Pacifier Issues

Hi J.,
I have an idea. My daughter is 3 but when she was 1 I cold shouldered the whole pacifier and it took about a week and she completely forgot about it. Let me tell you how I did it.

We went to Build a Bear. I had her choose her animal. She choose Elmo. We then stuffed Elmo added a heart and her pacifier inside of the Elmo. They sealed him up and the pacifier was in there. On the way home she kept asking for it so I showed her with her hands that "Elmo ate it" and it was in his tummy now.

Ooh before we went to Build a Bear I packed all the pacies in a bag and threw them away in the mall trash. Before entering the mall except the one that you are using "to be eaten" If you throw them away in the trash at home you are tempted to fish them out. Even though it is gross it is easy to do when you have a crying baby.

I am not going to lie it took about two days of crying nights and then it was every other night and then after about a week it was over she was good. But she knows it is in Elmo's belly now.

I have worked at a preschool the past 3 years and I will tell you it is not good having one after 1. Other kids wanna take it. They aren't talking they are sucking instead etc... If you wanna help her get rid of it.

My mom cut a little whole in the end of my brothers and then they didnt want it but that didnt work for me
Hopefully this helps you
E.

Follow your heart on this one. If you feel that she still needs it, I don't see any reason to take it away completely. 24/7 is not good, but in the car and sleeping seems reasonable. As your husband says, she is only 1, and you are the ones who gave her the paci in the first place so it does seem a little unfair to take it away before she can understand why!! It's great to help her find other ways to soothe herself, though, and I agree with you that it shouldn't be the first choice when she whines. And I think that some kids need that sucking more than others. My son has been a paci addict his whole life! He just turned 3 by the way! He never had it all day and all night, though, but always for sleeping and in the care and then at various times throughout the day. At around age 2 we limited it to ONLY the car or sleeping, and at that point he seemed ready. At 3 we stopped having it during the day and only for sleeping, and again it seemed like the right time because it was an easy transition. I know there is lots of talk about it affecting speech, and jaw formation and whatever, but the truth is that there is not one right answer. We just went to the dentist for the first time yesterday and I was braced to received the whole "your child shouldn't use a paci at all" lecture. But the dentist surprised me and said that my sons' teeth are fine, his own daughter used a paci until 3 1/2 (limited amount during the day), and it is really overuse as the child gets older that causes problems. Which was validating for me to hear because that's how I was feeling about it.
The thing about "experts" is that they seem to be allowed to change their minds at any time - so as a parent I just try to follow my heart and read my child.
M.

My son was on his paci all the time until about 9 months it became just nap/bedtime and now at just turned 19 months he is still pretty attached to it and sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night because he can't find it but there has been times that he is fine w/out it.
I am going to start this week to ween him off of it, I don't want him to be attached to any longer.

My pedi said 18 months for paci and bottle for sure. He started using the sippy cup at 12 months and would take the bottle only at his morning milk, right before nap and right before bedtime then I broke him in a day but the paci seems pretty challenging.

Good Luck
M.

Our Dr said a year also. But we are now 15 months and still have it at night and at naps. This one is my second so I am a little more laid back with this one!! I just can't break it away from him yet!! Good Luck!! I really think its whenever you want, I know for me when too long is, but its just is difference of opinions!!

Hello! I agree with the other moms who have responded so far. My daughter is 15 months old right now and when she was between 9 and 10 months old, we weaned her from the pacifier, only allowing her to use it in her crib for bedtime and naps. She went off the bottle at 9 months and she sure didn't need the pacifier full-time anymore either.

I keep it on hand for emergencies or if we're out and about and I know she'll have a hard time taking a nap. But of course if we're in the car, she just ends up tossing it somewhere and screams at that wonderful high pitch we all know and love. I think she's old enough now that we need to get rid of it being in her crib as well and do away with them all together so she learns to not depend on them.

This question has been on my mind a lot lately, I'm glad someone brought it up! Thanks!

