Getting Rid of the Pacifier - Midway City,CA

I had a friend that cut the end of it and then her son just stopped using it. My kids are thumb kids and there is not much I can do about that when they are in their beds.

Does it really matter whether he uses a pacifier at night to calm himself to sleep? I'm a bit old fashioned and my 4 children have already grown up, but I found that anything that I was worried about when they were young, they have grown out of. I had 2 children who sucked their thumbs, one who had a blanket (which turned into 4 blankets, because they all wore out) and the other who had to sleep by my side. They all grew out of their bedtime habits and are happy and healthy teens now. Don't worry about what others think, if your child is happy and healthy and gets to sleep with it, so be it. I'm sure one day you'll notice he doesn't need it anymore. By the way, my 17 year old daughter still has a strip of her old blanket as a keepsake. She's okay with that, so why shouldn't I be?

Hi A., unfortunatly you have allowed the pacifier to become a habit, children should feel secure enough with in the home to be able to fall asleep without something in their mouth, using something in their mouth for comfort and soothing may also cause eating disorders later on, because the child is using oral comfort for his needs. i would just throw it away and create a loving secure and positive bedtime routine. Connie

I have 2 children and both used a paci. With my daughter, who is now 4, we took the paci at around 16 months. My pediatrician recommended taking it earlier rather than later (just after getting them weaned from the bottle) because their memories are shorter and they don't go running around the house looking for one because they really don't remember it after a couple of days. We had her down to just nap and bedtime too, but decided to get rid of it. We did it cold turkey, but we threw them all in the trash so that we wouldn't feel pressured into giving them back! She cried for a couple of days at nap and bedtime, but the time she cried got less and less and then it was done. The longest she ever cried was about 15 minutes that first night, then it dropped to about 5 for another day or so.

My son is 23 months old and we just weaned him from his over the weekend. He was a little more attached to his and wouldn't leave it in the bed when he got up, so I was ready to get rid of it since he was running around with it all of the time and trying to talk with it in his mouth.....drove me nuts! We have had lots of health issues in our household for the past year (starting with a serious illness with him just after he turned one), so we haven't felt comfortable taking his paci away with all of the instability and turmoil in our household. Otherwise, I would have taken it sooner. Anyway, I would say our experience with him was just about the same. We told him he was a big boy and didn't need his paci anymore and just went cold turkey. His daycare actually started it on Friday after a miscommunication (they thought we wanted them to wean him from it...hubby told them to try at naptime, but to give it to him if he got too upset. They just never gave in). So, in order to not confuse him (getting it some places and not others), we just followed their lead and ditched it this weekend. He cried for about 15-20 minutes the first night, 10 minutes or so the next day at naptime and a couple of minutes here and there for the next day or so, but now he is perfectly fine. Not a peep out of him yesterday at nap or bedtime. I think the anticipation of doing it is always a little worse than reality becasue we don't like to hear our kids cry (natrually!).

I would say that if you are really going to do it, then just do it and don't give it back. Throw them away if you have to in order not to tempt yourself. If you give in, he will just pitch an even bigger fit the next time to up the ante. My son is super stubborn and was REALLY attached to his paci and he still was over it in a couple of days. It's a stinky couple of days, but now it's done and I'm thrilled! Some may think I'm cruel, but my kid won't remember it and my 4 year old isn't scarred by it, so I think it's fine. They both have loveys that they sleep with too, so we didn't leave them with nothing.

Anyway, sorry this got so long. I just wanted to encourage you that if you decide to take it, he will pitch a fit, but it won't last forever. Really just will be a couple of days, so I say go for it!

I disagree with the other posts for a few reasons.

Pacifiers are a soothing mechanism just like sucking a thumb is. We have 1 child who prefers one and another who prefers the other. We can't take the thumb away which allows him to soothe himself when tired, scared, etc.

Our daughter is our pacifier kid - she is only allowed to have it when sleeping (both at day care and at bedtime). She has had 10 ear infections and will get her second set of tubes on Monday. We believe the sucking of the pacifier helps alleviate the pressure from the build-up of the fluids that the first round of tubes didn't correct before they fell out.

