Pacifiers - Agawam, MA

I HAVE THE BEST TRICK!!! It really works!

When I wanted to wean my kids of the pacifier, I cut the across the very top of the pacifer with scissors so that whenever they sucked on it, it went flat. The kids then would take it out of their mouths, look at it, try sucking on it again and give up and spit it out. This trick also helps us moms who are just as addicted to the pacifiers as the little ones! Expect a little crankiness for about a week, but continue to give them the "broken" pacifiers and then they will eventually refuse to use them and look for another way to comfort themselves. For this trick to work, all pacifiers in the home must be cut so that they don't find one that works. I swear to try this first before weaning!

You might really be surprised that weaning him off of it won't be as bad as you think. It was around this age that I withdrew it from my son and we never looked back. I was so worried that he would become one of those 2 year olds who had to talk around his pacifier, so I wanted it gone as soon as possible. I think that the way that your son handles it will depend mostly on his temperment. My advise: throw them all away except for one that you hide away for an emergency situation. Pick a date to give it up and stick to it!! In spite of how it may seem at the time, he won't be scarred for life because you took his pacifier away!
Good luck and be consistent!

HI M.,

Well this is totally just my opinion. My daugter had her pacifier until her second birthday. I felt like it would be to hard to take it away befor that and I really didn't think there was any reason to. When she turned two I said that was the point when she would have to give it up. This is what I did, My friend had a baby and I told Olivia about it, she was really excited about ti. I told her that the baby needed some nuks and I though it would be nice to give her's to the baby since babies need them more than big girls. She REALLY loved this idea and it gave her a lot of confidence knowing she was doing something really special for the new baby. We said goodbye to them, she put each in a paper bag and we "mailed" them to the baby. She was very proud and the first night was hard, second night was easier and she has been paci-free for 4 weeks now. I jsut kept reminding her of the baby, and myhusband and I kept telling ehr how proud we were of her and we would help her through it becasue we understood how hard it was. lots of hugs and comfort. Also we got her a great new big girl present for giving it up. It really wasen't hard at all and I feel like we did it so it was a positive event for her instead of her just losing her nuk. I don't thing at 1 they would understand all that but if you are really wanting him to give it up, i would just take it away and not look back. Good luck to you and little man!

Cutting back is a start. I did the same but only for naps. When it starts to fall out during the night they usually will wake up crying looking for it. That is not good. That is when it will be worse trying to end it. I stopped using the pacifier when my son was 10 mos. old. Just keep cutting back and if he is not "weened" by his first birthday I would go cold turkey at that point. He will cry but he will also fall asleep eventually. It's hard but it will work. I hope this helps.

Hi M.!!

As a mother of 3 children, ages 11, 8, & 18 months, I've had plenty of experience with pacifier weaning. My oldest was what I call a "binky-head". She LOVED her bink....but I refused to accept that she'd be a toddler walking around talking with a binky in her mouth. She was around 18 months old when a family member just came right out & said to her "You're a big girl...too big for a binky. Binkies are for babies...you should go throw that away." And she did. Granted, she looked for it frequently over the next week, but we reminded her that she threw it away and then help her through her fussy times. It wasn't too bad. My 2nd child never took to the binky, so it was never an issue with her, but my THIRD child LOVED the pacifier. She was ALSO a "binky-head!" I stayed home with her during her first year, but I decided that I wanted to de-bink her before she started day care at 1. I couldn't stand the idea that she might do some binky-swapping and sharing at school. Yuck! So I decided to stop giving it to her throughout the day & instead planned to only give it to her for nap time & bed time. Ironically, the first day she went binky-free, it was because I FORGOT to give it to her. I used to have it attached to a bib that I'd put on her right after she got up in the morning. The bib was to catch her teething drool, and the binky was just there at her disposal. So she used it. When I forgot to put her bib on one day, her binky just wasn't readily available. Out of sight, out of mind. She didn't even look for it, nevermind cry for it. It wasn't until AFTER her nap that I realized I'd forgotten to give it to her...and that's when I realized she probably didn't even need it to sleep! When she went into day care, she had been off the pacifier for a week! I was afraid that when she saw babies at day care with them, she'd want hers back, or worse, take theirs! She never did. In fact, the teachers told me that whenever a baby drops their binky, she picks it up & puts it on the counter next to the sink for them to wash off! I couldn't believe it!

