Giving up the Pacifier - Portage,MI

At about 2 1/2 we told my son it was yucky and didn't he want to throw it away. He did. He asked for it for a few days and we reminded him it was yucky, he was a big boy and he threw it away. Actually, it was much less traumatic that we thought it would be. THere is no good time to do it. I would just involve him in it somehow.

When getting my son off the passy we started kind of slow. He could have it at home and in the car, but when we got out of the car the passy got taken away. Once he was doing good with that he could only have it at home. Then he could only have it at night when he went to bed. We got rid of all but one and when he lost it that was the end. He's five now and once in a while he'll say we need to go buy a new one but I distract him with something else and he forgets all about it.

Good Luck.
A.

i just threw my daughters away. At 3 years old and told her she didn't need it anymore; she fussed for the first couple of nights but i kept telling her that she's a big girl now and doesn't need them anymore; AND i made sure not to have any back ups "in case she couldn't handle it" crying it out for the first night or two was fine with me if she needed to; but she didn't and 3 years old they are already wanting to be a "big kid" so good luck and remember to stay strong.

Hi N.-I got rid of my sons pacifier when he was 2 and it was really hard but we tried new things like holding a toy while he was sleeping instead of a pacifier or taking a drink before he went to bed. i hope this advice helps you.

My daughters teeth started protruding-time to get rid of the binky! All I did was cut a very tiny piece off of the very tip of the nipple (when she wasn't around of course).
When night came and she grabbed that binky...she put it in her mouth, got this strange expression on her face and took the binky out. She handed it to me and said "it's broked" She held it in her hand for a few nights, but that was the end of binky :)
Just make sure you find all of the hidden binkies

On my daughter's 2nd b-day we took the "bee bee" away. We did it cold turkey. She cried the 1st night, and maybe the next couple. After that it was done. I loved the name she gave it , thanks for reminding me of those days. Good Luck!

We just took our sons pacifier away at 3 and suprisingly he was fine. We took it out of his room when he wasn't looking and when it was time for him to got to sleep he asked where it was and I said I'm sorry we must have lost it some where we will look for it tomorrow. He went to sleep with no problem the next day he did the same thing and and we said we lost it. It went on for about two weeks and now he doesn't mention it.

The only advice that I could give is....The same advice that I gave to one of my girlfriends'. Her son was still using a pacifier at the age of 3 also. I told her, out of sight, out of mind. She threw all of his pacifiers in the garbage and had a few rough hours. But after that he never asked for them again. Some kids are easier to break than others. So this might help out. Wishing you the best!!

Hi N.-My son too had his binky until he was 3yrs old and it was a hard thing for him to give up and I felt so guilty making him. I have heard some of the following ideas-1)mailing them to the binky fairy, 2)giving them to a new baby(of someone that you know of course), or our dentist told my son this and it worked-bury them somewhere and flowers will come up. Just make sure you plant something there because they will be looking for it in the spring. It worked for us-Good luck.
C.

N.,

Both of my children, (now 6 & 3) loved their pacifiers. We finally at age 2 worked the Big Boy, Big Girl angle. We told them that there were lots of little babies that needed the pacifiers and it was time to let them go. We also DID NOT BUY ANY NEW ONES. My daughter was harder but eventually she didn't have anymore so...no more pacifier. She cried a lot the first week but, she has been pacifier free for over 7 months now. Just a side note...they do not forget about them. She recently found one in a toy box and popped it right into her mouth. I acted completley shocked because, "Big Girls that use the potty do not have pacifiers." She reluctently gave it up. :)

Dear Nicole:

I have a two year old and she has been without her pacificer for some time now...3 months or so...what we did is we just lost it, and that was the end of it. I am not saying it will work with your kid but its worth a try I suppose. You know your kid's temparament and personality better than anyone...if one thing does not work try another, but at this age they're too old to have a pacifier (in my opinion). Cold turkey may be the way...my daughter cried for about 2 weeks or less mostly at bed time because that was her comfort and what helped her get to sleep. Now she finds other ways and is just learning to go to sleep like a big girl.

Good luck,
B.

My daughter was around 2-years-old when we began the weaning process. We started with removing it from naptime and only allowing it at bedtime. For the first few days, she was not to happy with this, but 3 or 4 days into it the screaming stopped and she was sleeping just fine (probably from the exhaustion of screaming - lol!!!)

