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Pacifiers for older kiddos

preggersINschool25preggersINschool25 member
in Special Needs
Grant still uses his paci to sleep and to calm him down in public and during therapy. He is almost 16 months, but developmentally at about a 5 to 6 month level across the board including comprehension. He has 8 teeth. I never thought I would have a kid using a paci this long, but I didn't count on having a special needs kid either.

When is the right time to take it away? What type of paci would be best to not destroy his teeth? What did you do if you were in a similar situation?


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Re: Pacifiers for older kiddos

  • ToastieSimonsToastieSimons member

    We use the Avent paci's.  I discussed this with our old SLP.  Her daughters used pacis till they were 5.

    Once he turned 2.5 I took it away during the daytime.  He could have it for naps and nighttime.

    I did make sure to switch to the larger size around 18 months. DS1 has microcephaly and micrognathia so he has a small mouth and the larger pacis gagged him.

     DS1 still loves his paci and would use it all the time if I let him, but he does fine without it during the day.  Cognitively he's probably about 10-12 months so I feel like most 10-12 month olds would be allowed to have a paci.  Our dentist hasn't said anything.  And most of the time he only uses it to fall asleep and once he's sound asleep it falls out.  I'm sure during the night he puts it back in a few times but the dentist actually said it wasn't too bad.  As long as we're not putting anything on it and he's only having it in his crib for limited amounts of time he didn't feel we had to stop. 

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  • meghans30meghans30 member
    My oldest used his til age 3.... A lot longer than I ever thought he would use it.  We weaned him from daytime use at 2.5 and then went cold turkey at 3. Our dentist said that no real damage would be done; his teeth were slightly pushed forward, but went back into place once he stopped using it. Don't feel guilty about his paci use. He is still very young.
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  • Princess_LilyPrincess_Lily member

    We used MAM's throughout his paci use...and after all of the potty training was completed, we dropped the paci (3.3yo).

    First we collected all of the pacis when he wasn't looking and then cut them all at the tip, so he still had his paci but they were all "broken."  At first DS would look to them to suck, then it was more to just hold & chew, and then I think he thought it was kinda pointless and stopped looking to it as a comfort object altogether.

    The good thing is although we waited a while, he never went to his thumb after he quit the paci. 

     

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  • EmAreEmAre member
    My daughter still has one at 3.5 yrs. She still relies on it heavily as a coping mechanism and all of her therapists recommend we continue using it.

    Her dentist said it did push her teeth out, but didn't affect the health of her teeth. Worst case, she will need braces when she's older. The only downfall is others commenting on her having one, telling her they're for babies, etc. And yes, even strangers in the store try to take it out of her mouth.....

    For the record, I swore my child would lose the paci at 12 mos. I'm eating my words now.
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  • zoeyandsummersmomzoeyandsummersmom member
    Still going strong at 18 months. When you have a kid with low tone, feeding issues, oral aversions, etc anything she willingly puts in her mouth is a win. I have received a few questions from people on when we are going to wean her and I simply tell them that her therapists all agree that it is better for her to use it now than to not - that usually shuts them up. 
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  • pastaladypastalady member
    Um, DD turned 4 not too long ago and still uses it at night. She has a huge oral fixation and grinds constantly through out the day. Our team says let her keep it for now. She never uses it during the day but for now I am not worried. Dentist said there were no issues with her teeth. She sleep issues are extreme so it stays for now. She is starting to talk about how she is a big girl now that she is potty trained so I think it will go away soon.
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    Olivia Kate is almost 4!
    Diagnosed with autism this year and doing great!
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