Ditching the Paci After 3-1/2 Yrs

My friend swears by bye bye binky.com and I am going to try it in a week or so! It worked for her in three days!

Save yourself the sleepless nights and let her decide to give it up on her own. Worked for our family. No sleepless nights, and a much happier kid who decided to give his binkies up to Baby Kelcie because she needed them more than he did. (His decision, not a story that we tried to get him to buy into.) No kid graduates from high school with a binky in their mouth. Why create unecessary stress in your house?

Do it all at once! Don't give in. We tried the whole clip the end thing and that was just torturing ourselves a little each day. We finally just decided it was time and used the "fairy" as well. She would ask but that was it. I think it was harder for us to decide it was time than it was harder on her to let go. Just remember that she is a BIG girl now. And having a paci at this age actually changes the structure of her jaw. Keep the long term affects in the fore front of your mind and it will make things easier! Good Luck!!!

My son was VERY attached to his paci, but used it like 24 hours a day.
One day, we told him he's a big boy, and Santa needed it to help other kids. Then, we along with him, went throughout the whole house and collected his paci's and put them in a bag. (we still have them in a bag, for sentimental reason but he does not know). Then that was it.
He asked for it for about 2 days... and that was it. He actually adjusted super well and didn't even tantrum or get upset or have any angst. AND he still slept fine, although I co-slept with him until he seemed fine.

For me, the "paci FAIRY" doesn't really appeal to all kids... for my son, if I told him a 'fairy' needed it... it wouldn't make an impact on him. Thus, we used "Santa" as our rationale. AND, this way, our son related to it more and understood.

We ditched the paci when my son was about 2 to close to 3 years old.

All the best,
Susan

Check this out - it's a really neat way to bring the Paci Fairy to life and make her very "real" to your daughter:
http://oc.citymommy.com/?q=node/1398

I'm going to need this soon, too. My 2.5 year old still looooooves his paci at bedtime.

My son was 4 and daughter was 2 when we ditched the paci. They just happened to go to their checkup with the pediatrician and he told them both that they needed to be done with the paci. When we got home, all paci's were gone. I told them that their pediatrician had come and collected all of them cuz they were old enough and dr. gave them to all the new babies being born. there was never a tear or a sleepless night. I guess the kids were ok since other babies were going to be helped by their paci's. And they were REALLY attached cuz I didnt just use regular paci, they had musical ones that played music when they sucked.

I did the same thing and believe it or not, it went a lot smoother than I ever imagined. Make sure the paci fairy leaves her a present in return and what worked for me is having my daughter tell other family members about the fairy coming while she was asleep. She teared up a few times talking about it but for the most part she felt like a big girl with all the positive feedback she got. The sleepless nights were about 4 nights straight and then a few here and there but then POOF no more asking!! Just cuddle her and remind her that she is a big girl now and the fairy wouldn't have come if she didn't think it was time. I told my daughter that other babies needed the pacifier more than she did. You will be surprised and wonder why you didn't try it earlier, I know I was.....good luck!!

Hi T., I had a daughter that had her binki for a long time. Lot of things surronding the reasons why. When she turned 4 I mad a big deal about being a big girl and we had a party and threw it away. She did it at the party and a part of going from a baby to being a big girl. Never looked back. I hope with all of the suggestions you find what works for you and your daughter. Make it a fun time and don't stress. She'll feel it. Be blessed.

We did the binky fairy and it worked like a charm. My daughter had that thing in her mouth 24/7 and her front teeth were starting to stick out a bit (at two) and that's when we knew it had to go.

I made a beautiful letter from the fairy, explaining that a new baby needed the binkies and that my daughter was no longer a baby. The letter asked that my daughter and mommy box the binkies up (we had MANY!) and put them in the mail box in two days and send them off.

Over the next two days, I wondered aloud what the new baby was like that needed the binkies, etc. Just getting my daughter prepared.

