Cutting Pacifier to Wean of Usage

My daughter had multiple pacifiers and we thought she would never give them up! At age 3 1/2 the dentist told her nicely, but firmly that she should stop using her pacifiers because they had caused a gap in her teeth. That afternoon we went home and she cut the tops off of all of her pacifiers herself. We agreed to give all of her pacifiers to "the babies" (this made her feel like she was doing something good) and kept just one. I tied that pacifier to the doll that she sleeps with every night. She now holds the pacifier in her hand at night but has never tried to put it into her mouth. Just holding it brings her comfort. Hope that is helpful.

When my daughter was 2, I started cutting the pacifier. FIrst I just cut a bit off the tip and then each week I would cut a little bit more. It got to where she would start with it in her mouth but then it would fall out as soon as she fell asleep. By the 3rd or 4th week one day it fell out and we could not find it. Really we looked all over and it was nowhere. At the same time we'd been telling her there were baby sharks who needed her pacifier (had tried to use that story to get rid of it at the beach a few months prior) so when it went missing I said oh well i guess the baby shark came and got it. She was fine with it. Later that week when I was changing her sheet, I found it underneath her mattress but threw it out before she could see it.

As stated before there are MANY thoughts/opinions on this topic. I can only share my experience. My son was a preemie and it was recommended to use the paci to help him learn his suck/swallow/breath. We only used it for sleeping. Well, at about 10 months old we started having lots of ear infections. We went to see an ENT regarding tubes. The first thing he told us was to get rid of the paci. He was a very compassionate doctor and had lots of pedi experience. He said we might have a rough night or two but the best way was to go cold turkey. My son was almost a year at this point. We tried it by just not giving it to him that night at bed - he asked once and we changed the subject. He actually fussed a little but went to sleep. Much to our surprise, he never asked for it again and we were done. I was actually very greatful b/c he started daycare soon after. There were lots of kids with their pacis all the time - they would drop them, share them, etc. A real germfest in my eyes. We were able to avoid all that as my son wasn't even interested anymore. Just my opinion, but seems the older they are the more resistance to getting rid of it b/c it has had a longer time to become a security. I'm not against them, I just feel there is a time and place and a time to get rid if them. Not meaning to sound insensitive - I feel it's up to us as parents to help our children the best way we can, sometimes it means doing something not so easy but they end up better for it in the long run. You are his mom, you have gotten a lot of advice, read it and use YOUR judgement as to what is best for your child - afterall, you know him best! Good Luck!

How old is he? Is his use of it for sleep and napping really causing a problem? Lots of kids need extra comfort measures for sleepy time, some suck their thumb, some use blankies or animals. Your son was encouraged to suck a pacifier and was provided it. I don't think that a young child has the logic or reasoning ability to comprehend why their loved one is now taking away what they encouraged all along and that they have become so happy and comfortable with. In addition, if you already know that you plan to transition him to a different bed soon, why not wait and let him have a better chance at finding comfort and accepting the new sleep arrangements a little easier? If the pacifier is ripped away now and then he finds himself ina new sleep arrangement, it might be harder for him to adjust and settle in to sleep.

If you are really set on getting rid of his pacifier, I would do it as gently as possible. As much as you want him to be ok with getting rid of it, he has obviously developed a sense of relaxation and comfort with having it, and as with anyone (even adults!) it will not feel good to have it taken away or for him to lose his comfort measure :-) Best wishes to both of you :-)

It was completely successful with our daughter, with little tears at that! Dependending on the type, but we cut a good chunk out of the tip, but less than half. Basically the idea of it (or at least for us) is that you want him to lose the "sucking" part of it. With our daughter we tried cold turkey, then only nap and bedtime, but didn't work. When we cut the tips, I did all but 1 (we put it up in a spot she didn't know about) and the first day we were outside walking around and she literally threw 2 of them on the ground because they were "broken" and they weren't doing anything for her. She did wimper some and asked her daddy to fix her broken favorite one at bedtime, but that was the most resistance. She did carry around this one for a little bit (maybe a week) but every time she put it in her mouth and realized it didn't "work" (as she like to say) then she would drop it. Before we knew it, she never even mentioned it, and didn't even try to take her baby sister's (who didn't take one, but we had them for her just in case.) So, hopefully it will work for you as well as it did for us! Good luck!

I snipped a tiny sliver off the top of my son's pacifier with intentions to keep cutting another sliver every few days until he didn't want it anymore...but he gave it up himself with the first cut! (It wasn't an easy nap that day, though) but I praised him for his bravery and took him to Build a Bear for a treat. We found a turtle with a shell backpack, dressed him up, and he became the "binky-keeper" (I put the binky in the backpack), so my son still has his security in bed, just not in his mouth. About a month later...he chose to give it up to the "binky-fairy" under his pillow and woke up to a small present in its place. Done!...that easy...and at his will! Good luck!

Hello, D.
Yes, I used the cutting the pacifier method. It works like magic!! I was so anxious about doing it. I even planned it for a weekend, when my husband was home because I thought I would need help conforting my child. Well, guess what? It was so easy, my child did not even get upset!! I don't know how old your son is. Doctors recommend children should stop using pacifiers before their second birthday, so it won't deform their teeth. You only need to cut the tip. Do it on 2 or 3 pacifiers. When my son tried the first one, he said "it's broken". So I gave him a second one, he tried it and said the same thing. I told him, "yes, sweethart, they are all broken". He did not even cry. For the rest of the week, we would ask for it, but he answered himself, "oh, it's broken". And that was it. Good luck.
C. S

Here is the thing, I have seen children who have sores in their mouths from cutting the nipples on bottles and on paci's. With my oldest daughter, we actually took about a week to collect them all and placed them in my hubby's work bag and one evening he took it to work and disposed of them all! She asked for it, I told her that "Daddy has it" and she went to sleep without it and never asked for it again. I tried and tried with my youngest since she was a premie and it is easier for premies to remember to breathe if they are paci suckers, but she wasn't having it. I recommend going cold turkey. You may have a few fights with him, but all in all it is best if you just take it away because after all "out of sight out of mind" with toddlers is correct.

