Getting Rid of Pacifiers??? - Mechanicsburg,PA

Hello S.,
My name is M. Gordon and I am the mother of a 10 & 2 yr old boys. My 2 year old was on a pacifier until he was 15 months. He kept on biting holes in the pacifier, so the 3rd time he did it I took it away and he cried half the night the first night and after that i just tried to keep him occupied so he would not ask for it and it worked. He would ask every now and then an I would tell him that "joshy broke it, and mommy put it in the trash" He would just say trash and go on playing. So the 1st and 2nd time he bit a hole in it, I tried to tell him next time mommy will throw it in the trash. So, I tried to keep telling him that. But, it is like he was never on it.I hope that helps. You can lso try just giving it at certain time, like nap time and bedtime and then maybe only bed time until they barely take it.

This is what worked for me...when my son wasn't looking I cut the pacifier so it was almost completely worthless. Only the part that touched his face remained...then when he picked it up he looked at it and said to me what happened? I said it was broken. Then I said well do you want to throw this one away since its broken? He did and then said we have to get a new one. I said ok and later on went to store and pretended that they did not sell them there. Eventually he forgot about it. This might not work with all kids but it worked for mine :) or I have heard about parents putting hot sauce on them lol that would work pretty well I would think!

Tell her to cut the nipples off of ALL of the pacifiers. When they go to use them and they are broken, just tell her to say something like, "Sometimes pacifiers break after you use them too long."
That was the only way to break my daughter of that nasty little habit!!

Well, they are both too old, you know this. Your orthodontic bills are increasing by the day. My son was terribly attached to his as well. We first started by only allowing it at bedtime and naptime. This was a two week thing, then we went to the dentist. Now our dentist is a bigger guy, and has somewhat of a loud carrying voice, but is really a nice fatherly type. We were there for my son's three year old visit, the first time there. The dentist had a nice little talk with my son and told him that it was time to get rid of it. Period. My son, being a negotiator, asked if he could just keep it one more. This meant in my son's mind to keep just one of them and not the rest since we had several in the house. The dentist agreed and said "sure you can have it one more night, but tomorrow they all have to go". So we went home and talked about how these pacifiers would ruin their teeth and the dentist said they had to go. So the next day we had a ritual of sorts and said goodbye to them. He tossed them all in the garbage, helped carry it out to the garage, and it just so happened to be garbage day and we brought it to the curb. That night he asked for the pacifier again, but I gently reminded him that it was gone. He did it again the next night, but then never again. I was amazed. When we saw them in the stores, he asked if we could buy another one but I told him that only people with babies are allowed to buy those, and that was enough. Now, I never believed this little ritual of sorts would work, so I secretly hid a couple of them thinking at 3am when I couldn't take it anymore I would give him one, but I threw those out a couple weeks later too. They don't need them. I replaced them with a nice CD too that I still play for him at bedtime as he falls asleep. The one I use is from Discovery Toys, called Sounds Like Fun. It's somewhat of a lullaby of learning. This music was the "big kid" way to go to sleep since he didn't need the pacifier anymore. Hope this helps. Good Luck.

Here is some advice. Remember who is in charge, the parent or the child? Your sister may not want to give htem up because it means there will be crying and then stress for her. If they were running in traffic she would stop them, they would cry but she would stop them so she can stop the pacifier with a little bit of tears too.
To help the kids along, they can do a build a bear and put the pacifier inside and then they will have it forever.

Hope this helps,
S.

S.,
I, too, had 2 children that were very attached. My daughter had hers shortly after her 2nd birthday. My luck with her was that when I limited them to nap and bedtime only, she started to hide them on me and out of the blue she would have one in the middle of the day. So I took advantage of the situation and one day while she was napping, I gathered as many as I could find, she had about 4 around the house and I threw them away. Then when she woke up from her nap I took the one she had away also. Then when it was time for bedtime I said that we needed to find one because she hid them somewhere. Of course we couldn't find any b/c they were in the trash. But it was easier for her to accept b/c it wasn't me saying she couldn't have it, that was the key point, I think. Anything your sister in law can do to make it not her that is saying they can't have them. My son, was just about a month ago and he was really really addicted. I was afraid of the day when they went away, I thought he'd never sleep again. But in the end I realized that it was me worry more about the outcome and what I would do without them, instead of him. We started at nap time for the first time without and made sure it was a time when he was really tired, we had been out and it was shortly past his bedtime so he was ready to fall asleep. We didn't give it to him, but he asked for it and I said i would go look for it. and I never went back and he had fallen asleep and that was the beginning. That night he was more aware that it wasn't there and my husband laid with him to help him fall asleep and that was it. They were gone! Most importantly you have to throw them away as soon as you decide to do it, if they are hidden somewhere just in case, you will fall back. And the older they are when you try to get rid of them the harder it is to do so, b/c they can really fight for it and it is harder to distract them with something else. Tell her good luck and be strong, gotta just do it. They'll be upset but the best is cold turkey there is no weaning the pacifier! Jennifer

One way to get rid of is "sending" them to the new babies so they can love them as much as the her children did. This works really great if you know an actual baby to give them to so the children can see that the new baby needs one (the baby does not actually ned to use your binky just the illusion that they will). Also www.mambaby.com has a great story to read to your little one about giving up the pacifier.

