When/how to get rid of the pacifier?

REOM

My 20 month old looooves her pacifier. Our DD never took one, so I'm not sure when or how to take it away without her crying.

Any advice? Is there an age that they should drop it by? 

Thanks!

belle204

Hey lady. I was just asking about you yesterday or Friday. I think we got rid of A's when she was 2 or 2.5ish. She was biting holes in them and I was tired of buying them so I just stopped. She was ok after a week or so.

*Amy*

We did Anthony's at 2.5.  He sent it to the binky fairy.  We had about 2 days of crying and then he was over it.  Your DD would be too young to understand the binky fairy though, so you might have to try a different tactic.

patty78

DD dr said as long as it isn't hurting her teeth she could keep it.  However, hers was pushing her teeth so she was a little over two when she lost her last one and that was that.  It was so incredible hard, she didn't sleep well, and couldn't fall asleep.  It lasted about 2 weeks and she was fine.

REOM

Hey Belle! We are good, just busy ,thanks for asking. Hope you and A are doing well   Your sig is gorgeous!

Thanks for the advice. So it sounds like I should wait until she is over 2 so she understands what is going on? Ugh, I should have taken it from her months ago

LeoChic

We started off gradually reducing pacifier use.  When she was 12 months old, we started only using the pacifier in her crib (i.e. naptime and bedtime) and in the car.  By 18 months, it was in the crib only.  Somewhere around 2 years old, she started biting through the paci's.   I even went out and bought her a new one because I thought maybe she was able to bite through it because it was old.  She bit through a brand new one!  At that point, I considered it a choking hazard and we had to just be done with it.  It took about 3 nights of crying at bedtime.  Totally worth it though!  I was so glad to be DONE with the paci's and so glad that it was only a small battle.

goodheartedmommy

Ethan was right at 3, though by 2 it was limited to bedtime only. M's has been limited to the bed only for a couple of months. Within a few times of her asking, she got that she could only use it in bed. She tries to sneak it, but doesn't cry about it now when I tell her to put it back in bed. I'll let her keep it at night for awhile, though I'm not sure how long.

SumnerBride

Ashlyn was just over 2 when we got rid of it.  We had a "Bye Bye Binky" party-gifts, cake, balloons....the whole nine.  It worked like a charm.  She fussed a bit that night, and asked for it again the next day, but we reminded her that we had a party for it, and the Binky Fairy took them to new babies who needed them, and that now she was a Big Girl.

Good luck!

eclaires

Jackson dropped his on his own around 2.5.  He had started biting them so they couldn't really work right anymore.

But, we also limited his use of them from the time he was 1 - on.  Only in bed or the car (long car trips).  That kept it from bugging me too much.  Or worrying about it.

Bellisimo

DS was about 21-22 mo old when we got rid of all of his.  His speech had started to take off, so I made him take it out to talk.  He still wanted it while sleeping, but once I started noticing that he had "paci mouth" where his teeth were starting to be affected by it, we dropped it semi cold turkey over a period of about 3 full days.  After that he was good to go.  The first day of not having it during nap and bedtime was the worst.  It progressively got better and by day 3 he quit asking for it.

REOM

Yes, she only has it at bedtime, but I am sick of cleaning it, looking for it, etc. Plus, I looked at her tonight, and she just looked too darn big for it, lol.

Thanks for the advice!

goodheartedmommy

Had you asked 1 or 2 children ago, I would have said it was awful to take it away, but ahhhh....well, I am just not so soft-hearted any more I don't necessarily think taking the paci away is the wrong choice. Sometimes the paci makes things worse. I wish I could take it away right now from M, but DH is flying with her in less than 3 weeks and I want him to have that option.

REOM

goodheartedmommy:

Had you asked 1 or 2 children ago, I would have said it was awful to take it away, but ahhhh....well, I am just not so soft-hearted any more I don't necessarily think taking the paci away is the wrong choice. Sometimes the paci makes things worse. I wish I could take it away right now from M, but DH is flying with her in less than 3 weeks and I want him to have that option.

