Pacifer Question!

Just throw it away. It causes them to be upset for a few days and then its DONE.

Having it at nap and bedtime at this age is not horrible, but its getting to a point where she's too old for it. I took my daughter's away at 18 months and she was fine with it, not even asking for it. But then when she started teething for her molars I gave it back because she loved to teeth with it more then sucking on it. She got back into the habit of needing it, so she was over 2 when we finally tossed it. All the teeth were in so no reason to have it back. It was one or two days and then no more issue.

Best wishes!

Sounds like you're doin' good limiting it. Yes, it can cause dental problems. You can try having a ceremony to give the sucky to Santa or the pacifier fairy or something, but she's pretty young to understand. You can say it's lost. You can give a substitute that's to cuddle - special doll or animal. Good luck!

Age-wise you are still okay, but it's a good idea to work on it. My niece had a particularly difficult time giving hers up at home. At daycare she was limited to naptime and it worked fine, but at home she did the same as what your daughter is doing. My SIL stuck to her guns and told her DD if she wanted the pacifier, she had to stay in her bed. That lost its appeal after a while and she finally stopped demanding it (it took weeks, by the way). Good luck and keep at it. :)

Whatever you decide to do to get rid of the pacifier, ironically, your dd will sleep BETTER without it. She won't wake up in the middle of the night asking where it is, etc. It'll actually be a relief to her that she doesn't have it or have to worry about it anymore. Does she also sleep with a blanket or stuffed animal? That might help her focus on something else at first when it's initially taken away. Honestly, the earlier you help her find a more suitable comfort device, the better. Paci's are terribly addictive, but agreeably better than the thumb. Also, if you can't seem to get it away for now, most dentists say it won't harm teeth until the adult ones start coming in. So I'm told. Good luck!

Have DD help you put Sucky in an envelope and put it under the tree for Santa to take to a brand new baby who needs Sucky really, really bad now that DD is a BIG girl. Then when she asks for it, remind her that Santa took it to a very good home. Super Nanny did something very similar to this on one of her episodes with the "paci fairy". Worked like a charm :) BUT whatever you decide to do and when you do it--it's permanent. Don't give it back to her no matter how much she fusses. It will only be for a short while. If you give in, you'll have to start all over and she may become MORE attached than she is now.

My daughter had to be taken off the bottle early due to a fall that broke out her top front tooth. She had the urge to suck and decided to suck her fingers. I a\can only caution you that if she still needs that pacifier to suck on and you take it away she will find something to suck on, maybe a thumb, a finger, a blanket, etc....

I talked to our pediatric dentist about her kids that I am raising because I refused to fight with them and take them off the bottle at a year old like everyone was pushing me to do. He said it is much easier to take a bottle or pacifier away when they are ready than it is to take away a finger or toy they are sucking.

If she still needs to suck then let her keep it for a while longer. It is so hard looking at a young teen who needs to have braces and can't because her bottom jaw was so recessed that she needed to have it broken and redesigned so it would grow back more in line with her top teeth, then she could have had braces to straighten the total mouth to make them prettier.

When my son started sitting up and playing then we took the sucky away except at night. When he was two then we took it away completely. I got him a special bear to sleep with and he had problems getting to sleep for one night. I rubbed his back and helped him get to sleep. You will put up with crying and screaming a lot before she reaches 5. Taking the sucky is one of the easiest things you will do. Giving it to another baby who really needs it is a great idea for her to do. Cutting the top works great too.

I was 4yrs old when I finally got rid of mine. My daughter was 4yrs old when she finally got rid of hers. Her teeth are in perfect condition. I needed braces but for TMJ... Not from crooked teeth or an overbite. My TMJ was caused by my wisdom teeth.

My son is 2.5 and still has his... Generally for nap or bed. The only other time he wants it is when he's not feeling well or got hurt. If it's not in the vacinity when he gets hurt... He goes for his fingers. You can't remove fingers... You can remove a paci.

At least you can take the pacifier away. My daughter is now 5 years old and we probably tell her "No thumb sucking" 50 times a day. Her front teeth are loose and I am afraid it is already too late for an odd chance of straight teeth.

She has said for the last year and a half that she is going to stop, but never accomplishes it.

As previously mentioned, I would remove it the second she is asleep. Try a day when she has over done it, then give her a warm bath, read her a story and keep telling her she can have it after the story. See if she doesn't fall asleep without it. I would say a good week to two weeks without it and she will be fine.

I think personally people try to take away the paci too soon for some kids. If she is only having it at sleep time whats the harm?
But if you want to get rid of it, then let her have it at sleep time, wait until she is asleep and then take it from her and see if she notices it when she wakes.
Or simply take it down to one time a day. Either at nap time, or at night time.

At 20 months, our DD still had her "binky" but we limited it to sleeping only. If she asked for it, we told her it stayed in the crib and she could have it for sleeping, end of story. It did not go out in public anywhere (because we did not want to lose it) and we did not let her just have it constantly (because we did not want it to interfere with her ability to talk). It wasn't until she was closer to 3 (just 2 months before her 3rd b-day) that we ended up getting her to give it up for good. Part of the problem was that there was only 1 pacifier that she would accept, so it was getting pretty nasty and gross. The other problem is that she started demanding it at other times, after many months of being fine with it being for sleep only.

So we started telling her about the Binky Fairy, and how she was a big girl that did not need a binky and the Binky Fairy would take her binky and leave her a big-girl present in its place, because there were little babies out there that needed the binkies. And finally 1 night she agreed to leave it for the Binky Fairy on her windowsill and that was that. We did get her a special gift (a soccer ball that she kept asking for) and a letter from the Binky Fairy thanking her for giving it up. She wasn't real happy about it being gone for the next week but eventually she stopped crying about it and that was that.

