are around him until he is used to just having one. It sounds like he is also using them as play toys. If you can replace with a couple of soft safe toys that are O.K. to leave in the crib maybe that would help. At this age I would assume he is teething. Try to find some teething toys he likes and keep them close. I watched a friends baby teething on the back of the paci. Too cute! Just do your best to wean him and give him other interests to play with and chew. You have time. As a few Moms stated below up to 18 month or even 2 is O.K. My son was 2.

It is actually easier to get rid of the paci, there is just more options. They say about 2 years old is the time to get rid of it, so you have some time. My son loved his as well, but we told him the pacifier fairy came and took them all away and left a big boy toy for him. If that does not work you can always cut a big hole in it and it is not fun to suck on.

My little girl on the other hand wanted nothing to do with a paci, she sucked on two of her fingers. Well, she is 4 years old and we have taped her fingers now for the last year on and off, still sucks on her fingers. We have tried rewards, reinforcments, punishments, etc.... Nothing works, so I figure eventually it will work itself out.

Kristen,

As a mom of 6 children, 3 of my babies had them and 3 did not. I let them keep them until age 3. They are a source of comfort for them. If they make him happy so what if he has a few or just one. My friend was told by her dentist(she has 5 children and her last still has her paci,she is almost 3) that they have a need to suck until about age 4.
My daughter just turned 3 and she gave it up just fine. If you take it away too soon, they will just put other things in their mouths and nap and bedtime will be much harder.

So stop worrying that he will never give it up because he will, and let him keep it as long as you feel comfortable. Don't let pressure from other people or what others might think of you get in the way. He is only little for so long and it goes by so fast. A paci is the least of your worries.
Good luck. Trust your instincts. Your doing a great job.
E.

Most pedi's don't care if they have a paci until 18 months. I wouldn't just take away a paci from such a little guy. I would slowly transition to having paci for sleep time only over the next few months, but I would do it by using distraction instead of force. Force only makes kids want things more. He is really too young to understand why he can't have it constantly. My 17 month old didn't use a paci until 12 months. Then he found one and decided he liked it and now he walks around with one all the time, but I don't really care at this point. I'm much more laid back with him than I was with my first. My first had a paci from birth until 3 when we "accidently" left paci at Mimi's house in another town. Fortunately, the next weekend when we went back, the paci fairy had stopped by to pick up his pacis and left him a very nice gift in return. He was old enough to accept this and liked the gift, so it was no problem. He has seen the dentist twice and has perfect teeth. My opinion is to leave it alone for now and just try to cut back the time he has it. Giving up a comfort object is tough and to have it taken by force is cruel, in my opinion. Good luck!!

Check the drug stores...dont remember the name of it, but you put it on the pacifier and it is a bitter taste....very safe....ask the pharmacist.....

don't worry about the pacifier at one. My daughter had it until 18 months. it was pretty easy at that age b/c she was pretty much done teething except for her 2 year molers. also, she was more mature. i would just limit paci time to nap time or bedtime; or emergency situations. when my daughter was 18 months i decided to see if she would ask for it one evening and she did not. so i did not give it to her at bedtime. then i just packed them away for our newborn that was coming in one week! Anyway, I would just limit it to when your child is going to sleep then it won't affect her speech.

I feel your concern. My son will be 2 in Jan. & has the same affection for his "nuk nuk" that your son has!! I have considered taking it from him, but I know how much it comforts him. I would rather him be content & happy than a cranky butt all day. Look at it this way....what does it really hurt for him to have it? Just because others may tell you that you need to get rid of it doesn't mean they are right. Others don't live in your household & go through your routine everyday. If it doesn't bother you for him to have, don't take it from him. There is NO magic age for taking away pacifiers, bottles, starting potty training & the like. Do what works best for you and your child & family!!! Happy Holidays!

Cut the pacifiers and tell her that they are broken and she has to throw them away. Find another comfort item for her, like a stuffed animal or a blanket. She is just using them as comfort, so replace them with something more feasable. I broke my son of the paci, by like I said cutting them. It was rough for about 2-3 nights, we replaced going to bed with a paci with a puppy and a blanket. He cried about it, but if they were gone there was nothing I or he could do. I had to destroy them or I would have given in and let him have one. It's sometimes harder on the parents than it is on the kids.
Good Luck!

