Hello!
My son's almost two and I realize that he can't use the pacifier forever... I was just curious what's a reasonable age to take it away. He only has it at bed time and nap time and it's really comforting to him, like his blanket. I don't see a reason at this time to take it away if it helps him relax. I realize he can develop speech problems and dental problems because of it and don't want it to be detrimental to his development. But, I have a problem taking it away just because it's socially unacceptable. I want him to not want it :). Thank you for your replies!
My now 12 yr old used his until almost 3. He is an extremely smart kid and has never had any speech or dental problems from it. As a matter of fact, he was speaking great and in full sentences at the age of 2.
Haven't read any other responses, but if you don't want to take it away then don't. Yes, he's getting to that talking age and shouldn't be walking around with it all the time because yes, it will interfere with his speech some. If he only has it at nap and bedtime then who cares. I don't even remember when we took our kids paci away, but it was well after 3 they only had it at bedtimes. Whenever they got up they got to throw it back into bed so they thought that great fun. Goodluck
Hi K.! The chances of him not wanting it is probably very slim since I've seen 4 yr olds with binkys. I know your asking what age but I thought I'd give you some advice on how to do it when you decide to. Both of my kids loved their binky's! They both had them till about 2 yrs old. With my first child I tried doing the whole sent away/threw away bit but all that did was make him mad (cried, cried & cried till I couldn't take it anymore). So I gave it back waited about a week then one day when he wasn't looking I took it and made sure that there were no other binky's in the house. He was looking for it and asked me where his binky was. I told him I didn't know maybe it's lost let's look for it. So we looked everywhere all over the house. He actually took it really good that we just could not find it. He wasn't mad because he knew it wasn't my fault, it was just lost. He maybe asked for it for a couple more days and then never asked for it again. Well I had my daughter and figured maybe it was just a fluke to work so good with him. She took it just as good, it went perfect. I gave the advice to my cousin a couple of days ago and worked perfect for her to! Hope this helps!
From what I've read, as long as he gives it up before getting his permanent teeth, it won't affect him dentally and if he's just using it to sleep, it's not interfering with his speech. You can talk to your pediatrician or dentist, but I'm pretty sure it's fine. I'm waiting until at least my son really understands me so we can bargain over it. He's just 2 two weeks ago...maybe in another 6 months?
K.,
I just asked my pediatrician this at our 2 year well-baby visit and she said not to worry about taking it away. She said dentists don't even worry about it until the kids are well over 3. So my daughter uses her at naps, at bed and often throughout the day, so I just stopped worrying about it. I suppose they will let their security objects go when they don't need them anymore. Best of luck to you!
R.
I took pacifiers from my kids at 6-9 months. Pacifiers were made for newborns, since they're born with only one instinct...to suck. Once they begin to eat veggies and fruit, there's no need for it. After that, it's only a habit to them. If you take it away early, there's no transition. My kids didn't even notice they didn't have it anymore. If you're wanting him to want to get rid of it, I think you're asking a lot. I would say bribery. Tell him that if he donates it to another child you will get him a new toy to replace it.
Hi K.,
A technique my daycare mom shared with me and my other daycare mom's that works like a charm. She took all her daughters binky's when she turned 18 months old and snipped the very tip of the binky off (from all binky's in the her house and here @ daycare). As she put the binky's in her mouth she'd immediately take them back out of her mouth, look at the binky and hand it to mommy saying: "It's broke". So, mom told her with each binky she'd hand to her that they all were broke. It only took a day or two of putting the broken binky's in her mouth for a second and she'd take them right back out. As she would hand them to either mom or myself we'd reinforce that "Yes, they are broken and you might as well put it in the garbage". She'd march over to the garbage and toss them into the can. No real crying or having a fit at all. She'd just walk around saying: "My binky is broke". She would whine a little at naptime and bedtime, but, we simply replaced it with a favorite stuffed animal or blankie. I now suggest this to all my daycare families and it has worked like a charm on many, many little one's. Good Luck and keep us posted.
A.