We created her a Countdown Chart that showed her how many days she had left with her suckie . . . example: The chart had 7 boxes on it which indicated that she had 7 days until she got to say Good-Bye to her suckie. Each morning when she woke up, she put a sticker on her chart. We talked about how many days she had left and made sure she understood that when the chart is full, she was all done!

When her chart was full, we made a really big deal about how big she was and how big girls don't need suckies anymore! We had arranged for the last day with the suckie to also be on garbage day. That morning, we all walked out to the garbage can and let her throw it away. Then when the garbage truck came, we all stood at the window and waved good-bye to the suckie!!! I then let her call a few people (grandparents, aunt, etc) to tell them what she had just done!

Then later that night, we celebrated with cake, ice cream, and party hats!!! She felt so proud that by bedtime, she was totally ok with going to bed "like a big girl"! For the first few days without it, she asked about her suckie but we very excitedly reminded her that she threw it away and the garbage truck took it away!!!

I am happy to say that she never had a problem without it!!! Good luck!!

Hi Nicole,
Does your child have it all the time? If he does I would definatly take it away during the day. Use it only for naps and bedtime. Then after a couple of weeks take it away all together. My now three and a half year old used one for bedtime until he was almost 3. For some reason he wanted to floss his teeth after he brushed really bad. I told him that you can't floss your teeth until you stop using a pacifer and he ran to his room and threw his pacifer in the trash. Now he flosses twice a day after he brushes his teeth. I still can't believe it worked. Maybe you can come up with something like that for your child. Is there something that he wants to do that you don't let him do now? Good luck.
Chris

Hi N.. I have 2 children who used a pacifier. My son was about 3 when we decided to take it away. At that time he was into Buzz Lightyear, so we decided that one day, Buzz came from outer space and took his pacy into "outer space and beyond". He asked for it for awhile, but got over it. My daughter gave it up pretty easily using about the same technique except Ariel (The Little Mermaid) took her pacifier into the "grotto". This worked pretty well for our kids. I hope this helps. Good luck.

After 18 mos. my daughter only had her "sucky" at night. But on her third birthday I told her no more. We had tried telling her nice stories about fairies and stuff, but none of it worked. So on her birthday ( I know...Happy Birthday lol ) we threw them all away and for a few nights it was really rough going to sleep. But no kidding...after the 3rd night she was fine. Never looked back. It will be hard no matter what, so maybe just do it on a Friday night and by Monday night you'll be doing good.

This is what worked for my son. We told him that he was a big boy now and it was time for the pacifier to go to other little boys and girls that needed it. We collected each of the pacifiers, put them in a basket outside his door one night....he said good bye to them....then the "pacifier fairy" came and left him a new somthing to sleep with for giving his pacifier to the children that needed it. Don't get me wrong, it was a tough transition, but you just have to stand strong and make sure you get them all out of the house or it won't do you much good! Good luck!

I was watching an Episode of "SuperNanny" that had a very clever suggestion for that. Instead of the like "tooth fairy" its the "pacifier fairy" The pacifier fairy collects pacifiers from bigger children who dont need them anymore and gives them to younger babies or children who need them and in return for their good deed they leave a big girl/big boy toy or activity. You and your child collect all of the pacifiers around the house and put them in a bag (in the show they hung the bag on a tree its kind of cold to do that but you can get creative with it im sure!)It worked very well on the show My daughter never liked pacifiers but i thought it was a cute idea!Good Luck!
L.

With my oldest son, we started putting it up out/away between nap and bed. After each of these, we let him put it way and it was understood that he could only have it at these times. Once this was mastered, we moved to only having it at bed. After than we explained how big he was...to big for a pacifier and me made the notion to throw them away one by one.

We used this same technique when we where cutting our youngest off at before the age of one. It worked well for him too!

I hope this helps.

Here is a link to a post where this was discussed last summer. Some great ideas there. Anything from the binky fairy to using the pacifiers to "purchase" something. We just took my son's away at 2 1/2, but it was pretty easy for us since he was only allowed to have them at bedtime anyhow. Best of luck!

http://www.mamasource.com/request/18312927053290143745