Getting Rid of Pacifier at 7 Months

I've taken it away from both my sons the same way, first at 9 months, second at 1 year. I cut the tips off. My first son was doing what you're going through. It was driving me crazy. As if he was 2 months again, waking up all the time, but just for pacifier. He would suck on it for a couple of minutes, get frustrated and put it out. It took two nights. The third night, he spit it out, and literally threw it, and never looked back. It was as if he made the decision. My second son did take a little longer, I think because of the age, but still only about 3-4 nights before he quite completely, and once again, like it was his decision. I know it sounds crazy, but i think even at that age, they like to feel in control of SOMETHING! Good luck, and do it now! I think the earlier the better.

We weaned at 2 years so not this early but my suggestion is we use to put a good 5 paci's in the crib with our daughter she was always bound to find one to put back in herself. Just a thought.

Tell your friend if it is really a problem to get up then yes, cold turkey...but if she doesn't mind just put a couple of extra in the crib or one on her own night stand so she doesn't have to fumble in the dark to find the lost one in the crib. Also, as much as people like to speak of the urgency in banishing the pacifier to never never land...really...do you realize how many kids need braces now a days who never had a "binki"?

At that age we bought a binki leash and our son was able to find it himself. When we did ditch the binki - at a year - we just took it away. First night sucked, felt like it took forever for him to get to sleep. Next night, not so bad and in less than a week he was sleeping well without it.

Your friend is doing herself a big favor by taking away the paci now before her kid is 2 years old and can talk and try and argue about it while throwing a full blown tantrum! We took it away and six months and it was one of the best things I ever did. No need to wean....take them all away and throw them in the garbage. Baby will protest the first few nights, naps....but just go in pat her back and then leave. The baby will forget very soon. It is best to just go cold turkey, a baby can't understand having something just some of the time and not at others. Throw them away so they are not tempted to give in with a paci. We started giving our little one a light receiving blanket or small animal at this time as a transitional lovie to use for comfort. I think this really helped her speech and teeth too as she didn't always have a plug in her mouth. Tell your friends the first night or so is a little rough, but the baby is old enough to not this and sleep through the night and they will be so glad that they did this sooner rather then later. I would nix the 10 binkies in the crib idea---the baby will just cry for parent's to come in and give it back and it interrupts their sleep if they are constantly waking for a pacifier-no need for this.

Yes, I was very successful. I did it at 7 months then after going on a weeks work trip my husband resorted back to it so I had to wean again at 9 months but it is much easier at this age rather than after a year old. It does mean some sleepless nigths and crying fro about a week. But each night is easier. After about 4-5 days my daughter was not gettign up cry ing for it anymore. My reason for weaning her was also because I was getting tired of having to get up and find the paci for her 3 or more times. I was done. Since then if she ever found one she had it in her mouth, but once she took ti out I grabed it and packed it away. She would never ask for them. I at first kept them around in case we ended up doing any traveling where it is good to have them suck on something during take off and landing. After my trip when she was 18 mths old I finally packed every single on away. Tell your friend good luck

If she keeps it much longer, it will be become a BIG issue. It's the O. thing I did "by-the-book" with my son. Cold Turkey. A few nights of fussing but generally it was a non-issue. She could try not using it during the day at first and then stop it at night last.
I've heard of people snipping the tips off so it doesn't really "work" anymore and they loose interest, but I didn't try that myself.

I took away my son's pacifier at about 10 months. We just went cold-turkey and it really wasn't too bad. Within 2 days it was fine during the day and after 3 nights there were no night problems. This is what our pediatric dentist recommended at this age. He said it was just easier and the baby will not remember. It was pretty funny because about 6 months later my son found one and had no idea what to even do with it. And this was a boy who used the pacifier all the time. Sometimes I asked myself why I didn't just do it earlier. Good luck.

We cut the tip off with the intent of cutting a bit more each night. Our daughter just handed it back to us after trying it. She cried for a few nights. She was a year. It took less than a week to be through the whole process.

I had a binki baby. I didn't take the binki away until about 18 months & it went pretty smoothly. But I did find a way to avoid going into her room 3 times a night. I bought about 6 or 7 binkis & I would place them in her crib with her - a few in each corner & around the side. She quickly learned to grab one & put it back in herself & stopped waking me at night. That being said, I don't think there's anything wrong with weaning whenever you want to. I'd just pick a time when you can lose a little sleep for a few days while the baby gets used to it.

Personally, I wouldn't do it at that age. They're teething & need a way to comfort themselves. My doc told me it's best to let them have it for the 1st year because of the drop in SIDS cases from using the binki. I'd advise them to wait it out...maybe put several in the crib with her & help her to find them by herself at night.

I started weaning both my boys around 8 months or so and finished around 12-14 months. I started first with weaning during waking hours, just letting them have it at nap and bedtime. Then we weaned off for naptime and then bedtime. They both did great! Good luck!