Getting rid of the pacifier

adamstentzel

My LO is 19 months we've been able to cut her pacifier use down a lot but she still needs it to get to sleep. I'd like to to have it completely gone before baby #2 gets here in 4 months. What has worked for you?

Kissty

Just put it outta sight.  She won't even remember it in a few days.

greyt00

We ditched the paci at 18.5 months.  I had to get rid of it completely.  He still wanted it (ALL THE TIME) even after poking holes and cutting a small amount off the tip.  I got frustrated and cut it a LOT and he finally threw it down.  He got upset occasionally and went over crying to the cabinet where I kept the pacis, wanting them, but I kept showing them how they were cut up.  Nighttime sleep was fine, but naps were rough for a couple of weekend at home (he was fine at day care).  It went much better than I feared.  I'm so glad the paci is gone!  I think the younger the better.  Just throw them away so you aren't tempted and LO won't find one somewhere (we had about 8 of them!) 

SLGILL1978

I haven't have the heart to take it away yet. My daughter is almost 16 months. But my pedi suggested cold turkey. We just did that ith the bottles a few weeks ago and so far she hasn't noticed. I think the paci will be a different story. She only uses at home and for nap/bedtime.

hollygb22

we just went through this. Number 2 is due any day now and DD is 18 months. We started working on it around 13/14 months with daycare's help. we had it down to nap and bedtime only. if it was out of sight she was fine. Daycare started to eliminate it at nap time. They were successful a few days a week and instead of giving her the paci they would pat her butt during naps. I started doing the same thing at night. It was a lot less dramatic and traumatic than i thought it would be. She still has her blankie which is used for nap and bed and she's taken to a stuffed animal now. I think the methodic patting of her butt to get her drowsy has helped replaced the sucking of the paci

welly01

We took ours away last weekend.  DC eliminated it during naps a few weeks ago and DS did fine.  We took it away cold turkey and its hasn't been that bad.  The first naptime/bedtime was a little rough, but we just laid down with DS and let him work it out.  He's been slightly fussier during the night if he wakes, but he still goes right back to sleep.

Just take it away!  You think the whole world will end if they don't have their paci, but its really not so bad.  I think the anticipation is the worst part, lol!

BeachBabe22

We just got rid of ours at 20 months!  My daughter used to only use it when she was sleeping but then she would want it during the day.  She would scream and cry if I wouldn't give it to her or if it fell out of her crib.  

One day we had a frog in our garage and I put it in one of her toy trucks.  She was so excited and thought it was the best thing ever.  The next night I put her pacifier in the truck where the frog was and told her that she was a big girl now and we were giving all of her pacifiers to the frog to give to his babies.  She waved bye-bye to them and I put her to sleep without a problem.  I took the pacifier out and threw it in the trash when she was sleeping then in the morning we went to look for it and it was gone.  

That was about two weeks ago and and she still says 'froggy binky' and has only cried for it once.  When she asks for it I just remind her that the baby froggies have it now because she's a big girl.  I know it sounds really silly but I tried so many things before and nothing worked.  I tried cutting them and that would just make her angry. 

kjsmith9

We went cold turkey at 15 months.  She had a few days of rough naps at home, but daycare and nights were easy - didn't even seem to notice!  We threw them all in the garbage so we wouldn't be tempted to give in during a crabby moment.

vamomtobe

I agree with others who recommend cold turkey, and throw them out so you're not tempted.  We cut the tip off of our son's paci at about 22 months, at which point he was only using it for naps, and told him it was broken.  He would put it in, look really confused, throw it, and cry for it again.  Repeated a dozen times or so until he got to the "acceptance" phase, lol.  Naptime did not go smoothly that weekend, but we didn't give in and he was over it by Monday.  Good luck!

HarleyKins

Dd has had 5 of them in her crib along with a wubanub. Every week we are removing one so she has less to find when she wakes. Dd is 13 months. She only gets the pacifier at nap and bedtime. LO is due February so we hope we are done by then. We know there will be rough patches coming.