Breaking from a Pacifier

We went the BB Fairy route. It worked. I felt awful at first. I cried cause I felt like I was taking away her best friend. She got over it after like 2 nights. It worked well actually.

My friend cut her daughter's down little by little until there was nothing left.

Best of luck!

I don't have any advice here, since we haven't had to address this issue yet (but we will soon) so I just wanted to share my feelings about it...as I was reading all these posts, I got kind of sad! It seems silly, I know, but it's one more symbol that my daughter's growing older, getting bigger. Time goes so fast! I know when she gives up the binky I'm going to miss her little Maggie Simpson look. :) Please let us know what advice worked best for you! Good luck!

Hi Azaila,

I had the same problem not too long ago. My daughter loved her pcifier and at first needed it only at naptime and bedtime, until she had really bad ear infections, then she needed the pacifier as a soother. My daughter was one that would always loose hers somewhere in the house, of course we had many more, in case we wouldn't be able to find one of them, til the day where all of them were gone (it wasn't just something that I said to her), but I kept reminding her that I haven't found it yet and that I am still looking. It took a few days but she got used to the fact that she didn't have a paci and didn't ask for it anymore. This is how we got rid of the pacifier.

I also heard a lot of people saying that they tied the pacifiers to lots of balloons and send them off. Other "send" the pacifiers away to other kids that don't have any ;). Or as you mentioned leave it for the binky fairy. Which ever way you're going to do, best of luck, and stick to it, don't give in, and you'll have a paci-free baby girl, sooner than you think. Let me know how things are going for you.

Trisha

A.,
My son was about your daughter's age when we decided it was time to give up his paci. We too did the only nap and bed time routine. One day, I cut the tips off his pacis. Just a little off the top. Then when he found them, where ever they were in his crib, he chose not suck it (cuz it still worked, just not very well.). So, it was his decision (kind of), but he still had the paci to hold on to for comfort...which he did for a couple of nights and then he totally gave it up.
Hope that helps. :)
M.

My son didn't rely on it, but was used to having it. I was like you...ready for it to disappear. He was always sharing things, and one day we were at the grocery store, in line. He had asked for a new sippy cup and the clerk asked if he was going to exchange that for this new cup. I winked at her and nodded ok. He looked at me, and handed it to her. His lip was saying cry, but the wonderful clerk was carrying on about how good a shopper he was and how he would love that new cup. He never missed it! While you may not create this exact situation, I'm sure you can encourage her to exchange it for something she wants. They may be little but they know what they want.

I wish you all the best!
BJ

Hi A.,

I disagree with the use of "fairies" coming to take away pacifiers. To a child, if the fairy can take it away, they can also bring it back! If the pacifier is "broken," however, then they don't come back.

We started off by only allowing pacifiers at naptime and bedtime, then we cut it down to bedtime only. Then, just before his 2nd birthday, I cut the ends off all of my son's pacifiers and placed them around the house where he would normally find them. When he found a "broken binky," I would sympathize offer comfort that it was broken (WITHOUT offering to buy a new one), and encourage him to throw it in the trashcan. It took about 10 days for him to "find" and throw away all of his pacifiers (we had a lot of them!), but he was fine with the whole thing and knew that they weren't coming back.

Hope this helps. Good luck to you.

When we weaned our boys from their pacifiers, we used scissors to snip the very tip off the pacifier one day, a day or two later we snipped another bit off, etc. After doing it about 3 or 4 times (the pacifier was cut off to about the halfway point)they wanted nothing to do with it since it breaks the suction. You don't have to take it away cold turkey, but the pacifier doesn't work like it used to. We tried other methods before this and this one worked like a charm. Our boys were weaned in less than a week and it was far easier than we ever expected. Good luck!

Hi A.,

Something that worked for my sister and I are to tell the kids that the zoo needs them. I told my daughte rthat the baby monkeys at the zoo needed them. I warmed ehr up to the idea, so it was not immediately taken away. My sister did the same thing, and our kids loved thier pacifiers too. Good luck!

J.

Our son loved his as well. He got a cold and without even thinking, it just happened all by itself. He couldn't breathe through his nose, so he couldn't suck on it. By the time the cold was over, he never missed them at all. Not that I wish a cold on any baby/child, but if they happen upon one, making the binkies disappear during this time when they won't be missed worked for us. . .

Hi,
I don't know if your daughter will understand this at 20 months old, but over the weekend I heard a great idea about breaking a child from a pacifier. The people I know put the pacifer in a bucket and hung it from a tree in the back yard and told thier child the pacifier fairy was going to come. After their child went to sleep they went outside and put some presents in the bucket and when she woke in the morning she couldn't wait to see what the fairy left her.
Another option, which is what we did with our daughter (but she is 3) was to start snipping the nipple part of the pacifer little by little every day. Once the pacifier had a hole in it she stuck it on her finger and eventually lost all interest in it. When there is a hole it loses it's sucking sensation and kids really aren't interest after that.
Hope this helps a little.
Good Luck,
K.

