I feel like the only one sometimes. Alex is 35 months old. He only uses his at nap and bedtime, and he's the only kid reliably sleeping through the night in my house. And he doesn't keep it in all night. And the dentist said it's okay til he's 4. I have eleventy-billion excuses for why he still has it, but the truth is I think it has to go and I am just too chicken to do it. Make me feel less alone, won't you?
Jenni ~~Alex & Avery ~~ 6/13/06~~Adam ~~3/26/08

Re: S/O: Confess here if your kid is 2+ and still uses the paci.
DD is almost 2.5 and she still uses it a lot. I feel bad, but frankly it's her only comfy thing. She doesn't have a blankie or anything to cuddle with. I have gotten her a couple of little dolls to replace it with, but am too chicken to get rid of it.
We are down to 2 in the house and one is MIA, so when these are gone, they will be done, butwhoknows when that will be.
Ryan 5/2010, Kyle 1/2007, Eric 3/2005
ditto Joseys!
I plan/hope to get rid of it in a few weeks and I think we will both cry, a lot.
Ditto
My oldest is 3.5 and sucks her thumb and we've been talking about her stopping. Although, you can't exactly force it huh?
My younger one just turned 2 last month and still has a paci in her crib. I do feel peer pressure to take it away but since it never leaves the crib, what's the big deal? We have talked a lot about the paci fairy and it's just a matter of time until we go cold turkey! She loves it and I'm going to feel really bad taking it away!
We didn't take DD's away until she was 3. It just wasn't a big issue to us at all. We got comments all. the. time. about her being too old for it though.
Now people just nag us about her not being potty trained yet. When will people learn to just mind their business???
(m/c 1.17.07, m/c 5.15.07)
DS - 03.15.08
DD2 - 12.03.09
DD3 - 3.28.11
Us. My DD just turned 3. The rule in our house is if I see it, I take it away, meaning it is not to be used around the house. Works great for us--DD knows she only gets to use it when she is sleeping, or at least having quiet private time in her room. So she will periodically ask if she can go relax in her room for a bit. And nap/bed time is a breeze because she knows she will get her paci. It's an excellent bribe for us. And I'm not all that worried because I prefer she suck on a paci rather than become a thumb sucker.
(How's that for rationalizing a bad habit? LOL)
DS is 25mos and uses one only for bed time and nap time at home (naps at school he does not have one).
We also keep one in the car for emergencies
If we're driving and it's his nap time and we want him to sleep we'll give him one.
the other day he napped in the car while we ran errands - and he woke up a little early so we went to get lunch. He wanted to keep the paci in - and i felt like "that mom" at the restaurant who's 2y/o was STILL using a paci. Once he got distracted i took it away.... i hate seeing "older" kids with pacis out in public!
forgot to mention- i have no desire to take it away from him for bed time... with the twins coming- i want him to have the comfort he needs. He sleeps really well- so i'm not rocking the boat!
Esp if the twins are paci-lovers, too- i can't take his away and let them have them in front of him at this age- he just won't understand.
I figure by 3 if he hasn't quit himself- we'll send them to the paci fairy or something... by then he'll be able to understand better.
DD is 2.5 and still uses one for sleep and naps at home (not at daycare). We're working on PTing and to me that's a priority, so I'm not worried about it at this point. She is starting to say "I don't need it, I'm a big girl!" but when she gets tired that goes out the window. I'm hoping she'll wean herself but maybe I'm just delusional.
At 3 or when we transition her to a BGB (she's still in the crib - is that something I should confess as well?) we may try the binky fairy, but until then I'm not concerned. We are also down to 5 or 6 and as they get lost/funky they are not being replaced.
Looks like you've got lots of company! Hope you feel better!
Evan just got rid of his 2 days ago. He was 3 in January. *sheepish*
He was good the last few months about only using it when he was going to bed, or if he was having a hard time for whatever reason and needed the security I guess. He wouldn't talk with it in his mouth, he'd take it out whenever we asked him to.
I was SO tired of it. The tantrums in the car if we dared leave the house without it, the tantrums in the night if he lost it between his bed and the wall, the tantrums when he'd figure out that yet ANOTHER paci was broken. Ugh.
He was being particularly "challenging" a few days ago and spit on me, and I took his paci away and put it up where he couldn't get it. I told him if he wanted to be nice and not spit, he could have it back. If he spit again, I'd cut it and put it in the garbage. Well, he spit again. So I cut his paci with the scissors and threw it away. He cried for a few mins then he got over it.
Once he was calm, we made a game of looking around the house for any pacis he had laying around, and we cut them and would do a happy dance each time we put another one in the garbage. He has barely even asked for one yet.
We just ditched it today. ?DO IT!!
They had their 1st pediatric dentist appointment today & he flat-out told me that the paci has affected the shape of their mouths & will continue to do so until it requires orthodontic correction. ?He said that it we discontinue using the paci young enough, their mouths will correct themselves, but the longer we put it off the less likely self-correction will occur. ?This info was contrary to the pedi, who told me that it wouldn't hurt their teeth/mouths. ?Still, I listened to the ped dentist. ?I've been wanting to ditch binky, but was too chicken, & this just pushed me over the edge!