I took the paci away from my 25 month old but now he is sucking on 3 fingers instead. He was VERY attached to his paci's - going to bed with several. I haven't allowed him paci's except when he was sleeping but he has an infant sister who has paci's and he finds them and uses them any chance he can get. He looks so very sad any time he sees her with a paci. It is heartbreaking. Should I just try to wean his sister off of it too? What do I do about him sucking his fingers? His dad was a big thumb sucker as a child so I don't know if this is unavoidable in him. My older son broke off the paci no problem - no thumb sucking etc. Thanks in advance for any advice!
Just wanted to add - I am mainly concerned about his teeth. I don't want the paci or finger sucking to cause him dental/orthodontic problems down the line. My dentist said to allow the paci no longer than 2 years but I didn't talk to him at the time about the damage sucking thumbs/fingers may cause. I would love for him to get attached to a stuff animal or something instead....
My son kept his pacifier until he was three. We haven't had any problems with his teeth.
I think that he will continue to suck his fingers, since his father had a problem with sucking his fingers. I wouldn't take the baby's pacifier away until she was older.
Good luck
P. S
I think the two year mark is ambitious. I had my daughter quit the paci by three -- and her teeth are fine. At least the paci is designed to fit in the mouth. The fingers are going to do more damage orthodontically speaking anyway.
Our first two children loved their pacis. I took our oldest son's paci away at one and a half. Our second child, a girl,was like yours and went to bed with more than one and many nights I would find myself on my hands and knees under her crib in the middle of the night looking for a paci. We didn't take her paci away until she was three and a half years old. She has been a very well adjusted, confident, easy going child with perfect teeth. The first, on the other hand struggled with those issues and had braces. It may not have made any difference, but many times I wondered if I had just left him alone as we did her instead of trying to do everything the way we think parents are "supposed to" would things have been different. Maybe he needed that comfort item at the time. Anyway, he turned out fine and I can't imagine it was that traumatic for him but if you are worried about teeth, it didn't hurt our daughter's and she had hers forever. Our third child was never interested in a paci.
My 4 year old almost 5 was VERY attached to the pacifier. I never felt it was an issue. He didn't care what kind it was he just wanted one. We tried to get rid of it for a long time and finally realized that he wasn't ready. I suppose I gave up trying to take it away and I talked to the dentist and they told me not to worry about it. He ended up keeping it until he was almost 3. He has perfectly straight teeth and he is fine.
Good Luck
B. M.
Hello K.
My daughter is older, but she too used a paci for just a little while. It's meant to sooth the baby, but then it becomes a bad habit. You son gets comfort from the paci and now his fingers. The trick of putting something on his fingers to keep them out of his mouth will not work. You are going to have to love him thru this. Whether you keep removing his fingers from his mouth and telling him to stop and giving him a kiss letting him know you love him but he needs to remove his fingers from his mouth. If he is trying to sleep keep checking him and removing them gently yourself. It is going to be hard and long but you will get through it. The paci that your little lady is using get rid of it now, so you do not have to deal with this later. Children adjust easy to change we adults do not. Be firm but loving, it's going to break your heart when they cry and want to be comforted by object, don't do it to them. You and you husband's love is more then comforting to them. These are feeling they are developing by looking for comfort in objects like a paci, blanket, teddy bear. When they start kindergarden these things can not go with them, but your loving spirit can and will and they will have high self esteem standing on there own two feet. I pray for the best for you and your beautiful family,
you're a good loving mom and you will do fine.
It's unlikely your son will be still sucking his fingers when he's an adult, so i suggest letting him do what he's gotta do to comfort himself, my son of 28 moths plays with his and our ears when tired or sleepy. your son is going to do what he wants to do and you can't exactly take his fingers away!!
I personally feel that some kids need the paci longer than others. Two of my boys gave it up by their first birhtday without any problems while the other two needed it much longer. When I tried to take it from those two boys, they started sucking the fingers. I gave it back because I knew I could always take the paci, not the fingers! : ) Both were three before I could wean them from it at night. They never had it during the day past age two. By the way, none of the boys have had teeth problems and no braces have been mentioned by any of my boys by their dentist.
I just feel that we as mothers, sometimes try to follow the guidelines a little too closely instead of allowing for the individual needs of each child.
Good luck!
Has he gotten all his teeth including two year molars? If not, that could be how he comforting himself while teething.