It can affect teeth and speech. Just throw them away. The crying and screaming will be over in a day or two tops. You are going to have to say "no" and take things away that are alot harder than a sucky when you are parent--get used to it. It is not all sunshine and rainbows.

She is still a baby...it's ok to still have her sucky. I wouldn't consider it a habit, it is still a source of comfort for her. You could START talking about being a big girl and not needing it anymore. One of my daughters was a "nuc" baby....we slowly conveniently "lost" them. She had them stashed in her toys, carried them around, had them in her bed....when they were gone, they were gone. You might try the method that the Nanny Jo on TV used. She talked about the "pacy fairy" coming to take the pacy to a new baby that really needed it. She made a big deal out of it...leaving it out for the fairy, the fairy leaving a thank you note and a little gift. It worked on TV. In the mean time, the way you describe the sucky issue, I don't think she use it enough to effect her teeth right now, it is still a comfort for her at nap and bedtime, after all some little ones still have their bottle at this age at bedtime and naptime. The other thing is, she might start sucking her thumb or fingers...can't take those away. She will give it up eventually... No worries!

I know how hard it is to listen to her screaming for it... But you're better off taking it away now rather than waiting. I took my son's paci away at 18 months. I wanted to hurl myself out of a window that whole weekend, but once we got through that whole weekend it was a LOT easier. About a week later, my son found one of his paci's on the floor, picked it up, studied it for a minute, and then handed it to me.

Some parents call it insensitive, others call it doing what's necessary, but I say the sooner you take it away, the easier it'll be.

My 1st child was very dependent on paci - could not sleep without it (child 2 and 3 never wanted it). I took it away from her just before she turned 3 (the paci-fairy came to get them for the fairy babies). I thought she would be upset for a couple days, but .... she cried hysterically every night for hours for about 3 months. It was TERRIBLE. I really regret taking them away. If I could go back in time, I would just let her have it as long as she wanted (which I found out she would have gotten rid of on her own after a few years anyway), but confined it to her bed only - not ever to leave under her pillow. And no, it wouldn't affect her mouth until after her permanent teeth come it. The only concern doctors have at that age is if it is prohibiting them from learning to talk (because their mouth is always full).

It sounds like she will probably ween herself from it eventually, she's only using it for naps and bedtime for the most part. I wouldnt rush it too much just yet. When she turns two have her turn it in at the toy store for a new stuffed animal to sleep with. If she trades it out herself you can always tell her she traded it and its gone now. She is still young tho... if you arent ready to make her get rid of it completely just yet you still have some time. Try to redirect her before giving it to her, they usually want it when they get bored or tired.
I dont think pacifiers mess with their teeth much unless they are still sucking on one vigorously after the age of 3. Thumbsuckers have way more problems than paci suckers do in that regard.

UnfortunATLY its one of the hardest things you will have to do. By ear plugs. But you need totake it away her cry should only last an hr. each day for one week should decrease in 15 min intervals till after 2 weeks its not even a big thing.

I wouldn't be too concerned at 20 months. Just start limiting it to her bed (nap time, bed time, and nap time at daycare) - that's what we did with my now 4 year old. And we started talking a lot about how she doesn't need it as much anymore now that she's getting older. With my daughter, we also talked about how it could hurt her teeth. I let her go too long with the pacifier, I admit... We started limiting it earlier on (before 2 years old) but didn't fully get rid of it until 3 years. During her 1st trip to the dentist, the dentist immediately knew she was a "pacifier baby"... So it can affect the teeth. I've heard different theories: 1 being that babies should never have the pacifier. And the other is that they're fine until adult teeth start to come in. I have no idea what is right but weaning was the best method for us. When it was finally time to get rid of it, she pretty much gave it up without a fight. Every once in a while for the next 6 or so months, she would ask for it. But she just found one recently (she's now 4 1/2) and put it in her mouth as a joke and she thought it was SO funny...

Cut the tip of her paci's in an x shape. When she sucks on it there will be no suction and it will nip at at tongue. It won't hurt her it will just be very annoying to her. When she asks what happened just tell her its broken. good luck, but like the other moms say take it away sooner. It will be easier on you.

A.

My second son was 21 months when we did what worked for us: cold turkey! We played him hard that day, and he ended up going to bed much past his bedtime, and we literally didn't have a pacifier with us, so that's what we told him (we were spending the night elsewhere). After that, we simply stopped giving it to him, then....and he asked/whimpered about it for a week or so, but then that was it!

My third son is currently 15.5 months, and I'm contemplating doing the same thing soon too, as # 4 will be here in March.....but I so understand the not wanting to hear the crying and screaming!

Do what works best for you ~ good luck, Mama!

I finally took my daughter's away at 26 or 27 months. I never thought I'd be one of those moms! LOL She constantly had it in her mouth. It drove me nuts! I made her quit cold turkey and after about a day of whining, that was it! Just rip the bandaid off! Good luck!

My oldest daughter was very dependent on her pacifier (she would sleep with 3) one in each hand and one in her mouth. We would only let her have them during nap/bedtime. We got rid of the pacifier a few months after she turned 3. I talked it up to her for a week, that we were going to put her pacifiers in a Build-A-Bear and then she could sleep with that every night. We took her to Build-A-Bear and she put all 3 of her pacifiers in the dog she made and named it Pas-Pas (what she called her pacifiers). That night we made the dog, I made sure she did not take a nap, so she was exhausted at night. She only asked for it once that night, we distracted her and she slept fine all night. The second night was similar to the first, no nap, only asked for it once and slept great. She never asked for it after that. I think this worked for us, because she was ready to get rid of it. She also has had no teeth/mouth/jaw problems. Good luck.