I would like to ween my youngest(2 1/2) off of his pacifier. He uses it only for sleep, but really does not want to give it up. I tried cutting him off cold-turkey and let him cry it out. It did not go well at all. Any suggestions????
I thank you all for your responses. I have decided not to push the issue at this point. I have been watching more closely and have noticed that he is spitting it out shortly after falling asleep. So really he is just using it to fall asleep and when waking in the morning. He definitely is an oral sensory seeker, like his siblings, so I think I will have to find him a replacement item when he does give up the nuk. I do like the idea of the Nuk Fairy. He is becoming very independent and wants to do everything himself, so I think that choosing to give it up instead of having it taken away will probably work best. Thank you all so much!!!!!
Hi,
I just weened my 3 year old off the pacifier and I told her the binky fairies came to get the binky for new babies to have and the binky fairy left a dollar. She liked it because her older sister has been visited by the tooth fairy and got a dollar. I did spend a month talking about it and it coincided with her birthday.
Hope this gives you an idea.
L.
I'm not sure why you want him to stop if he is only using it to sleep, but if that is what you want to do then I strongly recommend talking about the Nuky Fairy (or whatever you want to call it). Then let your son decide when he is ready for the Fairy to come. It is cruel to force it, he deserves to have choice in such a critical comfort matter. That is his way to self-comfort for goodness sakes. Sucking releases chemicals in the brain that are calming. Unless he is suffering mouth deformation right now there is no point in forcing it away at this young age, but if he opts to give it up, then great.
We used the fairy technique and after talking about it for a few weeks my son surprised me and said he was ready (I was planning closer to his 3rd birthday and he was a total addict...day and night). The first couple days were tough. He didn't cry but he kept asking for them. We always gave him the option of getting his paci back, but he would have to return the gifts the fairy had brought. He always opted to keep the gifts. He doesn't miss his paci but about 6 months after the fairy took them, we discovered that he is sensory seeking with mouth stuff and he started biting/sucking on his clothes. I ended up buying him a chewy tube to help him through that...seems to be stress related.
With my granddaughter, we told her that the Nuky Fairy was coming so
we took a gift bag (one with a handle) and told her she had to put all her Nuks in there. And the next day the Nuky fairy would bring her a toy. (you know just like the toothfairy)
It was real cute (now she loved her Nuk A LOT) and she took one last suck on each one and threw them in the bag. That was it.
Yes.....there were a few times when she got really tired she cried for her Nuk......but we just explained to her that the Nuky fairy came and took them.
She got over it.
You just need to be strong at their most weakest times.
Thats good parenting.
Good Luck.
I heard of someone cutting the top of the pacifier off gradually until there was none left. With my baby we stopped cold turkey.
cut the tips off of them wont give suction any more and he will lose intrest
The pedi just told us this week we should try to get our daughter to quit the paci. She insisted the best way was to trim a little off the end of the nuk and let her have it. A week later, trim a little more off. A week later, a little more until she won't like sucking on it and throw it away herself.
At this point, our daughter is only 20 months and only uses the nuk for sleeping so I'm actually NOT taking her advice. She can have the nuk for a while yet. But, it's way to get rid of the nuk if you want to.
I don't think I'd trim the nipple, that sounds like it could be a choking hazard. I've heard you are never supposed to modify nipples on bottles or pacifiers because if the kid starts chewing on the modified part they might be able to get a piece off. They are not designed to hold up if they have been cut.
Just my opinion.
J.
There's really no reason to stop him right now, since he only uses it to sleep, It won't impede his speech and most pacifiers nowadays are made so they won't mess up his teeth. I tried unsuccessfully to wean my daughter off of hers, and one day she just didn't want it anymore. I think it was about a week after her 3rd birthday. If you ask me it's like potty training...it'll happen when THEY (not you) are ready for it!!!
throw them all away and continue to go cold turkey....it should only take a few days....my girl went cold turkey too. she would ask for them so we would look around the house and couldnt find any. she eventually gave them up. she was really addicted!! when the new baby came she found them and would sneak them in her room at night....it was like a drug!!
on the other hand...if he is only using them at night, maybe let him fall asleep with it and then take it out when he is asleep. he should grow out of it. sorry for the wishy washy answer, but he is still a baby...do what you think is best.
Make it fun for him, Have him collect all his plugs and put them in a bag. Explain to him that the plug fairy will come and take them to another child that needs them, Put them in the bag hang them from a tree, have your husband or yourself get it out of the tree in the morning before he sees and leave a little something in the bag, a movie, a toy something small. It worked for my daughter and she was very content after they were gone.
Something similar happened with my daughter. I think she was 3. One night it fell down behind the bed. I found it and hid it when she wasn't looking. When she went to bed that night, it was up to her to find it. She couldn't and was OK with going to sleep without it. She asked for it a couple times after that, but I just reminded her that it was lost and she was just fine.
Make it look like he's the one who lost it.
With my oldest we trimmed the nipple at 18 months and he threw it away himself, and only asked for it a few times. With my youngest he kept chewing on them and I kept telling him you are gonna break it, and he finally bit a hole in one (like his tooth went through) but it was enough for it to lose its suction, for air to get in, and he carried it around for a couple hours going 'broken' and finally he threw it away, and when he'd ask for it I'd say 'waht happened to nigh nigh' and he'd go 'broken, trash' and that was that. ITs been 3 days now and he's fine. Doesn't ask for it at all. He's 20 months.
Id' cut the tip and just be all 'uh oh! ITs broken, time to throw it away' and let him toss it on his own terms. Let him hold it and keep if he wants to, he'll lose interest if its not working right, with a hole in it, cut a small piece off the tip so it won't have suction. He's big enough wehre he'll understand its broken and its in the trash.
I thought that this might be worth a thought. When my son was 21/2 he too only had it at bed/nap times but was insistant about having it. then one day I told him that there are other babies that need a nuk and we should send it off to them. We got him a bunch of hot air ballons and tied his nuk to them and he let it go to the babies. He never made a big deal about it, on occasion he'd ask for his nuk and I'd ask him where it was and he'd respond "I sent it to the babies in the sky". It worked beautifully for him, I don't forsee it going so well for his 2 yr old brother.
We are in the process of weaning my son off his night time pacifier (he's quite upset even as I type). Keep strong and he will learn he doesn't need it.