I do agree with most moms..he is so young right now...but i had a 5 yr old that STILL did not want to give it up. He finally did but it was sad and hard for him!!! 2 days after his 5th bday!!!
My only advice would be to start limiting it during the NON sleep times. you can do this slowly being he is still so little. by the time he is 18-24 months i would really make sure you start making a transition to no paci.
Also talk to him now about it being a temporary thing and when he gets bigger he won't need it anymore...HOW COOL IS THAT!! My son had no lasting bad things happen from using his paci so long his speech was fine..he is a happy healthy lil man with no attachment issues. but it was still hard giving his "duddy"/paci up at such a late age.
Good luck to you ..i sure wish i would have started thinking about this when my son was that age!!
~B.
mom to Kate 14 and Blake 7

You don't HAVE to take away him pacis's. I let my girls have them till they were 3 to 3 1/2. I think cold turkey was best at that age. They were only taking them at night and nap times.

We started working on only letting them habe them at night time, nap time, trips in the car. I stopped buying them and told them that they had to find them when they get lost. I helped them at first, then when they got the idea, they started looking for them. It really didn't take long for them to get down to about 2 or 3 each. In the end I ended up taking the pacis and cutting off half the nipple and blamed it on the dog. (I know.. I know...) At that age they did understand that the dogs chewed things up. I sat with them in their bed and they tried to fix them. They ask if I would go buy a new one, and I said that I wasn't allowed to buy anymore pacis for them, cause they were to old to have them. It only took acouple of days for them to get past it.

I hope my store helps..I think one is too young to be taking away his comfort thing. I'd just start taking away or "lossing" one every once in awhile. It's all a slow process as to not have them go into shock about it.

It's a little early to get rid of it as it is a security to him. I had a son that used them and when I felt it was time to loose "binky", they were not replaced when they wore out. So slowly they disappeared. One day he was crying in his room in the crib and I went and checked on him and he was pointing to the nipple portion that had fallen off of the paci. I told him "Binky all gone." It took a couple of nights but he got the picture that there would be no more and he was about 28 months. He will be all right no damage to teeth or such. Have a happy holiday. The other S.

hi Kristen
i have two differant things to say!!! I was told that its ok still for them to suck on the paci b/c its still a good "soothing" method for them. I too wanted to break my son of it and am in the process of it. I started by asking him to let me have it....like when he woke up and had it in his mouth, then i just slowly have been saying..."big boys don't need the paci" and have taken out a few of the paci's in his bed b/c i also had several in his bed for him to get to if he woke in the middle of the night and needed one to sooth himself back to sleep. So, thats where i am now, he's 19 months old (but was 2 months preemie) my goal is by 2 for it to be gone! :) He doesn't have it during the day at all and only at nap/bed times. I think i'm going to try to break him of it at nap time first and then slowly progress to bed times. I have heard other parents just throw them out all together but my child does best with easing into things! Its always your call so good luck and let me know how it goes for you...i'm pretty nervous myself about it!
S.

i wouldn't worry about it though at times it's so frustrating. my dd was ADDICTED to hers until she turned three. luckily right before her birthday my cousin had a baby girl so i told my daughter the bink fairy was coming to take them to the new baby. i was expecting a complete breakdown (from the both of us :)) but she asked twice in the following week and that was it, never cried about it or anything. now if only we could break the blankie habit :)

it's so nice being bink free but for now, don't sweat it.

My daughter Madi loved her binky and would have it all the time with her. She would find them all over the place and I think I bought anywhere between 50-100 binkys from age 0-24months. Everywhere she went she had one in her hand and of course would hide them when I was trying to wean her. I went through the whole taking them away and only at nap time. Then taking them away and going cold turkey. Man was that a bad idea. The tantrums started and they were BIG. At 2 years old she loved to feed the ducks so my husband and I told her the ducks to her quack quacks needed a binky. She loved the quack quacks so much she gave them all her binkys. After that we never had to buy binkys and she never asked for it back. Good luck! Hope everything goes well and Merry Christmas. You will get through it. Just be creative and you may try to wait until they are closer to 18-24months.

