Does your 3+ year old still take a pacifier?

Kingston54 · December 2012

Our 3 year old (in a few weeks) still takes a pacifier - in the car, hanging around the house, and at bed time/nap time. Our pediatrician said she wants him to have it gone by the time he's 4. However, I'm wondering if this is abnormal that he still has it.

He can do without it most of the time, but when he gets upset/tired, it is extremely helpful to have.

Also - any tips on getting him to lose it?

Thanks

imn_angel25 · December 2012

No, my DS doesn't. However, I work in child care and know several children who are over 3 who still use it with their parents but never use it at school. I don'tthink it is normal or abnormal that your DS still uses one, I personally just think the longer you wait to get rid of it, the harder it will be. When we wanted our son to stop we cut the tips off every paci we had in the house. He wanted nothing to do with them after that. Not saying that will work for your DS, but it's worth a try. Just stick with it. The first 3-4 days were really hard for us, but we stuck it out. We got rid of ours when DS was 2 and he had only been using it at night for almost a year. Good luck!

joliemariée · December 2012

my twins will be three in 2.5mths and yes they still use their "binkys" at naps, night and car rides, and sometimes at home if they are upset or tired. I have already seen them begin to self-wean - they hand it to me after a few minute to calm down and say " i am not a baby". So I will let them ( within reason) decide when to stop using them in the next 6-8mths.

They are still in cribs too - it works for us, it works for them and they feel cozy and safe and have never tried to climb out - win/win!

NathsPrncssD · December 2012

My daughter will be 3 in February and still uses a paci. I really want to get rid of it, but sometimes she is unbearable when she wants it! She doesn't use it constantly, but definitely uses it at naptime, bedtime, in the car, and around the house. She doesn't use it at school or MOPS. We are hoping to work on getting rid of it soon, but don't want to mess with it during this busy holiday season.

lynsef · December 2012

No DD stopped using it at about 3 months, but she was a snacker so I think she nursed frequently enough that she didn't need the paci.

DS weaned from it at 10 months. We visited my friend in Florida and I had taken 3 of them with us and managed to lose all three by our last day there and decided to just try without it and he did fine, even on the plane ride home. The first couple of nights falling asleep were a little rough, but other than that he was fine.

12bailey18 · December 2012

We dropped the paci at 2.5 when we moved him to his big boy bed. We just told him that his paci stayed with his baby crib and now that he's in a big boy bed there's no more paci. We even made kinda a big deal about it. Before he could try out his new bed he had to hand over his pacifier. He was so excited about his new bed he handed over his paci and that was it. For a day or two he asked for it but we just told him it was with his baby crib. It was actually a really easy transition for him but we paired it with a 'big event' for him so it worked out well.

Cherryblossoms07 · December 2012

No, we took DD's away at 12 months and DS gave up his on his own at 6 months. Their pedi and pediatric dentist both said that the pacifier needed to be gone at 12 months. Plus, I have always heard that it is much easier to get rid of it at 12 months than it would be to get rid of it at 2, 3, or 4 years of age so I did it early.

jastl32 · December 2012

Check out the site Bye Bye Binky. It might help. Good luck!

Stephanie2167 · December 2012

I feel like the longer you let him keep it the harder it will be to take it away.

We took DDs away a month before she turned two. One night she went to bed without it (out of nowhere). The next morning she asked for it and we said we didn't know where it was and just kindof ignored her asking for it. By day 3 she had already forgot about it. Every once in awhile she would find one in her toy box or something and would look at us like "can I have it?" and we'd tell her she's a big girl and that boppys are for babies (she called it boppy).

And that was that.

hologram87 · December 2012

DD will be 3 in February and still uses one, but it stays in the crib, so only for naptime and bedtime. I tried to take it away once, but she screamed and cried so bad that I gave it back. I don't want to take it away during the holidays, and we are going away on our first family vacation in January, so I have told her that the Valentine Fairy is coming to take it from her and will bring her a Doc McStuffins toy. We talk about it but I'm sure it will still be difficult when the time comes. I'm dreading it. And potty training. And changing her to a big girl bed. I feel a lot of stress coming!! Stick out tongue

Brewtowngrl · December 2012

DS has not been allowed to have out of his crib since a little after 2. Not in the car or at daycare either. I asked him if would give it to Santa to get an extra toy. He did think about if for a few minutes and said no. I am going to try and ask again a few days before Christmas.

neener*neener* · December 2012

We weaned DS off his paci at 1.

I'd be worried about it causing tooth/mouth problems the older they get.

pitterpatter129 · December 2012

Our little guy is turning 2 tomorrow and we just got rid of it this past week during the day. He still uses it at night. It worked well for us to just tell him that the binky would be for nighttime only. Now if he asks for it, I say, "Oh, are you ready to go to bed?" and he says "nooooo" and giggles and runs off. We stopped taking it to daycare and they did well to put up with the tears for a few days at nap time. We are really worried about his speech though and having the binky during the day is not helping with oral development. The speech pathologist at my school (I teach) told me to ditch it asap.

XCrissCrossX · December 2012

I had my paci until I was five. My parents took it away cold turkey- I was mad for one night and then I was fine.

The paci is not a battle I'm willing to fight anytime soon. LO only has his paci for sleeping times and it falls out of his mouth once he falls asleep. When he wakes during the night he puts his paci back in his mouth and goes right back to sleep.