Funny, and so true  

I am regretting not taking it away around the 1 year mark so I wouldn't have to deal with this obsession she has!  She was sick a lot as a baby, and I admittedly spoiled her. I am trying not to baby her so much anymore

eclaires

I hear you on finding the damn things.  Jackson had about 10, but he always wanted ALL of them (he liked to hold them while falling asleep).

I'm torn on whether we'll give one to this baby or not - admittedly it was a good soothing method for Jackson, but it was also super annoying at times.

JillShari

DS#1 was a paci kid.  I have a ton of photos of him with his paci in.  We did start limiting it to bedtimes only and began to give it just as we started reading and rocking goodnight.  He was then associating it with bedtime, which he didn't ever want to go to bed, so he began throwing it on the floor.  We didn't retrieve them and he did fine without.  I removed them all and then we told him that the paci fairy had given them to his new baby cousin (good timing).  I guess he was somewhere in the 2 range.  It was such a comfort thing for him because he was sick a lot and it helped him self soothe.

DS#2 never took a paci.  He has chewed on one, but it was NEVER his thing.  So, don't assume #2 will like it.

REOM

eclaires:

I hear you on finding the damn things.  Jackson had about 10, but he always wanted ALL of them (he liked to hold them while falling asleep).

I'm torn on whether we'll give one to this baby or not - admittedly it was a good soothing method for Jackson, but it was also super annoying at times.

LOL @ sleeping with 10 pacis

Funny thing is, I basically forced Emi to take it. Gina never would and she was a horrific sleeper. I was determined to get some sleep! It really did help Emi self soothe, so I do think it was worth it.

Although if we have a 3rd, I will take it away around 12 months before they grow any emotional attachment to it. Emi now kisses it goodbye in the morning, and yells "hello paci, I'm comin'!" when she is going up the stairs. LOL

brightning

DD just turned 3 and is down to her last one. I never thought I'd have a paci kid, but what're ya gonna do?

At 12 months I said I wasn't going to buy anymore, thinking we'd be done with them fairly soon. Wouldn't you know, those last 4 pacis have lasted all this time? And until a few weeks ago, we had 3 of them!

shopgirl78

Hailey was 3 when she traded it for a band-aid.   GL! Hope you find something that works easily for you!

tsevere

We took DS#1's away when he was just over 2.  Mostly, I wanted to do it semi-early because my niece still had hers at 4 and I thought it was ridiculous.  Also, he sucked on it so hard, and is kind of a slobbery kid, so it was chaffing his face and leaving sores.  We just took it away and made him cry.  It was a hard first week or so, but his poor face needed to be done.

DS#2 wouldn't take a binky.  He would when he was tiny, but it took some work for him to latch.  By the time he was a couple months old, he was just done with it.  It was a little annoying for a while, because he just wanted to nurse when I could have given him a binky, but that was the only drawback.

naysmom

My dd was so attached to hers so my mom suggested that we take her to build a bear and have her but her paci in the bear and sew it up and tell her when she feels like she needs her paci just hug her teddy bear. It worked well.

josie402

We got rid of Gavin's pacifier when he was 2.5 probably (maybe a little older, I don't remember for sure).  I kept putting it off.  He only used it for sleeping since he was 9 months old or so.  I took him to the Disney store and had him pick out something special to sleep with instead.  He picked out a stuffed Mickey and Pluto and "paid" with his pacifier.  He was so excited he carried them all the way back to the car.  He cried some the first night but we just kept talking to him about it.  He was totally fine after the first couple of nights.

shouldbworkin

I didn't really worry about it at that age.  My goal was for it to be gone by 3.  At 2 I stopped buying new ones and said that when she lost the last one she was done.  She lost it about 5 weeks ago and was ok.  I'm glad I didn't push it with her.  But, I had been limiting it to her bed for naps and nighttime for a loooong time.