Best bet, just make them disappear! It might take a few days, but kids forget and adjust easily. My son was a thumb sucker only at bed time, similar to what yours does with his pacifier. My son ended up getting an infection in his thumb from his teeth breaking the skin, so, when he went to bed, we took a tube sock and taped it with medical tape over his hand and arm, up to his shoulder so he couldn't get it off. Within just a few nights of doing that he no longer went for the thumb at night. He was about 17 months at the time.

Just to throw another idea out there--with our 2 kids, we had them throw their pacifiers away themselves. The next time they were going to sleep and looking for it we could remind them that they were big kids now and they threw them away. They remembered and seemed to be fine with it. We had a couple of moments of crying for it, but it wasn't that difficult. Within a few days they didn't even remember using them--and they had both been pretty attached. I think I had made a bigger deal of it in my mind than it actually turned out to be!

I wouldn't recommend cutting it. It could become a choking hazard if any pieces came off in your sons mouth.
I was concerned about my daughter's passy use too and tried to figure out a good way to wean her. Finally, at 2 1/2 years old an opportunity presented itself. She got a rash around her mouth and the passy was making it worse. At that point I told her she couldn't use it and took it away. She kept telling me her mouth was better, but I stayed firm after that. After a few days she was fine.
She used it longer than I wanted her to, but when the timing was right things just worked out.

Someone gave me this advice and it worked for my two kids. It was around Christmas time and a couple of weeks before we talked about how Santa has to give all paci's to little babies and that he needs their help in collecting all paci's from big kids to pass along to the babies. So, on Christmas Eve I had them collect all of them up and we wrapped them up for Santa and put them under the tree. We kept them up a little later than normal so they would be extremely tired and went to bed without ever asking for it. The next morning, Santa rewarded them with presents for being big boys. They were both about 1 1/2 years old at the time.

Cutting the pacifier is very unsafe. Why do you think it says on the package if it gets a hole in it to throw it out for the childs safety?
Just be brave and take it from him. He may cry awhile but it's better than him having a cut pacifier and then choking on it if more should break off.
Read the statistics on children that choke from damaged pacifiers then be your own judge.

kids really like a pacifier if their cranial bones are not exactly aligned- get a chiropractor to check him out,
and don't be in such a hurry to take it away especailly if he is using it to sleep- you could end up with a whole different thing- him not sleeping-
who cares if he uses it to sleep? Did someone say he shouldn't use it? If they did, then from a physical point of view- they are not correct,
Leave it be-k

When my son was 2 1/2, he had about 10 paci's. I cut his favorite ones at the tip and a little more every day until finally there was nothing there anymore. Everyday, my son would pick up his paci and try to suck on it, and would have the funniest look on his face! I would tell him that he sucked it all up and that he needed to just throw it away! He would throw that one away and go get another one. I would get it away from him somehow during the day, and I would do the same to that one, until we finally did that to his entire stash of paci's. He would take it to bed with him and try to suck on it, but, it just didn't have the same enjoyment to him so he would just take it out and he didn't seem to be too upset about it. That was the end of our paci days. He is now 13 years old and we laugh about it. Good luck on your paci days! I wish those days were back now, I miss them a lot!

With both of my girls, I just took it away and told them that it was for babies and they were big girls. I did time it along with either the 2nd birthday or moving into a big kid bed. That way I could make a big deal about how they were big now and get to do big girl things.

There are so many different opinions and experiences with pacifiers. My son who is almost 7, had a pacifier till almost his 3rd birthday. I cut slits, cut the tips, tried all the tricks. He would still figure out away to suck on it. If your son only uses it for sleep, i dont think its hurting anything. He will get rid of it when he is ready and believe me it will be before you know it. My 2nd son will be 2 very soon, he too has a pacifier for sleep, i wont take it from him, he will give it up on his own. Good luck!

You already have lots of good advice. I did want to say that the longer they have it, the more attached/dependent they can become. My youngest son had his for-ev-er (it seemed). But finally we picked a date and when the day came and he protested I said oh, I've already put a call in to the binky fairy, so she's coming! I made my husband hide them so even I didn't know where they were (you know, just in case ;>) Even with his strong attachment to it, it was only about 2 days of crankiness and then he was fine.

But I also agree with one poster who said if it makes him happy when he sleeps, who cares? Our dentist said no worries with it (as long as it was gone before permanent teeth came in!) Also notice that if they fall asleep with it, it rarely stays in their mouth, it usually falls out. So it probably isn't doing any harm.

Good luck!

I don't really have any suggestions for you. I did cut my sons pacifier, but only because he chewed on it instead of sucking on it and it was tearing where he chewed on it etc. so I (right in front of him actually) cut where it was tearing at and he was alright with it til the next bed time that is, lol! :) but it was short lived and he's been fine since then...

anyways, good luck with whatever you figure out!

http://tlc.discovery.com/guides/family/tlc-baby-block/par...

Hi D.,

Above is the link to one story about using the pacifier fairy to help kids transition away from using the paci. There are a number of other links if you search pacifier fairy. My kids didn't use one, so I can't give you any personal advice. (My four year old still sucks his thumb when he is tired.) Best of luck.

M.