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Parenting
Any suggestions on helping 2.5 y.o. ditch the paci?
He's pretty attached to it right now, and I think it's time to ditch it. He won't go to sleep without it, and asks for it occasionally during the day when he's tired, upset, etc.
What did you do to help your child get rid of the paci?
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Re: Any suggestions on helping 2.5 y.o. ditch the paci?
I did it kinda gradually at 18 months. At first I stop letting her have it in the car, then at the house during the day, then at naptime and then at bed time. Each step was rough for a few days.
But if he's that attached to it at 2.5 yrs old I would do it cold turkey. Yes it will be god awful for a few days but it does get better. You can also do the paci fairy thing that some do.
DD only gets it in bed. She had 8 binkies in there at 2. Now she's down to 5-- she left a couple in places when we were out of town and one was bitten through at the base. I am probably going to damage another one soon. :-)
The doc said that it should be gone by 3, but it's not hurting anything for her to have it.
DS - December 2006
DD - December 2008
The "Paci Fairy" really did the job for us. My DD was extremely attached to her paci and around 2 y/o we started talking up how one day, when she's ready, the Paci Fairy would come. We would put all the pacis in a box and decorate it so the Paci Fairy could find it. And overnight, she would come and take the pacis to bring them to all the babies who need pacis and replace them with a special present. I spent a lot of time asking DD what present she might like from the Paci Fairy and over and over again, she said she really wanted a hippo (LOL).
One night we were driving home and DD just said, "Mama. I want the Paci Fairy to come. I'm ready." She was so determined to get that darn hippo! We decorated a box, she collected her pacis and threw them in there. I thought she was going to levitate when she found that hippo in there the next morning!!!
When we see my friend's infant now, DD talks about how the Paci Fairy brought baby Tara one of her pacis because she needed it!
Anyway, this worked for us - it allowed DD some gradual time to get used to the process, and it happened on her terms.
Thanks for the perspective. I'm not terribly worried about it, but DH is self-conscious about it, I think. People in public see him with it and say things like, "Oh, you're too old for that!" I think it's more something to say than a judgment, but DH takes it to heart, especially when his parents comment on it.
I do feel like I need to start making it less of a crutch for DS, and if we can phase him off of it with him thinking it's his idea, then all the better.
For DS (who was 2.5 or a bit older), I let him pick out a couple of stuffed animals and "pay" for them with his paci. He had a rough couple nights, but was fine after that.
With DD (she was just over 2), we snipped the end off and told her it was broken and she'd have to sleep without it. She asked for it a couple of nights but never had any problems. It was far easier than I thought it would be!
Both of them only used it for naps and bedtime by that point, so I think that helped.
my read shelf:
Do you have any friends or relatives with a new baby? When my DD was 2, my sister had a new baby. We talked about how her cousin needed the pacis and that she was getting too big for them. We went to the toy store and she was able to pick out a big girl toy that she was allowed to open once she gave the pacis to her new baby cousin. It worked out great! She gave the bag of pacis to the new baby and she was allowed to play with her new gift. She gave them up cold-turkey (nights were a little tough for a few days) but she was able to understand that they went somewhere and they didn't disappear.
If you're not ready to do cold turkey, I would definitely limit them to naps and bedtime.
My DD is almost 3 1/2, and so far nothing has worked for us. We tried the paci fairy, cutting the end, giving it to a new baby, cold turkey, etc. We have taken it away 3x in the last year. The first time she made it 2 months, and then she started sucking her fingers. The next two times, she made it a few days to a week, and started sucking her fingers again.
We have 1 "sassy" left. She only uses it in her bed for naps and bedtime, but I still can't stand it. She didn't even use one until she was one and found it in her bed. No joke. What kid falls in love with a paci at the age of 1?
I tried to take it away again a few nights ago. I did the whole spiel of "don't you want a new baby to have it", etc. She did good until an hour or two later. She called out for me, and when I got to her room she was bawling hysterically, and crying "Mama, I need it. I need my sassy. Not having my sassy makes my tummy hurt".