Dropping the Paci & a Baby on the Way

If she only needs it for sleeping.. you may find this easier than you think. When my oldest was 2 I simply told her that she was too old for a paci anymore at nap time. She had (still does) a "yellow teddy" that she used, so I told her that yellow teddy would take care of her and that she would be fine. I also promised that I would ck on her in ten minutes and if she still needed the paci to fall asleep, I would give it to her. She fell asleep without a problem. That night she asked again, and I said the same thing. She fell asleep without a problem and never had a paci again. Her sister was 3 months at the time. And if she even mentioned her sister's paci, it was always a discussion of what a big girl she was compared to the baby and all the other things she could do that her sister could not. It was never an issue. I also got rid of her sister's when she was only 8 months, and her younger brother got rid of his at 10 months. Good luck and congrats

I'd get rid of it soon so she has a good period of time before the baby comes to make reverting less likely. And your timing is perfect to do what we did. My daughter was the same age as yours. We suggested that she leave them for Santa to give to other babies. She agreed happily! She missed them a little for a few days, but the excitement of Christmas and the mystique of Santa were good distractions. And we were at my in-laws for Christmas, so she even dealt with it being away from home. Good luck!

I would let her have it until some time after the baby has come. I know many of the families we're friends with or related to have weened their kids off the paci gradually, and that's what we do with my son sucking his thumb and my daughter and her paci. Once they hit two, they can only have it at nap/nighttime. Since my son uses his thumb, we can't really control that (and I know a lot of people say it ruins their teeth and they won't talk, but he's actually very advanced for his age and I sucked my thumb until I was 8 when I was sleeping and my teeth are perfect.)With our daughter we just take it away during the day and if she gets a time-out, we don't let her have it then-it's only for sleeping, so she's learning to soothe herself without it. Often she starts with it at night, but has let it fall out when we check on her an hour or two later (when we go to bed). Try to get her to that point, but taking it away right before or right after a baby comes could lead to her blaming the baby.

Hi S.! My only 2 cents on this issue is that one of my daughters gave up the paci very early but I had to take it away from the other daughter at age 3. The one who gave it up early quickly became a thumb sucker and she still is to this day (and she's 8!!!) My other daughter was obviously more ready to give it up, so she never went for the thumb. Now I'm in the pickle of trying to figure out how to get my 8 year old to stop sucking her thumb - and I can't take it away! If it were me, I'd let your little one keep the paci until she's ready to give it up (within reason, of course, I refused to let mine use it in the mall after age 2, for example!!) Good luck with whatever you decide :)

i have to tell you, when i saw the title of this one what i nearly dropped were my teeth, i giggled so hard! i love what the absence of a little piece of punctuation can do!
assuming that one hangs onto both baby and paci, i just don't see the great evil in 'em, other than the inconvenience of losing them. if you really dislike pacifiers i'd get rid of your daughter's now and don't start with the new baby. i found them useful, and my babies just outgrew them as most do.
:) khairete
S.

My daughter was also very attached to the paci and also had a blanket that she used for sleeping , if she had 1 she had to have the other , so we found the best way was to get rid of both (she was 2 1/2 at the time) and #3 had just arrived. We just told her that as she was a big sister now she no longer needed her blanket and paci and then we put her to bed without it (she was no longer napping) , yes she whined for a little bit but after 10 mins or so she went to sleep and never asked for it again (she is almost 4 now).

Good luck

K.

My kids are 17 months apart. I allowed my daughter to have the paci through the birth of my son and then for a few more months. Around 20 months or so, we took it at night--cold turkey. It took her about 40 minutes to put herself to sleep the first night. The next night was about 20 minutes. Then, I took it at nap time. She has a baby doll that she loves so it wasn't too much of a problem. When my son had his, she took it a couple of times and put it in her mouth, but as soon as I saw it, I took it from her and explained that the baby needed it. It was a very small issue. If you aren't going to allow her to have it with the baby then I would take it sooner rather than later so she works on her self-soothing skills without it. The one thing that was a pain without it, is that my daughter talked and sang out loud which sometimes woke the baby. (Their rooms are close to each other, but I put a sound machine in the hallway which has solved the problem.) Good luck! It was MUCH easier then I thought it would be.

We are sort of in the same boat - 18 month old and baby due in June. We are moving next month and I think once we are settled in the new place I am going to take binkie away. She only uses it at naps and long car rides and most of the time once she is asleep it falls out of her mouth. Our plan (and we will see if it works) is to tell her she is a big girl and does not need binkie anymore and try to go cold turkey. I am going to try to really reinforce the idea that because she is a big girl she does not need it and they are only for babies. Once the baby is born in June I am hoping she will not even care about the binkie anymore or at least understand the role of "big girl" vs "baby". We shall see......

Since you have 6 months to plan for this, I would get rid of it now. It will give a lot of time for her to adjust without associating it with the baby. And if the baby ends up taking the paci too, then you can really work up the big girl routine and how she doesn't need it anymore, only babies use it, etc.

Good luck!

Hi S.,
I'd go with the moms who suggest you have your dd give it up now. I didn't when my first dd was using her's (she had a blanket too) and she would have happily continued to use it for years had I let her (and her father) have their way. I waited until after my second dd was born and ended up NOT using a paci with her because I didn't want to ever deal with a paci again! Ironically, my first dd sleeps much better without her paci. (She'd lose it and cry out for it at night.) Still has the blanket though...

actually what me and my husband did with my 4yr old when whe got rid of his was pull the dumpster up to the front door and had him watch us throw them away and he was 26 months at the time and he cried the rest of the day off and on and when he asked for it i would just remind him that it went to the trash fairy so the fairy could give it to other little boys and girls who needed binkys and affer about three days never asked again and he had a new born baby brother at the same time so even when your new one arives her wont even remember that he liked them