Getting Rid of the Pacifier! - Chandler,AZ

I cut the tips off of my son's binkys so when he sucked on them it didn't give him the same satisfaction that it used to. So, he decided to give them up on his own! It was a cinch! I hope it will work for you too!

Do try to limit the use. My kids both used pacifiers, but ONLY for sleeping - they stayed in the bedroom and they got one for napping and bedtime. Because the use was so limited, I wasn't too concerned about getting rid of it. If you stick to the rule that they are only for sleeping, you may have an easier time getting rid of it. 18 months is still very young.

Personally, I think sucking is such a powerful urge that trying to stop a little one from sucking makes no sense. Human babies are born knowing how to do just ONE thing - suckle. That's all they are capable of, which tells me that it's a very powerful need. Also, I'd rather let my kids have the paci for sleeping rather than go to a thumb. (My son used to suck on his middle 2 fingers to sleep, so we introduced the pacifier to stop that habit)

When my daughter was old enough to understand (about 3) we did the Supernanny Fairy idea - put the dummies in a bag and hang from a tree and the "Dummy Fairy" would fly by and take them to babies who needed them. She'd then leave a gift in the bag. My daughter got a Fairy Barbie.

That was a breeze for us - she was ready to be a "big girl" and I didn't have to try to take it away when it was still a very physical need. Doctors and dentists never had/have any concerns about her teeth, probably because the use was limited. Good Luck!

Hey C.,
My son still uses his pacifier too, but only during naps and night time. We started by just slowly taking it away during the day when he wasn't really using it and the times became longer and longer until we just left it in the crib after he woke up. He's really good about it now (though I do keep one in the diaper bag for emergencies :) ) I didn't want to be too tramatic on him by taking it cold turkey so we just did it little by little and he never really seemed to notice. Good luck!
J.

My baby is still too young I think to get rid of her pacifier but my sister-in-law gave me an idea when we first started with a pacifier.

1. start one day and cut just the tip off of every pacifier in the house.

2. A few days later cut a little more.

3. slowly work your way up to the point that nothing is left and eventually they won't be soothing to the child and they won't want them anymore.

She did this for her oldest at two and it worked like a charm.

Also I had a lady tell me that she had her son put all of his pacifiers in a stuffed animal so then when he felt like he needed that comfort he still had them without the actual sucking and pacifier. But he was also much older, I think 2 and a half.

Personally I think I would wait until two to get rid of the pacifier, until then the child still needs that sucking motion. And I know that the pacifiers used in our home help with emmalee's teeth because she will twist and turn it and chew on it to help make her gums feel better.

C.: I can't remember if we reduced the time first, I think we did do that method first and then we said they are all gone. Our son was about 2-1/2 years old when we said the pacifier
was all gone. He kept looking for it a few days and then eventually gave up. It was hard the first few days, but it won't be so bad if you stick with it.

Take care,
K.

I have two girls who were binki queens. I let them have it untill they were three. I know.....that is a long time. However they were happy campers and GREAT sleepers the whole time so why ruin a good thing? When they turned three we had a "Cutting of the binki ceremony" and made a big deal of them being big girls and they didn't need the binki anymore. Then they cut it up and threw it away with big hooplah and all. It worked and everyone was happy. I hope this helps!

Hello,

Don't stress about taking away his pacifier. My daughter had hers until she was 4. But after the age of 2 she only got it at nap times and bed time. She never walked around with it in her mouth.

How she finally gave it up was at Christmas time and she gave them to Santa to give them to other boys and girls who needed them. My friend did this same method with her son and it worked and he was about 3 1/2. My friends daughter put her pacifier in a Build A Bear that she sleeps with every night.

So stop worrying about it and it didn't mess up her teeth either by using it that long.

Good Luck :)

I saw supper nanny about two weeks ago, and she showed a family something very similiar to what I did with my boys. My boys (so called mailed) there pacifiers in for exchange of a big boy toy that they really wanted. What we did was we made a huge deal ang got a huge package ready and dropped it in the mail one night. We got the boys all excited to go to bed becasue when they woke up in the morning the NEW BIG BOY toy was going to be here for them. I never heard one complaint that night because both were sooo excited to get their new toys. We did somethign very similiar with them when potty training. We took them to the store and got them erally excited to pick out big boy underwear. they actually were sooo excited to wear big boy underwear that they were mad at themselves when they had accidents.!

I had success with the 'cold turkey' method with two of my children and one child that I babysat. You first have to cut down the time that the child uses the pacifier. We limited it to naptime and bedtime and the occasional temper tantrum or injury where they needed additional soothing.

My son had his pacifier until he was two years old. We went to his two year check up and he had it in his mouth to sooth him during his shots. When the dr. saw his pacifier, he told my son that he was too old for a pacifier and told him it was going to have to get thrown away. We agreed with the dr at that point so we 'pretended' to throw it away. After that day when my my son would ask for his pacifier we would tell him it was in the doctors trash can. It was two really hard days, but that was it.

My daughter had hers until nine months old. She was showing disinterest in the pacifier while on vacation, so I took it away-not to mention we had lost all but one on the vacation:) We reintroduced the pacifier to her at 20 months old to wean her from the breast and she had it until 28 months old. This time we just gathered every pacifier that we could find and hid them. We told her that they were lost and that was the end of it. No fits or anything. This is also the same time I weaned the little one I babysat, it only made sense to hid EVERY pacifier in the house:) Her parents were supportive and did the same at home. Good luck:)

C. -
I did the cold turkey method - and he replaced the paci with a stuffed lamb - I had seen this on TV, episode of nanny911 i think. -

Pacifier Fairy decorate an envelope with fun stuff - and put the paci in it - tell him its going to a baby that really needs it - walk with him to the mail box and put it in. the next day - replace the envelope with an envelope with toys or a puzzle or something that he would like - with a thank you letter.. best wishes