Giving up Paci... Help!

Let him keep it until he is ready to give it up. If it soothes him and he needs it, let him keep it. All 4 of my sons had pacifiers and each of them gave them up on their own. All but one had given it up by 2 1/2 and the last one by the time by he was almost 3. I had many people tell me that all my sons would need braces and they all ended up with beautfil teeth. Babies need to be comforted and if the paci soothes him, by all means let the little guy have it.

I haven't had this problem because my son would never take a pacifer to begin with, but my friend told me about this great trick I'd never heard before. She took some scissors and cut the very tip of the pacifier. Her daughter would suck on it for a few minutes then spit it out. I don't know if this would work for your specific situation. I guess in the middle of the night I would try it or tell him I couldn't find the paci then rock him or try to help soothe him back to sleep. At least until he learns to soothe himself.

If your son is only wanting his paci at night and it seems to help soothe him to sleep, I say give it to him. He is only 2 years old. Now, if he were Kindergarten age or older I would say take it and would be concerned if he still wanted it. Try giving it back to him and see if he sleeps better but only give it to him at night. He may just spit it out on his own when he is ready. Good luck

I just read what else yoy wrote about your son biting through the paci...yes, you were definately correct in taking it. I would have too. I cannot even imagine how horrible it would have been if it had gone in his throat. I am happy this all has worked out good for you and your son. God Bless you both!

Taking a Paci is hard but it will get better trust me . He just needs something else that will sooth him like a lovie ( STUFFED ANIMAL , BLANKET SOMETHING OF THE SORT)My daughter now two was 13 months old when we took her paci from her it was rough the first week it was hard getting her to bed to bed and her staying a sleep cuase she was use to have her paci to help her sleep after the first she slowly got etter about putting her self back to sleep and going to bed at night it was like she forgot about the paci....she started sleeping with stuffed animals ....for her bday which was a month before we took it we got her a stuffed kitty from toys r us and she till this day sleeps with it.... it will get better
good luck

The only advice I have for you is to be consistent. If you give in and give it to him one night that he's having a particularly hard time going to sleep, he'll know that the more he fusses, the more likely he is to get it back. We had a rough time breaking our son from the paci even though he was only eleven months old, but it was only for a week. If you can get through the week of no sleep, I'll bet he'll learn a new technique to sooth himself. Good luck!

Hi E.,

When my son was 3 or 3 1/2, I started talking to him about the paci messing up his teeth and that he was going to have to stop using it when he turned 4. At that point he was only using it at night, so I didn't have to worry about the daytime.

A few months before his 4th birthday, I started taking it out of his mouth after he fell asleep and I would put it in the bed near his pillow. If he woke up during the night, he could find it. I also let his paci get old and when he wanted a new one, I told him that pretty soon we wouldn't have any paci's and I wasn't buying any new ones. If he wanted one, this was it.

A week or so before his 4th birthday, once he fell asleep, we took it out and put it where he couldn't find it. If it was really bad during the night, we would give it to him for a few minutes (with a reminder that when he was 4, no more paci's) then we'd have him give it to us. (And he would!)

On his 4th birthday, no more paci. We told him that since he was a big kid now, big kids don't have paci's. About a week later, he hit his head pretty hard and said he needed his paci. We let him have it for a few minutes and he felt better and gave it back to us.

He's almost 5 now, his teeth are pretty much perfect and he doesn't miss his paci at all. On the other hand, my 3 1/2 year old has a blanket.....but that's another story!:)

Good luck, hope it helps!

My oldest had the paci until he was 3 or so, but only at night. One day he just gave it up on his own. When they are ready to give it up, they will give it up on thier own. As long as it's only at night, I think it's fine. Good luck!

Did your Pediatrician or someone else tell you it was time for him to give his passy up? I am just wondering why you picked "almost two" as the time to do it.

My baby girl (two years on the 11th) uses her passy only at night. In the morning, she puts it in the drawer herself. My pediatrician says get rid of it....but I agree with the other mom's who said to let them give it up themselves. Before I was a Mom, I was a nanny for 14 years between two families and 3 kids. The kids were all infants (one was 4 days old, one was 4 weeks old, and one was 6 months old when i started with them) They all had passys and they all gave them up on their own. They all made the connection that passys are for babies. One little girl wanted to mail it to Santa when she was 3 and a half for other little girls to use. So, that is what we did. Put in in the mailbox, addressed it to Santa, and everything:-)

Two years is still so little. They depend on thigs like thier passy so much....and to just take it away seems almost mean. That is always the way I thought of those kids of things. My Great Aunt Carol had 9 children and they all weaned off nursing, passy's and blankets all on their own. Her famous phrase was "they are not going to go to Kindergarden with them!" And she was right,,not one of them did.

It is SO hard as Mommy to know what is right. You read all these things about teeth being ruined, cavaties, etc,,,but not one of the kids I took care of needed braces and all three had beautiful teeth cavity wise. (granted, we brushed three times a day and once before bed, so 4 times,,as does my daughter...but brushing should be a given no matter what)

If you do decide the right thing to do is take it away,,,just stick to you guns. Don't go back and forth. Consistancy is the key to breaking any habit.

Best of luck to you!!! And your baby!!! :-)

It comes a certain time when you MUST take away the pacifier. I went through the same thing with my son. He'll forget about it in about a week. Trust me
God Bless You