Anyway, I think the best advice I can give you is this: You have to determine when your son crosses the threshold from needing the pacifier physically INTO needing it psychologically. When they're infants, it's a soothing mechanism...so it's physical, but at a certain point, it shifts to a mental need...and it becomes a vice. The trick is to wean him off of it BEFORE that point. The baby can find other ways to soothe himself physically...but it's much harder to stimulate them mentally when they're focused on that pacifier. The physical void is easier to deal with than the mental. I think that's around 1. Every baby's different though, so you'll have to try some things to figure out when that happens, first thing being just withholding the pacifier for as long as possible & trying to distract him with other activities. See how that goes. He just may surprise you, like my baby did!!!

Good luck!!!
-W.

My sister-in-law got her daughter off the pacifier by age 1. She ONLY gave it to her at naps and bedtime. Eventually the baby would just hand it to her when she got up out of her crib. Now she doesn't even use it! I got my 5 year old off her pacifier by age 2. One day we just took it away and she was okay. It took a week or so until she was 100% okay with it though. GOOD LUCK to you!

Hi i gave up with the paci with my twins when they were one, like you I did not want them and nurses gave them in the nursery and it felt so out of my control so i just kept it going. well I decided to start "forgetting it" and hiding it from my husband because he would give it to them so they would sooth. for about a week or two I only let them have i in there crib ( even made it a rule for hubby to not take it out ) and a few days later I gave them a lil teddy bear tht we also only keep in the crib and soon they were cuddling the teddy to sooth. when i took away the paci completly they crid 11/2 hrs to go to bed for the first night and 45 min the second night and thats it. hope this wwas helpful im sure you will get a million responses w/ good ideas

this is really not as hard as you think - there a few things you can try .. first, use it for night time only.. make a rule that it's only for bed.. that will scale it downn.. OR - you can use the "paci fairy" - talk it up about how then new babies being born need it (your son is a little young for this, but it may work when he turns one. ), and if he leaves it for the paci fairy, he'll get a new toy. OR - this worked with my son - cut a small hole in it, he'll think it's broken and won't want it anymore.. OR - this worked with my daughter - send him overnight someplace without it - make sure the person caring is very patient and knows what's going on. He is young though and using a paci at this age is fine.. I woulnd't rush taking it away just yet. It's his soothing mechanism. You can try to not take it out of the house for a while first before the bedtime only thing too.. that may ease him into it. good luck

Hi M.,1st of all you and your Hubby need to be on the same page on this if you want anything to work. Your son is giving you cues that he doesn't need as much as you may think. Cold turkey I find is the best way to do anything. It might be a tough few days, but you'll get through. He needs to learn to self soothe, whether it be sucking his thumb or some other alternative way. My daughter, 17 mths now, used a pacifer when she was very small, but eventually lost interest, and believe me, there were times when I wished she did still like it. Believe or not, you and your Hubby will have a harder time with all of this than your son. Kids are resiliant, they're showing "us" up all the time. Good luck.

This may not be as hard of a transition as you think! I definitely thought the worst, but my daughter did great! We just cut back at first. Then we took it away cold turkey & she did awesome!!! She had just turned one AND started a new daycare, so I felt like a horrible mom. Consistency is the key!!

We started around 8 months just using it during night time and naps. Then dropped it to only night time for a week, then just took it away. It took her almost a week to settle herself down at night (we let her cry, fuss, etc) but she did it on her own! She was ten months when we threw them out and never went back. She is almost 2 1/2 and has been a FABULOUS sleeper ever since. After a year, kids just shouldn't be using a pacifier. Not good for their oral development, language development, and self soothing techniques! Good luck and stick to your guns when time to loose it, it's worth it!

M.,
I agree with both Wendys that responded. I have 3 kids. For the first 2 we cut back to just naps and nighttime within the first 6 months, thinking we were doing good. But for both it took until age FOUR to get them off it at night because they were so mentally attached to it (like a security blanket). My third child started to do like yours where he didn't show as much interest in it and I just stopped giving it to him at around 7 months. He surprised me with how fine he was with it. He would have a little difficulty settling for naps and bedtime, but after 15 minutes of fussing or crying he was ok (patience!). So I firmly support the concept of pulling it BEFORE it becomes a mental thing. Plus, if you wait as long as I did, you can sometimes see issues with teeth - oh the orthodontic bills! Oh, and for the two older kids, we used the binky fairy and that worked really well. It makes it something that they agree to and not something you took from them. My best advice is pick SOMETHING and STICK TO IT! Good luck!

It sounds like he is breaking himself of the habit. I would let him just continue getting rid of it. My son stopped using his before his first birthday in almost the same way. We kept it around just in case for the last couple months, but he didn't really need it. It may mean a few hair-raising moments when he is crying, but if you stick it out then he won't even look for it after a little while.