Pacifier Has Become a Sleep Aid!!

I started poking little holes in my sons. I just used a needle and would put a couple in each night...after about 4-5 nights, there was no suction in the nipple and he pulled it out, looked at it and put it down..that was it. He did cry for it from time to time after that and I just gave him the same one...he ended up finding another and I just did the same thing so they were all the same and there was no more satisfaction from it.

My daughter did this too. She is still so little and may need the binky for comfort and an oral fixation. It's ok. We got one of those binky holders that has a small "cord" to the binky and the other end has a clip that you can put on them (we put in on her sleeper) at night. It's not long enough to choke them, etc. but evenutally they realize it's there and you don't have to go in and give it to them each time. These things can be found almost anywhere and can be put on all binkies one way or another. We found that the binky was a great thing to help soothe her when she was teething. Also, if you take it away, she may result to the thumb which is much worse. We just got rid of the binky and my daughter is going to be 3 in a couple of months.

We never got up to put the paci back in. DS could have it to go to sleep, but he had to self sooth or find it himself if he lost it. As far as breaking the habit goes, I'm not sure. At 4 months he took to his thumb and still uses that.

There was a family that I know that cut the ends off of the pacifier for their twins. They didn't like the feel of them then and they quit using them.

My daughter did the same thing, it is a comfort item for her and also helps with SIDS wich your pretty much in the clear there but I let my daughter have her pacifier for bed times and only bed time if I could, she is now 13 months old and is starting to throw it after sucking on it for a few minutes so she is slowly taking it away herself, soon she will figure out how to put it in her own mouth and not need you to do it for her in the middle of the night, if I were in that situation again I would do it the same, I don't think it is a bad thing for the first year. Now my daughter can self sooth to where she doesn't need her paci as much, so I think if you can just hang in there.

SOme babies need to suck more than others. You shouldn't be too worried about it yet, often times babies will give it up on their own. But age 12 monthes is a good stopping point.

O how I feel for you, my son (similar behavior) would wake several times throughout the night that I was beginning to think that he had inherited his father's and grand-fathers sleep problems. I took up many books on ready about sleep and sleep behaviors. I took the way of making a sleep schedule (documenting what he did and when. I then did a method from many of the books of waiting 3 minutes, the next time, wait 5, and slowly increase the amount of time to "comfort" him not picking him up. He, after 3 days (feeling like forever listening to your child cry) he began not needed those comforters that he had so grown to expect when sleeping. Good luck, J.

Cold turkey is the best method.. It will be hard at first and probably seem like the longest week of your life..

The longer you wait the harder it will be to get rid of it when they are a toddler.

Soft music might be a great substitute.

Hope that help!
C.
www.AHomeCareer.com

I agree with a few of the other posters. Your daughter is still so tiny, why take something away from her yet that gives her so much comfort. My daughter is 18 months old and still uses one. She's never needed it during the day, only when she's ready for bed, and I am more than happy if it calms her. Yes, I know it will be difficult when the time come to wean her from it, but for now I am fine with it. Maybe during the day you could try to teach her how to put it in herself, so she'll be able to do it at night. I also like the idea of putting several in bed with her.

I think she is too young. Right now *I* would put several pacifiers around her crib when she goes to sleep so she can find one if she loses the one she has. Around 10-11 months is when I took mine away from my children cold turkey.

I was going to pull my sons pacifier at around 5 months, but when I talked to his doctor, he told me to hang on a bit and that 9-12 months was a great time to "break bad habits". He said that kids at that age still need to suck. I was a little skeptical knowing that I was the one that was going to have to suffer! :) (My Little Jack seemed very attached to it, hence my concern to get it away from him) But, lo and behold, my son is 8 months now and he takes his pacifier to go to sleep and within 10 minutes he pulls it out of his mouth and rolls over to sleep!

I also would rather not have him suck on his thumb. I know that they can self-soothe easier, but as a speech pathologist that I work with says: "You can get rid of a binky, but you can't cut off a thumb!") :) We are going to cold turkey him in another month or two. So, I think that if you waited a little, it wouldn't be terrible. But that is me. Mom's tend to know what is best for their little ones. So, I guess my advice is to go cold turkey if you are going to do it. It also helps if the only time that they get the paci is during bedtime or naptime...that way it isn't that much of a shock when you get rid of it. Good luck!

Your daughter is young and still needs her pacifier. Try putting 3-5 (or more)pacifiers in her crib with her at night and maybe she will reach and find one of them during the night. My friend did this years ago and it helped her, although her son may have been a little older.
Good Luck!