Babies and young children don't yet know how to soothe themselves, so if you can replace the pacifier with something else, I say go for it. We set age 2 as our limit, but we weren't expecting more ear infections. She's currently 25 months. 17 months is still relatively young in my personal opinion, and your ability to explain why you're taking it away may be really tough.

I'd try weaning him gradually and setting rules when he can have it before going "cold turkey"

old enough to understand concept of Santa or the Bunny or whoever brings surprise treats in exchange for good behavior??? We ceremoniously saved-up and gave everything... pacifiers, bottles, (awkward when breast feeding), baby diapers, halloween candy, food that fills before eating meals, excess b-day gifts and other negative items (hard to get the parental bed into Santa's stocking) to Santa... My daughters have used the same idea with success... When the sad moment comes that they no longer "believe" we switched to donating or volunteering to those less fortunate. Duckie

You can try to convince him he is a Big Boy and doesn't need it and get him to throw them in the trash and reward him. You can also try telling him that the New babies in the world need his pacifers and try to get him to put them in a baggy for the other babies and tell him what a Big Boy he is for helping all the other babies.. (And then get rid of them ). Again,reward him for this with something for a Big Boy or you can try trading him the paci for a Big Boy something and throwing out the paci. ! HE MAY CRY ,BUT, KEEP UP THE BIG BOY THING AND LET HIM KNOW IT IS OK . Good Luck,C. S.

i used a blanket when i knew i would be gone at night i brought a fleece blanket with me and managed to slowly wean her onto the blanket she still sleeps with a fleece but its grows as she does lol she gets new ones every so often and my youngest altho never taking a pasi also sleeps with one, well they sleep under one

My little boy used to have five stuck together, he loved them but only when he was goin to bed. I gave him plenty of warning about when i would be taking it off him. Farther Christmas is going to be taking it away for the sick children and will leave you a present i told him. The sick kids need it more than you and you are now a big boy so you don't need it any more. He liked the idea of helping the sick kids, but when it came to actually taking it away from him he wanted to buy the sick kids a new dummy so he could keep his. I did have a few problems for a couple of days, but he did eventually stop asking for it. Set yourself a target, tell him when it will be going and stick with it, try an do it over the weekend or when your off work so you have time to recover and you are less likely to give in to him. Good luck

Hi A.-

We just took the pacifier away from our little girl a few months ago when she was 16 months old (she is now almost 19 months). Like your little one, she only used it to go to sleep (naps and nighttime). We stopped it cold turkey. The first night, she cried for about 5-10 minutes and then went to sleep. The second night, she cried about 3-5 minutes. The third night she cried for maybe a minute (if that). After that, not a peep! It was much easier than I thought, but it takes a few days. Be patient and don't give in!

Good luck!

I haven't read the other answers so I may be repeating some, but I weaned both my girls off at 22 mos. At that age they understood more of what I said, although a 17 month understands a lot too, but a couple months before I weaned them, I told them they were getting older and big girls don't use the binky any more. I gave them lots of warning. When it came time, I had them throw them in the trash on trash day so I couldn't retrieve them! Some people I know send them away on balloons to the binky fairy - that's a cute idea too. Anyway, one daughter did great, never looked back. The other, she cried a few days, but eventually got used to it. So basically it was cold turkey but they did great! I would never let it go beyond 2 years. I hate seeing a four year old with one in their mouth while talking, not to mention how bad it is for their teeth. Good luck!

Blackmail!! My daughter wouldn't give hers up either. We went to the store and picked out a toy she really wanted. I set it where she could see it. 5 days no binky get the toy. Of course17 months isn't that old my daughter was almost 3. I wouldn't stress to hard about it right now...he is not using it as a crutch all day long just for bed. Just make sure when you do take it away he doesn't develop a thumb sucking habit instead.

I agree that I would let him still use it at night for awhile if it helps him sleep. It has also been shown that sleeping with a pacifier helps prevent SIDS. My son used his pacifier to sleep too We had a bunch of them but he started losing them until we had one left. When he was about 2 he took his last pacifier and threw it in a movie theater. I couldn't find it so we were done with them. I bought him a new one and he didn't want it. So he weaned himself. 17 months is still young, if it comforts your son, let him use it awhile longer. He may just stop himself.

Hope this helps.

Cold turkey--one day isn't enough time to allow it to work. He freaked and you gave in. Take them away and don't give in this time. It will be over in a few days.