Unfortunately this is probably not going to be a pleasant transition but if you can approach it with love and lots of comfort they will give them up.

Good Luck !

I have heard of some ideas. My husband and I simply went cold turkey. We simply took the pacifiers away. My daughter threw a major fit for two good days but after that, no more pacies. I have heard of parents having children wrap their pacifiers and give them to little baby in the family (pretend to give them and then throw them away). I read one article where the mother had her child think she was trading her pacifier for a toy at the toy store. The mother pretended to hand the pacifier to the cashier as payment for a toy.

Hi S.,

I had the same problem with my daughter and her pacifier. She called it her "mimi". I got a gift bag from the Dollar Store and put it in there. I told her the "mimi fairy" was coming to bring her mimi to a little girl who needed it more than she did. We went outside and tied it to a little tree. I told her the mimi fairy would come tonight when she was sleeping and put a special surprise in the bag for her because she was so generous. The next morning she couldn't wait to see what the mimi fairy brought for her. I had gotten the idea from a t.v. show I watched but, I will tell you, it really worked! We never had an issue again. I wish your sister in law luck!

kind of a funny story, but my daughter was still toting around her "binky" when she was 2 and I was beginning to think she should be moving on....had started to ween her from it during the daytime at least but one day she had it and somehow it ended up getting dropped in the toilet (probably convenient that that is the potty training time)...in any event, I just explained to her that I didn't have any other ones so she'd just have to be a big girl now without it. it was done after that. I guess the fact that she had something to do with it being gone may have made her deal better, i don't know.

unfortunately at that age there is no easy way to take it away.....
all 3 of mine had theirs taken away by the age of 2....
what we did was collected them all up and put them in a bag..and put a ribbon on it..and told them it was going with the binky fairy who would deliver them to babies that needed them....
it wasnt easy though..they still had several nights of crying and screaming...but we stuck to our guns and within the first week and a half they no longer were looking for them...
hope this helps...
L.

Cut the end of the pacifier off and let them have them . Our son threw his away because it didn't feel good any more
L.

Trim them. I cut the tip off of each of my son's pacifiers. Every few days I took a bit more off until he could barely hold on to them with his teeth anymore. They didn't feel the same... so he lost interest!

When we started to ween my daughter from a pacifier, we had several family members and friends who were pregnant or had just had babies. We had my daughter decorate an envelope and addressed it to Elmo on Sesame Street. We then collected the pacifiers and "mailed" them to Elmo where he would then distribute them to the new babies being born around the world. SHe loved it and now that her baby brother is here, she is insistant that his Pacis are from Elmo because of her good deed.

I have also heard of people going to Build A Bear and putting the pacifiers inside of the stuffed animal they create...they are not thrown away and will always be close to the kids hearts.

Ok, so we're always "losing" pacifiers, right..? What I did with my 3rd child was "lose" it, or more specifically, SHE lost it (I found it/them) but didn't tell her. I even used my sons to help me. "Boys, your sister has 2 more binkies around that we can't find...if you find them, give them to me & don't tell her." It worked. I didn't take them, I wasn't the bad guy....SHE lost them (I found them, but didn't tell her). I went along with trying to help her find them. I helped her get past the "no binky" for bedtime, etc. At 3, she didn't realize we could go to the store & buy another 1 :-). Honest...it worked!

My Mom is hysterical. When I asked her how I would wean my daughter from a pacifier(if she had ever taken one!) my Mom said, "Throw it out...its not like they can drive to the store to buy another one". Lol!
She told me how they got rid of my brother's "ba-ba" at age 3. He loved throwing things down the garbage chute. My Mom suggested he throw down his bottle. He did, then when he asked for it later she reminded him that HE threw it out. He thought about it then accepted it. Maybe tell your sis-in-law to have them have a ritual burying of their pacifiers (no joke). If he/she gets rid of it, he will feel more control over the situation, and might be more apt to give it up.
OR Tell sis to watch "Mr.Mom" to see how they got rid of the "woobie". Its great!

Been there, done that and there is only two ways to do it. First talk to your dentist and see if they can help with a positive talk about "throwing the binky's away" This worked with my youngest. She came home and tossed them all herself.