My daughter did this. Only I as lazy and didn't do anything about it until she was 2. My husband was in Iraq, and I didn't want to deal with it on my own. One day we just took them away, got rid of them. She screamed and cried alot for a week, might not have been so long if I'd have taken it away sooner. After a week she did alot better. I know she still wants it though. She found one we missed one day and was very excited, we stuck to it and had her throw it away. If you are willing and really don't want it anymore, I suggest you just take it away. Good luck.

Hi J.,

If you don't want to take the paci away now, get some extra ones and spread them around the crib. She'll learn how to find them herself.

As for breaking her of this habit, either do it cold turkey now or wait until she older. When my kids were 2 the paci was confined to thier room. We started talking about throwing them away and let each child choose a special toy they wanted. We went and bought it. They could hold it in the package but we couldn't take it out until they threw the paci away themselves. It took a few week for my son to be ready, my daughter wanted that Strawberry Shortcake doll now! ha! They both asked about it for about a week at bedtime but there were no tears because they had a special toy to replace it. Hope this helps! God bless!

Hi,
We have 2 scenarios for you. My twins are now 20 months and are still attached to their pacifiers, and we have a 4 year old that gave his up easily. You can do two different things. You can either teach your daughter to find her own pacifier in the night and then ween her later or you can ween her now. My thoughts are if they can walk and talk they need to get rid of the pacifier, so we are getting rid of the twins now :) Anyway, you need to cut her cold turkey. Find all the pacifiers and throw them away. For our 4 year old we just lost them and couldn't find them so he just weened himself, no tears. With the twins we are having a special paci party. We are going to take all the pacifiers, tie them to balloons and send them up to the babies in heaven. Then they will have a special blanket or stuffed animal that they can use for security. You'll have at least 3 days of screaming if you cut her cold turkey but that's the best way to do it.

I don't know the exact method (neither of my boys has had much interest in the paci), but there's a section in "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley that addresses this issue. You can probably find the book at your local library & give it a try.

It'll take at least a few days, I think, but as the title indicates, it should be pretty painless. No cry-it-out stuff needed.

Best of luck!

Quit cold turkey and start to feed her solids . I would suggest to start solids at night to begin with dealing with taking away the pacifier. Stay strong and consistant. Good luck and sweet dreams

cold turkey does work best and the sooner the better, but some doctors are now saying to allow babies who accept pacies to keep them until they're at least 6 months. it apparently helps reduce the risk of SIDS. i am not trying to scare you and certainly ask your doctor, but i have heard it from numerous sources. i let my twins keep theirs way too long. if i could go back in time i would take it away between 9 to 12 months. =)

My pediatrician had recommended that our daughter fall asleep with her pacifier in her mouth. Supposed to help prevent SIDS or something. Anyway, she kept it until she was about 6 1/2 to 7 months and now she neevr used it. Just give her a little more time. She'll give it up when she is ready. If you push it will cuase major issues. Lots of sleepless nights. I thought my daughther was getting too attached as well, but she was done when she was ready. Life goes on.

Honestly, I would not cut off the pacifier at only 5 1/2 months. It sounds like she might be teething. My son went through the same thing. It was hard getting up several times at night, but it did comfort him having the pacifier. Plus the pacifier is good to have because it helps prevent SIDS. Just give it some time. It won't last too much longer.

I think there is no right answer about whether to take away the pacifier now or wait until later. It comes down to personal preference. You'll have to break her now or later & either way it's going to be an adjustment. I'd just go cold turkey & do some sleep training to reteach her to fall asleep on her own. The key is routine & not having any crutches that won't be there in the middle of the night. I've just let them cry for increasing intervals of time starting with 2-3 minutes & then comforting in between intervals. It has worked well for me. My daughter was a binki girl and was & is a great sleeper. I let her keep her binki until she was about 2. When she was your daughter's age, we just put about 5-6 binkis in her crib so that when it fell out & she woke up in the middle of the night, she could always find one & put herself back to sleep. When we did break her of it, we went cold turkey & it was difficult for 1-2 nights & then it's been no problem ever since. Best of luck!

The earlier you break the pacifier the easier it will be on you. There is a chance that she might be teething and thats where she wants the pacifier for. I am not sure because he is under a year but most of them substituted a stuffed animal or a blanket for them. I really don't know what else you could do, but I hope this helps and gl.