Hi A.,
What I did to get my son to stop taking the pacifer was this.... I got a helium filled balloon, tied the pacifer to the end of it, took my son outside and told him we was sending his pacifer to a new baby that didnt have one. We had him hold the balloon and when he was ready he let go, he waved bye bye to it and never asked for it again.. (Please be sure no trees are around as the first time it got stuck and we had to climb the tree to retrieve it,lol)
L.

I babysit for a friend of mine, of course she had the hard part being mommy and my part was easier. She just basically did the same thing as she did with the bottle. Just took it away. Alot of people suggest substituting it with a stuffed animal, a blankie or something and some people will cut the nipple off so the child can't suck on it anymore. It wasn't hard. I believe her child was 14 months and also had it only for naps and bedtime. If you don't have them around eventually they will quit asking. I think it took 2 days, they weren't dreadful days either, just a little fussy. If you take it away, do not bring it back out, you will never get rid of it. Just today I saw a child that was about 3 yrs old walking around a store with a binki in her mouth, talking while it is still in her mouth and the mom and gramma were talking about how cute it was, Personally, I think it is gross.
Good Luck!!!!!

I have had a lot of friends go through this and most have suggested that they create a new lovey..... for instance, one of my friends went to build a bear and had the binky put into the bear, that way her daughter still had that comfort of having it. Another friend of mine said there was a great land of "Binkies" and it was where all the binkies go when children grow up. She glorified it a bunch and really built it up to be a magical land. Then she and her daughter put together all her binkies and shipped it off to "Binkie land". They seemed to work for them. My son was pretty easy and we just slowly eased it out of his routine (which sounds like what you have started).

Good luck!

My first son was about the same age when we wanted to take his binki. One day, the dog got it and bit a whole in it. I sterilized it, but when my son put it in his mouth he said it was broken. I told him that if it's broken we have to throw it away. He threw it away and that was the end. He asked about it once or twice and I reminded him. He hasn't had one since. I have also heard of people deliberatly cutting it. They start at the very top and take off a small amount and continue to cut until the child can't use it anymore. Maybe if you use a combination of the two ideas, it would work? Good luck!!

There are several ways of doing it. Alot depends on her personality and understanding. Do you think that she would be willing to trade it in for a new stuffed animal or small toy? That's one way to go. You can try the "bobo fairy" thing if you think she will understand, she may be a little young to understand that. It might help her understand if you know someone else with a baby, especially one that takes a similar pacifier, that the babies need them now. You can just go cold turkey - she'll probably take several days to get used to it, we just went through this with my niece, whom I take care of, the first day she cried a little and then finally fell asleep, but within 2-3 days she didn't even remember it. We give her a small cup of water so she has something to suck on and we haven't had much trouble. But once you tell her it's gone, don't get it back out no matter how desperate you get or you may never get rid of it. Try doing nap time first and if she does that okay then try bedtime.

Good luck!

I wouldn't just take it from her. I would talk to her about being a "big girl" and not using it anymore. Does she have a "lovey" like a favorite blanket or stuffed animal? Maybe you can get her one and "replace" her pacifier with it. A big part of the pacifier at nap and bedtime is that is soothes them to sleep. So you will have to teach your little one how to soothe themselves in a different way. Both of my girls had blankets that were for nap time and bedtime. The blankets had some ribbon trim on them that the would repetively rub to soothe themselves. They are 6 and 8 now and still sleep with them but they no longer "have to". They don't take them to sleep overs or anything. Just if they are at home they will. Hope that helped!
T.

Hi,
I had my daughter (now 5yrs. old) down to just nap & bedtime at about this age also. I too wanted her off the paci by 2 yrs. I got the suggestion to let her "buy" a new toy with her pacis. We went to the store & she picked out a new toy & when we got up to the register, I explained to the cashier that we were "buying" her new toy with her pacis. & wispered to her just to throw them away. I had them all in a ziplock baggie. I allowed my daughter to pay & then i paid for the total. We made a big deal about her new toy & what a big girl she was. I don't know if it will work for your daughter, but it's wortha try. I was also told by a parent at a day care I used to work at that they had thier daughter leave her pacis out for the baby birds, because she was a big girl now & the baby birds needed the pacis, while mommy bird had to leave the nest to look for food. They left them out on a table & dad or mom went out after thier daughter was good an asleep & threw them away. When she woke the next morning she was very happy to see that she was helpng the baby birds & that the mommy bird had taken her old pacis. i hope these help. God Luck! It's a hard milestone to overcome sometimes.

H.