My humble opinion is not to worry about it. I have three children who all used pacifiers until age three, and not a single one had trouble giving it up at that time, nor did they have any speech problems.

My oldest one needed it the most, and I laughed at the memory of multiple pacifiers in the bed, so that he wouldn't wake US up when he couldn't find one during the night! As he approached his third birthday, we started telling him that when he was three, he wouldn't need it anymore. Then, I reminded him of this at bedtime during the couple of weeks before his birthday. Sure enough, he didn't even ask for it the night of his third birthday, and never asked for it ever again! (I'd been prepared for a struggle.) The other two gradually stopped using it as much, and we pulled the same line of "You won't need it when you're three", and they each gave it up on their own shortly before their third birthdays.

I say let him have the paci. My son's pediatrician and dentist both said he didn't have to give it up until age 3. At about 26 months, he just gave it up. He went from having a paci pretty much all the time to not at all. I was worried about him getting to sleep without it, but it's been very easy. The only thing I can think of that I did was to stop letting him put his paci in my mouth. When he was littler, we did that as play. When I started telling him I didn't want the paci, he lost interest in it pretty quickly. It's been about 2 months now, and he's been paci free. I know not all kids give it up so easily, and I had planned on introducing the paci fairy closer to age 3.

For me, one year old would be time to cut the paci out of the picture. But even if your are OK with him having it longer, you may want to start reining in some control. You are obviously not going to cure it overnight so I think it is wise to start changing things up a bit now. There are lots of good suggestions below. I like the idea of cutting the tops off and I also think the poster who made the point that you are allowing this child to be in control by even owning so many made an awesome point. The bitter taste is a great idea but you need to have a manageable number of pacifiers to do it…. Like two perhaps.

And in the end, if the suggestions below do not work, you may find one day that the only solution is to simply throw them all away.

What has worked for two of mmy kids, and I plan on doing the same for my third...is I cut a little off of each nipple each day. I then give them all back to the child. Dont let them see you do it. Tell them uh oh its breaking. You do it everyday until the whole nipple is gone. When you give it to the child and they see that it isnt working, they will give it up. You may have a screamer on your hands, but you need to stand your ground and not give in and buy him another one. My almost 2 yr old only sleeps with hers. She has one in the mouth and one for each hand. I will be doing the same method on her. Good Luck!

I had to giggle when I read this b/c my kids were addicted to their paci's too! First, I wouldn't worry, neither of mine went to kindergarden with them, and actually, they both stopped by age 3. Maybe that seems old to you, but with #1, my daughter, she was almost 2 when my son came, so I didn't try to take it then, and by 3, she gave it up. We did have a rule about only having it at night and bed time and she was great about it. Around 1 is a good time to start enforcing that rule. When you get your son out of bed, just say "put your paci in your bed for later!" and then help him throw it in the bed. My daughter was great about leaving it in her bed, and if she wanted it and it wasn't nap/bed time, she would sit in her bed with it and then let me know when she was ready to get out and leave the paci again. With my son, my hubby was overseas with the military, so I didn't try to take his away until he was almost 3 as well. I also had the "only in the bed" rule, but he was bad about it! He would go to his room, get one, and when I would say "go put that in your bed" he would just throw it anywhere! He was famous for having 1 in his mouth and one and each hand as well! He eventually lost all of his and that's how he stopped right before he turned 3. One night, we just couldn't find it. I said "well, if you don't leave them in your bed, this is what happens." He barely even cried that night - to my amazement! My baby (now 10 months) won't even take one and I try to make him take one! So, anyway, I hope this is encouraging to you. Just enforce the "only in bed" rule and start now and he'll learn. When you are ready to get rid of it, there are several tricks - give it to a new baby, have the paci fairy come get it and replace it with a new toy, tie it to a balloon and send it off that way, or cut a bit of the tip off bit by bit so it's "broken" and the kid doesn't want it anyway. On a side note, I always had an emergency paci in my purse, my daughter didn't seem to put it together, but my son absolutely knew it was there and would cry and cry and point to my purse if he needed it while we were out! Each kid is different, but he is a kid and you are the adult. You said the rules you want, but you have to be the one to enforce them, even if it's unpleasant for a bit!