What Works Best in Eliminating Pacifier in Boy Who Thinks His Paci Is His Lovey?

You simply throw the paci away and take out the trash on trash day. And that's it. You don't baby him, or talk to him about it or give a sad face or yell at him about it. You just do it. You may struggle for a few days but then he and you will learn to adjust. Increase his chores so he feels big and can have a sense of independence and growing up. 2 1/2 years is way too old for a paci. Pacifiers are great for babies but after 1 year old it's no longer cute and just becomes a way for baby to learn that immature "baby" behavior gets Mom and Dad to react.

You have to set it in your mind you won't cave. Focus on letting him know he is a big boy and pacifiers are for babies. Do the whole taking all of the pacifiers out of the house, either with his participation or just getting rid of them all together. If he doesn't see them, cannot find one he will have a hard time in a few days but it will help him a lot. The biggest mistake is keeping one or two just in case and that is setting yourself up for caving later if they are in the house at all. Get a large envelope and put them in there and tell him they are going to all the babies in the world and he is a big boy. Put it in the mailbox, he may protest but tell him the fairy will bring him a big boy surprise. Get him a favorite character stuffed toy, new stuffed animal or something he really likes and have it in the mailbox the next morning for him. You will have a few hard nights, but it does and will get easier. Breaking him of this now will save you dental and speech issues, guaranteed! He will have dental issues, ask your Pediatrician about how bad the pacifiers are for their development of their upper mouth. Try and make it a happy transition and him being such a big boy now. Do this now too before you potty train so the next big boy step will be even easier. Hang in there, just don't cave! :)

My son was also VERY attached to his binky and a very strong willed child on top of it. My goal was at 3 years to break him completely. A couple months before his birthday, I only gave it to him for naps and bedtime. Tell him what you're doing - Paci is only for bedtime, etc. When he was 3, the "binky fairy" came and took all his binkies away to give them to the babies that really needed them. We told him this was going to happen so it wasn't a complete surprise. Don't get me wrong, he was very unhappy for a couple nights going to bed without it, but he got over it. I tried cutting off the tips but it didn't work. He either just kept on putting it in his mouth or threw HUGE tantrums so it didn't work for us but I know lots of people who say it worked for them.

When my son was approx the same age I faced the same problem. We didn't go anywhere without his "boochie" as we called it. I had decided to cut holes in the nipples because I know they lose the suction and kids hate sucking on them when there is no suction. Well we got lucky and my son started to bite holes in them. Every time he would bite a hole in one he would bring it to me and tell me it was broken. At that point I would have him throw it in the garbage. I just decided that as soon as he was through all the ones he had I wasn't going to get him any new ones. Sure enough he worked his way through all of them. They day the last one "broke" I thought for sure we were in for trouble, but believe it or not he did just fine. He only asked for it one other time and when I reminded him that they had all broke and "he" threw them away he was fine. My son also had an attachment to two blankets and when the binkies were gone he no longer needed his blankets either. Go figure.

I don't know if it will go so easy for your son, but you may want to try cutting holes in them and see how it goes.

Good Luck!

My MIL said when she weaned her middle child from the pacifier, she explained to him every time one would break, how many he had left. When she gave him his last pacifier, she told him it was the last one and when it broke, they were all gone. When that last one broke, she took him to the garbage with her and they both threw it away together. She said he would look for it and ask for it after that, but she would just tell him, "remember, it broke" and he would remember and seemed alright with that.

He is too young to understand when something is permanently gone. He also doesn't need to get rid of the paci until he's three when he's a little older and more able to find other things to soothe himself.

When you decide to finally get rid of it start by snipping the tips off all of them. Just a small snip off the very tip. The paci will be broken, and he'll still use it, but less. Every couple days snip a little more off the tip; eventually you'll get down to the nub. By then he'll have started to find other ways to soothe himself besides his broken pacis. It will be his own internal will that will help him through the transition rather than an external force.