I don't think he has it enough to affect his teeth and I'm not worried about it enough to chance having miserable nights.

megann831 · December 2012

Our dr pushes for it to be gone by a year. DD was 1 1/2 and one day I just got fed up with them, she had had a cold for a while and they were just grossing me out. I was also pregnant so we had been talking about babies alot. I took out a basket and took her around the house and we put them in there, I told her we were giving them to babies. She was fine with it, the 1st night she woke up around 4 and probably cried for about an hour or 2, I was ready to give in but DH made me stick it out and she was fine after that.

MammaBear81 · December 2012

For all the kids we dropped the pacifier at 6 months to only bed/nap time. By 2- 2 1/2 they were gone. I don't think it's abnormal for a 2 year old to have it at bed time only, but I do think it is abnormal for them to have it during the day. At almost 3 I'd really be pushing to get rid of it completely, I don't think its going to get easier with time.

PunkyBooster · December 2012

DS hasn't taken one since about 3 months but my friend's DD was still using hers at 3 and they had a pacifier fairy come. She took the pacifier to give to the new babies born and left the DD a present. It was completely forgotten about, luckily!

Don't know if that would work as well for you?

meg1974 · December 2012

No, but she does suck her thumb which to me is worse b/c you can't take the thumb away. The dentist also told me pacis aren't as bad for their teeth as thumbs are. So, I wish DD used a paci instead.

superaunt · December 2012

they stopped giving one to her at school (she had it at naps only) around 2. i took it away from car trips around the same time. she had it during naps and bedtime at home till about 2.5 when we finally just took it away and made a big deal about how big a girl she was and got her a new toy we let her pick out (cash register). it was a rough couple of nights but then it was like no big deal.

Angela814 · December 2012

I'm sure we'll be there in about 6 months. DD2 loves her paci. She has it at naptime and bedtime, plus in the car and at church. When she gets tired or crabby at home she wants it too. I know I need to start limiting it to sleeping times, but it's really hard to deal with a crabby 2 yo. Plus I'm not going to attempt to limit it/take it away before or right after the baby is born. Eventually I think we'll just leave her blankie and paci in her crib and maybe take it out for long car rides. IDK, we've had no luck getting our 6 yo to stop sucking her thumb, so I figure we'll at least be able to take the paci away eventually.

mandapie · December 2012

DS1 just turned 2 1/2 and still takes it for naps and bed only. We gave it to him during the hurricane (Isaac) and the week we didn't have power and had to evacuate just b/c we weren't home and everything was upside down. It took almost a week to get him back off of having it around the clock.

My goal was to have him weaned off of it by the time he was potty trained, but since I was having another baby and knew I would be offering him a paci too I didn't want there to be any confusion/resentment/regression in that department so I figured I would wait until a couple months after. Then I realized I would be sleep deprived from baby as well as DS1 waking up at night looking for the paci so I will be waiting a little longer. My new goal is 3 and the pt'ing goal is now by March for a road trip home.

ridesbuttons · December 2012

MammaBear81:
For all the kids we dropped the pacifier at 6 months to only bed/nap time. By 2- 2 1/2 they were gone. I don't think it's abnormal for a 2 year old to have it at bed time only, but I do think it is abnormal for them to have it during the day. At almost 3 I'd really be pushing to get rid of it completely, I don't think its going to get easier with time.

I agree with this. DS1 had one in his crib at bedtime until he was 2.5 or so (if memory serves).

AmericanInOz · December 2012

meg1974:
No, but she does suck her thumb which to me is worse b/c you can't take the thumb away. The dentist also told me pacis aren't as bad for their teeth as thumbs are. So, I wish DD used a paci instead.

same here.. dd does have a bunny that when she has it (it used to be just for sleep time) she sticks her thumb in her mouth, but I've tried taking that away and she still does it *sigh* totally needs to suck her thumb to get to sleep - not much I can do about that.... I just encourage her not to do it during the day

etude de la vie · December 2012

AmericanInOz:
meg1974:
No, but she does suck her thumb which to me is worse b/c you can't take the thumb away. The dentist also told me pacis aren't as bad for their teeth as thumbs are. So, I wish DD used a paci instead.
same here.. dd does have a bunny that when she has it (it used to be just for sleep time) she sticks her thumb in her mouth, but I've tried taking that away and she still does it *sigh* totally needs to suck her thumb to get to sleep - not much I can do about that.... I just encourage her not to do it during the day

ds sucks his thumb to go to sleep. He will just self wean or suck his thumb as long as he needs.... Not too worried about it.

My SIL's daughter was 3 and they tied each paci to an inflated ballon (about 10...she threw the rest out) and they let go the balloons in the air to go to all the babies. Then whenever they were out and saw a baby with a similar paci she would tell her DD what a great job she did and maybe that was her old paci.

JoannaJes · December 2012

The biggest roadblock I have seen with giving up pacifiers is that you have to get used to your child fussing, crying, screaming, whatever. Pacifier-free kids are not super quiet angels in the car. It's just as much parent training as it is anything else. GL!

ETA: To answer your OP, yes, I think it's abnormal for an almost 3 year old to be hanging around in the daytime with a pacifier and in the car. Bedtime/naptime I would think is more normal at this age for a big binky lover.

kcisthebombdotcom · December 2012

I don't think it's unusual for a three year old to still have a paci for sleep/naps. I do think it's unusual for a child to have it during the daytime.

I can tell you I had a paci until 3.5 in that way and my teeth were f'd up from it. I would ditch it sooner than later personally. We did it at 2 and it was easy--I can imagine it's going to only get more difficult the older he gets. Start with ditching the daytime paci and work your way from there. I don't think it's terrible to wait until 4 to give up the nighttime paci but daytime paci use at 3 is definitely not appropriate and can cause harm in both language development and with his teeth.

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