When the day came, we solemnly and carefully packaged them up and put them in the mail box. I was expecting at least a week of difficulty from my daughter because she relied heavily on those binkies, including at night. But she accepted it like a champ. First night was a teeny bit rough, but not bad. (Oh, I also came home with a treasure chest of new dress-up clothes for my daughter and she was so caught up in those that it took her mind off the lack of binkies :)

Two days later, a letter from the binkie fairy arrived with a beautiful photo of the newborn baby who received the binkies. The letter included the baby's name, etc. (My co-worker had just given birth and sent out emailed photos; it worked great). My daughter kept the photo of the baby and carried it around for awhile and we talked about how much she must be enjoying those binkies :)

Good luck!!

I floated my sons away on a balloon (to the land of the baby knomes because big boys don't need binks!) We also made cupcakes and had a "big boy" party (me and him in the kitchen with sprinkles and frosting everywhere). I thought it was going to be bad but he asked for it twice the first day and once for the next two days and that was it. No crying, no fits, went to sleep fine (he also had a silky blanket so I think that helped) Just bite the bullet it probably won't be as bas as you think!

I haven't done it yet, but my 2yr old always sleeps with her paci too. Maybe if you "forget" to put it in bed and then can't find it at bedtime--and keep her especially busy during the day so she'll be too tired to argue? I did this on accident yesterday and she never seemed to notice it gone.

T.,

For me what worked was cutting the tip of the paci a little bit...each day cutting it more until my daughter wasnt interested anymore.

It is a very hard habit to break but the longer you wait the worse...so start now and after a few days you girls will be fine!

When we decided to give up the paci, we started off with only allowing our daughter to have it at bedtime (at the time, she was almost 2). Then eventually, we cut slits/holes in all the pacifiers. I gave the paci to her a couple hours before bedtime so she would realize that it was "broken" before bedtime. She took it, sucked and pulled it out to inspect to see what was wrong. I asked her, "What's the matter?" and she had the look of "What's going on?". I asked her "Is paci broken?" and she said, "yes, paci broke". I still allowed her to hold the pacifier while she was sleeping (because she liked to have one paci in her mouth, one in her hand while she slept). the first night was ok, until she woke up in the middle of the night wanting her pacifier and she cried for a few minutes while I comforted her back to sleep. She didn't cry the next few nights and eventually she didn't need them anymore.

Whatever you decide, whether you choose to have a paci fairy, putting the paci in a bear, cutting slits in the paci - just stick to it!

Good Morning T., Don't lie to your daughter about a paci fairy at 3 1/2 the paci is an addiction, because you have allowed it to goon so long. Pacifires were designed for security or soothing purposes as they are used for today, they were original designed for premie's and newborn's to strengthing their jaw mussels so they can nurse, it wasn't ever designed for what parents use them for today. At almost 4 there should not be sleepless nights sweetie she's old enough to know and understand bed time is bed time. I run a home daycare, I usually do not use paci's past 6 months, for my own children I never used them, I had an almost 3 year old start with me and every morning she would arrive with a pacifire, I always took it and put it up, she was not talking yet, but I later found out that she always had had the pacifire, because she would scream and throw fits so her mom gave it to her so she would bot have to deal with it, and take the time to discipline and correct the behavior it was easier to just stick something in her mouth, after about 2 weeks, me not allowing her to have the pacifire she was talking, her parents were like how did you get her to talk, I told them all I did was every morning I un plugged her, they asked about nap time I told them she naps just fine, at home it was different story, see she didn't pull that screaming fit with me because she knew I was not going to tollerate it nor was it going to work, but her parents gave in, so I tried to tell them if she can do without it here she could at home as well. I didn't play games, I didn't treat her like a baby, there was no paci fairy, it was simply you are a big girl now and pacifires were for babys, and I left it at that. her parents didn't get it until it started affecting her teeth. I'm 52, I'm old school, and my daycare parents love it. J.

I have a girlfriend that took her daughter to Build A Bear and put the paci in the foot and called it her paci bear. She used that to sooth herself. She said it worked pretty good.