-Char

Hi Jamie,
I'm one of those moms that Maggie mentioned that did it "cold turkey". My daughter who is now eight was right around that 12 month mark when we just woke up one day and said no more. It was only a day or two of fussing for it. It's tough to listen to it no doubt but a few days is small compared to continued months of having to deal with the pacifier, keeping up with it, negotiating certain times for use, etc. With my one twin boy that used the pacifier, we actually took it away at 4 months because I was getting up 8-10 times a night to look for it. We had one rough night and then not another problem. For moms of little one's that may be reading this for future advice, I have a baby book that says 6 months is really the best age to take away the pacifier. By that time, babies are over their instinctive need to constantly suck and this is before there is an emotional attatchment to it. Work great for us to do it early! Merry Christmas everyone!!!

When my son turned one I threw all the pacifiers in the trash. That way I would not be tempted to give him one when he was crying for it. This first week was a little rough but after that it was over and done. He still has his blanket that he uses at night, and he is 6 years old.

I let my kids hang on for naps & bed time 'til 3 with the binkies. With my oldest it was not such a biggies after the first 2-3 days. My youngest, however, is another matter. She got on to thumb sucking! after we axed binkies! Which she had never done before!!! So, after fighting that battle & going through thumb-guards, we gave her the binkies back at 3 1/2. At 4 1/2 we're getting pretty sick of it too- AND SHE'S MY SUPER INDEPENDENT ONE! So, good luck! All kids latch on to different things! The youngest at 4 has just now decided to have a "blankie", too! Go figure!
D.

Sounds like my son! He started out using it only for sleeping, which I was totally fine with, but now he plays with them, puts them in cars and drives them around, and of course won't sleep without it. But we have decided that his new year's resolution will be to give it up :-). We planned to do it at 18 months, but he got sick (has had sinus infection since Oct, but it's finally going away) so we didn't want to take away such an easy source of comfort for him (and us!).
Our pediatricians recommend cutting the tip off at 18 months. This worked for several friends. The pediatriciane also said it's ok to replace it with a blankie or stuffed animal so they still have a comfort object. However, while they say 18 months, I would say the earlier the better.

Since we know we'll get rid of the paci soon, I have started putting it away when he wakes up in the morning to decrease his dependence on it. He only gets it at nap time and in the car. It was hard at first, but he quit asking/whining for it after a couple days. In the morning when I would get him out of his bed I'd just say "bye-bye paci" and take it out of his mouth and toss it on the bed. After a couple days he would willingly spit the paci into my hand. After a couple more days he was saying "bye-bye" himself and dropping the paci on the bed.

Of course, there are plenty of moms I know who simply got rid of it "cold turkey." Their kid fussed for a day or two and it was over!

Good luck! And remember, what ever you do, she'll be fine and she won't remember ever having a pacifier in the first place!

At about 15-18 mos., we started just using it for sleep time and the car during trips. We were going to go cold turkey at age 1, but it was so hard on him and us. We felt like he was still a bit of a baby, and that he actually needed it. We were very good at just giving it to him at those times. Once he turned 2, we could see that he was using it as a crutch instead of needing it like a baby would. We started not giving it to him in the car, but we would eventually fold.

When he first visited the dentist, the dentist said his teeth were pushing out. We cut off the end that very night. We told him he was a big boy, and that the Pacifier Fairy was going to bring him a present in exchange for the pacifier. It took him about a week, but he gave it up. Good luck!!!

Hi J.,

Our pediatrician recommended we quit the pacifier by 12 months, about the same time as we weened from the bottle. So, when my son was about 11 months, I limited the pacifier to the crib for naps and bedtime. When he woke up he'd take it out and leave it there. When he turned one, I just got rid of them altogether. For him, once they were out of sight, they were pretty much out of mind. So, it wasn't too hard. I did give him a few replacement object in his crib (like a taggies blanket and soft book). I have another son, who I'm probably going to ween from the pacifier around 12 months as well doing the same thing.

Good luck!
C.

my son was 2 1/2 when he finally gave his up. It bugged me but I picked my battles. He was only allowed to have it in bed or long car rides. Every morning when he got up it was his job to leave "paci" in his bed. Then I quit buying more and he had only 3 of the big ones for kids 1-3 years old, and as the rubber got cracking, we made a big deal about how that was yucky and it needed to go in the garbage, which he put it in. We then made it clear when they were all yucky that was it, no more. It worked well.