Getting rid of the paci at age 3

imoverit · May 2014

Please help me wean DS of his paci. Any tricks or tips? He doesnt use it when awake but he does at naps and bedtime. Should we take it away cold turkey? Are there any creative less traumatic ways to get rid of it?

PS. We have a newborn in the house so he is already dealing with lots of change.

mrscheese15 · May 2014

I'd love to know an answer to this as well. DD is nearly 3 (next month) and she uses her "bo-bo" at night. She goes to school and falls right to sleep without it, but on her bad days, she wants bo bo. I've been telling her that the bo-bo fairy is going to take it for new babies who need it as soon as she turns 3. We only have 1 in the house now.

Good luck.
-A

fitmom82 · May 2014

DD got rid of hers at about 1 1/2. I was pregnant so we had been talking about babies a bit. One day I just had it, she had a runny, snotty nose, and the thing just disgusted me. I took a bowl and we walked around the house, I told her they were going to the babies. We put them all in the bowl and that was the last she saw of them. The next morning she did wake up early and cried for a while, but after that she was fine.

Three might be harder because it's even more of a habit, but they're also old enough to understand better. Maybe a sticker chart with a special prize at the end of the week or something may work well.

maryxc1 · May 2014

DS just turned two. We took paci away at night several months ago and at nap time two days ago. I just told him that he is a big boy and big boys don't need paci. He throws a fit for a few minutes for a few days but gets over it.

junebugrbig · May 2014

We cut DS off cold turkey just before he turned three. He only used it at nap/bedtime. He was not going to give it up on his own. So we told him one night no more binkies. He screamed for a good three hours. Then he stopped and went to sleep. The next night, he fussed for a little bit. The third night nothing and never looked back. That first night was tough though... Thank goodness my DS wanted nothing to do with the paci.

Spin313 · May 2014

We did cold turkey at 2.5. We went OOT to visit family for Thanksgiving and, although we took a binky with us, she didn't ask for it since nap and bedtime were so wonky. When we got back, she had been without it for a few days, so we just said "binky went on vacation." It was a rough week...she cried and had to be rocked to sleep for a few nights, but after that she was 100% fine.

Only tip is to not chicken out. When you decide to do it, don't back out!

loisloan1118 · May 2014

Cold turkey! We took it away at on Christmas morning when DD was almost 2.5. Santa took them and gave them to "the babies who need them to stop crying". We also read the Chupie book about the binky who goes to binky-land.

It wasn't the easiest night but she did fall asleep. Make sure all of the pacifiers are gone!!! DD found one about 2 weeks after we took them away. She was over-the-moon happy! Then so sad & mad at DH (he was supposed to be watching her while she dug through a drawer to find it, so I made him take it away!)

5 months later she still talks a lot about pacifiers, mostly in reference to babies. And she recently told me the whole story of finding a paci again.

I agree with @spin313. Don't chicken out. We tried to take it away 2 times before and chickened out. It made it much more difficult on everyone.

Remember, your DS will learn to cope with this.

TeacherVicky · May 2014

We got rid of DS's at 25m-ish. He only used it at night and for naps.

We tried to do a weaning process and so I cut a hole on the tip. Unfortunately it didn't deter him from sucking on it.

We then talked it up A LOT. For about 2-3w, we would talk to him about how his paci was going in the garbage soon because he was a big boy. We did this every day and had planned on trashing them on a particular day. Once it went in the trash, there was no going back. He cried for a few nights, but he was ok.

We did it during the week so that we would only have to deal with nighttime, when his drive to sleep was stronger. By the time the weekend came around, he was pretty accustomed to not having it and napped pretty well.

yeah. · May 2014

With a new baby? Let him have it for a few more months. We went cold turkey and it sucked for a few months (also, she stopped napping once we took it) but it's fine now. But I wouldn't want to take away a comfort object in an already stressful time.

jc&cat · May 2014

DD was a bink girl for naps and bed and we had to drop the habit. Just over 2.5 years I decided we had to do it and we opted for the bribery route. First had to figure out something that she would really want.......and trade the binks for the "prize". We told her that she could get an Elsa doll from the disney store in exchange for the pacifiers. I built this up for about a week and she seemed on board but I knew she wasn't grasping the gravity of what she was doing. I packed up the binks in a sandwich bag (I kept one at home for severe emergency) and off we all went to the mall. She picked up the doll, practically threw the bag of pacifiers on the counter and walked away. I explained to the woman what we were doing (paid the bill too) and they made a HUGE deal of her being a big girl...gave her a certificate, crown, stickers, and a bunch of stuff. That was nice and I think it made her excited and proud.

Fast forward to the night. She cried and wanted her bink. I told her she had Elsa now. She proceeded to throw Elsa out of her crib and cried for about 30 min. Night 2 was better and by night 3 she was fine. We decided this was the right age too b/c she was no longer napping therefore we didn't have to deal with nap time without the bink.

Stay strong and have a plan!

k8edgerton · June 2014

DD just turned two. I got rid of paci's about 3 months ago.

I cut the end off of one each night. She would put it in her mouth for a second, take it out, and throw it down. I told her they were broken. She and four paci's in the crib so it took four nights to break the habit. On the last night I had her throw the leas one in the garbage and say, "bye bye paci"

She hasn't asked for them since. No tears, no fights, easy peasy. She brought it up once or twice when she was upset about something else. I just said, "Remember, you threw your paci's away. The paci's are gone now..."

Good luck

k8edgerton · June 2014

I will add that we only used paci's at nap/night... Never around the house. She sleeps fine, at nap and night.

janinekrause · June 2014

With my now 5 year old, we got her all excited about giving them to the babies. I bought a box, we decorated it, put all the binkies in, wrapped it with bows, and put it in the mailbox.

She was actually ok as was super addicted...

ladylisalt · June 2014

We are in the same boat. DS is 3 next month and really only uses when cranky or naps,bedtime. He seems to hide them then reappear with like 4 of them. They are def. comfort. I want to take them away too but we have a baby coming in August. Not sure if I should try to take them soon or wait for a few months after baby like op mentioned. I do talk the binky fairy up alot and tell him when he turns 3 he has to give them to the babies. Good luck!

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