With my older two it was a bit more complicated...espically with my oldest who had broken the binky habit once and got re-binkied when she got sick. Our great dentist talked to them and then we went home and pitched them...but they had them all over the house hidden everywhere!! So it actually took a few days to get rid of them all. The best way is really to plan for a long weekend...pitch them on friday, have a special dinner, watch movies, stay busy and stay up past bedtime (so they are really tired) and then be prepared for the crying and fit throwing. But don't cave in...the first night is always the worst. Day/night 2 will be easier and by night 3 or 4 it's all over. I suggest that the parents take a couple days off work (or take a weekend) to do this. Believe me you'll be tired, but it is worth it!! Braces are really expensive!! Good luck & best wishes

Tell her to start slow. If they use all the time then allow them to use in the car, at naps and at night. Get a prize if they can get to that point. Tell will drive to toy store and get them a present if can go in the car without pacifier - if can get to store without then have them pick out toy. Then instead of pacifier in car-let them hold that present. Then get rid of at bedtime and naps at same time (hard to differentiate) ---talk about it for a week or two at the bedtime. Talk about what they can do instead - maybe they will need a doll, blanket, bear. Tell them you are putting a bag in their closet for the pacifiers when they are ready (sometimes it is easier for kids to do on their terms. Some kids will decide on own... my son put them in the bag one night on his own - for him it was about control. He did ask for them next night, we said no that he had made a terrific decision - then give them reinforcers for what they did. We did it this way and it worked like a charm - our son was three at the time. Good luck

How about leaving them for the "Pacifier Fairy" who will then bring them a gift of something they really want? We also told our daughter that the "binky fairy" would clean hers all up and give it to a new baby we knew and loved, and that seemed to comfort her, too... Good luck!

The best thing to do is just take them away. The first few days will be rough but she has to be strong. Tell her to make sure all pacifiers are put away that they can not be seen. After a few days they will be fine. My daughter gave hers up at 15 months and my son at 7 months decided that he just didn't like them anymore. Good Luck!

Hi S.

I just went through this with my 3 year old son. He had been getting the binkie for naps and bedtime for about the last year and his teeth were telling me it was time to go. I felt awful taking it from him because it was such a source of comfort for him, but it had to go. What I did was picked something I knew he would really like to have but didn't yet have. In our case, it was a fish. He loves to see the fish in the petstore and often as a treat we go just to look at the fish so, hey I figured it would be a great motivator. I started the process by telling him that on Friday he could get a fish all his own if he traded his binkie. I told him that it meant no more binkie and the binkie would be all gone. I told him that all week until he was repeating it to me. Friday came and we went to the pet store and I put his binkie in a plastic bag and he had to hand it over to the person who was getting his fish for him. He did this and everyone in the store was wonderful and made such a big deal about him being a big boy. The next few days were tough, he cried for the binkie, said he didn't want a fishie any more, it was a tough few days but we kept explaining that he is such a big boy and he gave his binkie to the lady for a fish. It got easier and easier every day and by the 5th day without a binkie he didn't ask for it anymore.

Good Luck to your sister.

Hmmm. My daughter gave her "binky" to the Easter bunny when we went to see him for Easter. We talked about it and told her how all the baby bunnies need binkies too and the Easter bunny would give it to the babies. She was almost 2 when we did that and it worked like a charm,(she actually handed her binky to the bunny) the car ride home was a little rough but we just reitereated that she gave her binky away for the baby bunnies, and she would say oh, I still have a stash of her old binkies I'm not sure why cause she never got one after that day.(she will be 5) She actually went to the babysitters and got all her binkies and told the sitter to give them to the baby bunnies. It worked for us. I guess everyoe has to do it in their own way!!

I agree that they are both too old, but that is why you are asking :o) Thankfully, my kids were never big "binkie" kids and were done before 1 year. However when my kids were about 18 months old this is what I did with the bottle.... One day they were all gone. I told the kids that I didn't know where they went, they just disappeared. So, in essence they quit cold turkey! We had no problems what-so-ever! They adjusted just fine and moved on.

So, my advice is to lose all the binkies. They are old enough to know that they are gone.... if you use the tooth fairy, tell them that the binkie fairy came and collected them all and leave them something else in exchange...like a toy or book....

Good luck!

For our daughter, the "binkie fairy" came. We talked about it with her for about a week. We told her that the Binkie Fairy would come and take her binkies to give them to new babies who needed them. In exchange, the binkie fairy would bring her a toy. She had a couple of rough nights (although not too bad) after the binkies were gone but was fine after a week.

Of course, before doing this, we had restricted her binkie use for months. For to naps and bedtime only, then to bedtime only.

Other moms I know have talked their little ones into giving the binkies to new babies of friends they know. The friend then in turn does the dirty business of throwing away the binkies after the little one has left.

Hope this helps.