Help us ditch the pacifier (or at least reduce its use).

mamarazzi

DS2 is obsessed with his bink.  He'd have it all day long if we let him.  It's a constant battle to keep him from it.  We'll put them away and he'll try and hunt them down and freak out until he finds one or we find a way to distract him.

He just turned two.  DD will be here in the next few weeks, so now probably isn't the time to take the pacifier away completely.  But he doesn't need it all the time.  DS1 seemed to understand the "rules" about his much better at this age -- he was only allowed to have it at naptime/bedtime and occasionally in the car.  DS2 either doesn't "get" it or (more likely) just doesn't give a crap about rules.

He's speech-delayed and we're really working on using words and such and the binky is a hinderance, so it needs to be for bedtime only.  I'd just like to get to that point with less tears, screaming and freaking out than there has been thus far.

Andrewsgal

We just tackled this starting MOnday with DS. He also wanted it 24/7. The speech delay without a doubt could be caused by the binky and it does need to be limited.

We will not let DS out of his crib until he leaves his binky in it. We say drop your binky, and he usually says NO, I say okay I will be back when you are ready to leave it. The first couple of days I just took it out threw it in the crib and let the hour fit continue, he evetually got over it, although it royally sucked for all of us. Now he will leave it in the crib, if he says No then I will come back every 2 mintues or so and ask if he is ready to leave it.The first couple of days he literally cried all day and threw fits for it, yesterday was soosooooo much better and he only asked for it like 3 times, today I told him to leave it, he did and did not look back. He still gets it for naps and nighttime and probably will for a while.

It sucks and means a lot of screaming, but just stick to your guns they are old enough to understand.

KrisBriMcBunny

we did it cold turkey....it was rough for about days .  You have to find all of them and throw them away.

KelMel

KrisBriMcBunny:

we did it cold turkey....it was rough for about days .  You have to find all of them and throw them away.

I just did this with DS2 a couple of months ago..it was a rough couple of days, but now it is gone. 

Yodajo

DS2 was so in love with his pacifier. I dreaded the day we ditched it. Finally, when I started getting sick of hunting for it all the time and it started bothering me how it was changing the arch of his teeth, I decided to get rid of it. The way I look at it, he's going to cry if you limit it, so why not just get rid of it alltogether right now? If you decide to just limit it now, he'll probably go back to using it more once the baby comes because it will just be easier....and quieter, at least that is how i know it would happen in my house. We had a rough few days, but then he was over it and I am so glad it is gone. Another thing to consider is that it may be harder to get rid of it once the baby is here because she'll probably have one and he'll see her with it all the time.

CBKMRB

Keira was around 18 months when we limited it to bedtime.  It was rough for a few days but we stuck to our guns and she got used to it.  She was around 2 1/2 when we got rid of it completely.

She didn't have a complete tantrum at 1st but she wasn't happy.  She was ok after a couple of days though.

ppants

We my twins turned 1 we gave it to them for sleep only.  At 2 we took it away all together.  It was a little rough for DD at first (DS was ok), but after one nap and one bedtime it was fine.

ppants

When my twins turned 1 we gave it to them for sleep only.  At 2 we took it away all together.  It was a little rough for DD at first (DS was ok), but after one nap and one bedtime it was fine.

AHblessed01

DD1 is the only one that actually took a pacifier. I got rid of hers when she was about 2 1/2. She loved that thing! I thought it would be a lot harder than it was, I just did the whole binky fairy routine that I saw on Supernanny and it worked well for us!

adri77

Your DS1 and DS2 are just like mine!  At this age, DS1 knew it stayed in the crib all day and it was only for naps/bed.  DS2 walks around with 5 binkies, half the time he tries to shove 2 in there at the same time!  Yeah, I totally wouldn't worry about taking it away right now with the new baby coming.  Honestly, I'd wait until he was about 2.5 before attempting it, but that's just my opinion, b/c i think that would be in YOUR best interest for your sanity in the upcoming weeks/months too!

Anyway, here's what we did for DS1 and it worked QUICKLY and EASILY:  VINEGAR.  I started by pointing out how old and nasty his binkies were getting.  Then one night I dipped it in vinegar.  He got one whiff of it, turned his nose and said "these ARE nasty, I don't want them anymore" and handed them both back to me.  I said "should we leave them for the binky fairy?"  He said yes, and got his new truck the next day.And he thought it was all HIS decision (with some help from me!)  Honestly, that was it, it was so fricking simple.  But, he did stop napping along with dropping the binks, but oh well.  That is partly why I would hate to see you take your DS2's away, b/c his nap will be important for all in your family!