Need Advice on Weening off Pacifiers

I have a 3 1/2 yr old daughter and a 14mo old boy. My daughter was sooo addicted to the binkie. It was terrible. It drove me crazy. Every time she lost it in the middle of the night, she would wake up and come get me to find it. Finally, one day we just 'flew the binkies away to heaven' on helium balloons...what a relief!! she sleeps so much better now. I think i learned my lesson from my 3 year old daughter and we ditched my son's at the same time. He was just over one. In my opinion, the less time you have had a habit, the easier it should be to break. I would try letting him cry it out a little and see what happens. I hated being one of those moms whose kid was sucking on a binkie while speaking in complete sentences...ugh!! I think the sooner you ditch it the better. I kept telling my daugher we were going to 'fly' them away so she sort of would get used to the idea long before it actually happened. She did great. I think there is a window when it's easier to break their habit. My son was young enough and my daugher was old enough. My son hadn't really developed a habit yet and my daughter was sort of growing out of it, i think. So if i were you i would take advantage of the window while you have it. hope this helps you and good luck!!

Try only giving it to him at bedtime/naptime for a while then take it away all together

Hi! My daughter was between 2/3 when we took her "beebees" away. We started only giving it to her in the crib when she was a year old. Then at about 2 1/2 (this is the hard part) I threw all but one away (bury them so you aren't tempted to go get one out!) I completely cut the nipple portion off the remaining pacifier before it was naptime (no one was watching.) She told me her beebee was broke. I told her she could hold it in her hand and that we would go purchase a new stuffed animal to take to bed instead. It was only a few nights before she didn't miss it at all. Good luck, whatever you try!

My son was a little older than two - maybe even closer to three I think - when his pacifier days ended. We had tried cutting the tip off the paci but he did not care! So I was looking for another option. He had heard about the tooth fairy from another child, and was asking questions about that. So I told him that there is also a "Nuk fairy" who takes the pacifiers that children don't want anymore, but only when the children are ready. We talked about the readiness part of that more than anything, for about two weeks. Then one day, on his own he decided that he was ready to give it up. I snuck a little toy and a note under his pillow, and he was pretty excited when he found them. He was a little sad for a day, but got over it fast, and I was pleased that he had made the decision himself to give it up, when he was ready. I don't know if that will work for anyone else but it worked really well for us, and he never asked for his nuk again. Good luck!

Hi April, we cut the tip of the pacifier off & then gave it back to my son. He put it back into his mouth & didn't like the way it felt. We told him 'Oh, it must have broken, you'll have to throw it away' & let him do the honors. He did cry the first night & then for the next few days he was sad & missing it, but that was it. Occasionally he would ask for it and we would remind him that it 'broke' & he had to throw it out. He was also a bit older - just over 2.

Good luck!
J.

We just broke our son (2 years old) on August 10th. We tried a few times before this when he was 1 and it never worked. Crying it out was not an option because he was literally making himself sick when it was time to go to sleep. He didn't walk around with it all day long, but he did use it at nap time and bed time. We took him to the dentist in July and she told us to get rid of it "soon." I just had another baby in February and we wanted to make sure that the 2 year was all settled with the new baby before we did anything drastic, seeing that his little brother has a pacifier. His doctor and dentist recommended that we go "cold turkey" so that is what we did. He was a little older when we tried this time so it was a little easier on all of us. He cried a little on the first night and that was really it. I think we were really lucky. Now, he doesn't even think about a pacifier even though the other day I caught him licking his little brothers pacifier. Now he tells me that the baby doesn't need his pacifier either. My doctor always told me not to worry about it until he was between the ages of 2-3. This is when it can casue damage to their teeth. His day care never said anything about him having a pacifier because once he was walking, he only used it at nap time. Good luck

Hi April,

I followed the advice of my pediatrician with both my children and it worked brilliantly. He said simply take the pacifier away completely -- go cold turkey -- around a year and a half. My daughter cried pitifully the first night. Briefly the second. And never again. My son didn't cry, but often pointed to the former storage location of the pacifier for about a week before he gave up.

I must tell you, it was pretty darn easy.

M.

Hi! We took the "paci" away from our daughter cold turkey. She was about 2 1/2 years old. What we did was cut the tip off of one of them while she wasn't using it and when she found it we told her it had an accident. She was upset for about 2 days and that was it, she hasn't mentioned her "paci" since then. Good Luck!

We had alot of moms give me alot of ideas, but in the end, we went cold turkey. The 1st two - five days are really hard, but once you get through them, he won't even look back. You just have to get through that first period.

You don't have to wheen him just yet, and it might even be easier once he understands why he can't have his pacifier. My girlfriend had a really good idea, she had a pacey party. With cupcakes, decorations, and the whole family. They tied her pacifier to a helium balloon and said good-bye to it....they said that it was going to a new baby that needed a pacifier....Just an idea.....It worked great for her. Of course, she got her down to only having her pacifier at bed time first. Good luck...

Here is what worked for me with my 2. Like other posts, it may not work or you may not want to try it, but here it is!

I firmly believe that by 18mos, lots of habits become more difficult to break - it's not a magical age, but it became my goal with several things, including paci weaning.

At first, we stopped allowing the paci to come out of the crib or car. When the baby at 12 - 13 mos wanted out of the crib, we said paci stays in, so db tossed it in the crib, threw up her arms to get out and it became one step down.

We then weaned off the car - not too easy, but certainly manageable. By 14-15 mos we were ready with my daughter, and then later my son at that age to wean off nap/bedtime. First we tossed out all but one. We put a hole in the remaining one. We put her to bed for a nap and because of the hole, she didn't like it. She went round and round with tossing it, asking for it, trying it and getting mad and spitting it out. She fell asleep. When she woke up she understood it was broken and I had her throw it away. That night when she asked for it, I reminded her she threw it away. She tossed and turned a little, needed extra hugs and some extra attention (back pats/rubs) when she stirred in the middle of the night, but it was otherwise a smooth transition.

Babies suck for comfort so I didn't want to break the paci addiction too early (and also feared thumb sucking as a replacement) so it worked well for us doing it at this pace.

Good luck!