WFMW – Backwards Addition
10 02, 07
smkirklin
So my question for you all is how do I break my daughter of her pacifier habit. She’s two and only uses it at home, and mostly just in the morning or for naps and at bedtime. When she’s at other people’s houses she doesn’t use it to sleep, but with us she does. In July she went a whole week without it while she was at my moms! When she gets upset she immediately ask for her “paci”. What’s worked for you?
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1.
Charlotte | 10 02, 07 at 8:15 pm
When my son Asher was needing to get rid of his, I told him that he could have two more days of using his “binky” until he was a big boy (his was on his second birthday). I reminded him that he had one last day with it, and on his birthday, we celebrated his “big boy” status and reminded him of it when it came to bedtime. He whined a little, but within a couple of days, he forgot all about it. Good luck!
2.
Lori ~ Simple Life at Home | 10 02, 07 at 9:54 pm
My kids would never accept a pacifier, but someone once told me that if they cut a small hole out of the tip of the part the child sucks, they won’t want it anymore. Something about that it doesn’t provide the same amount of suction and feels funny. Don’t know if it works, but it might be less traumatic if it’s a decision the child makes on their own.
Good luck!
3.
chickadee | 10 02, 07 at 10:36 pm
getting rid of the paci is so hard! i got rid of all my kids’ when they turned 3. they were old enough to understand and to look forward to their birthday party. so, when talking about the fun of the party and turning 3 and all that we also talked about getting bigger and how the pacifier would get “hot” when you turn 3 because you’re a big boy or girl then.
on the day of the party i coated the pacifier in tobasco or hot sauce. sometimes i even had to cut a small slit in the paci to help it hold in the hotness.
there’s a lot of crying and sadness, but also, because it is on the birthday, they are preoccupied with the new gifts and fun so it’s easily forgotten. i leave out the one hot paci for a few days so they can try it and refuse it and realize that it is the paci’s fault and not mine.
this has worked for 3 kids.
good luck!
4.
Cindee | 10 02, 07 at 10:44 pm
Somewhere I read about cutting a little bit off of the pacifier and then cutting a bit more a few days later and continuing until the n1pple was all gone. Worked for them, I guess. My oldest was the only one who ever used one and we ended up taking it away cold turkey at age 4 and just living through the next few days. I decided I’d NEVER let it go that long with subsequent children but then no one else has liked using one so it’s not been a problem.
5.
Tina in Thailand | 10 03, 07 at 12:43 am
When we deemed it was time for our oldest to move past the pacificer, OK, it was probably past time, we confined it to her bed. If she wanted to suck on it, she had to be sitting on her bed. Since sitting on your bed meant she was probably missing out on something else, it did not take long before she did not want it much during the day.
Once she was only using it at night, we told her that as soon as they got lost, we would not be replacing them. Since she was mostly not using them anymore anyway, it was fairly easy.
Hope you find a workable solution.
tina@bunchofburts.org
6.
Amy | 10 03, 07 at 3:46 am
I used the cutting technique. After cutting the first time then I explained it’s broke and both of my sons went and threw their paci away. No crying or anything. You can keep snipping until it’s gone if you need to.
7.
Kara | 10 03, 07 at 7:12 am
My first son had a paci until he was 2.5 years old and I thought we’d never get rid of it. Finally one day I hid all but one paci, that one I snipped a tiny hole in the top so it wouldn’t work. When he realized it was “bwoken” he didn’t want it and asked about it for a few days but I’d remind him it was broken. The first night he cried maybe 5 minutes for it, but that was the only trouble we had. After 2 days he seemed to be over it.
8.
Kathy Days | 10 03, 07 at 10:26 am
My oldest son LOVED his binky, but we made him keep it in his bed…He used it for both naps and nighttime. Our pediatrician and dentist always said he’d get rid of it when he was ready– That there must be some sort of need there if he still wanted it– and just to wait it out and he’d give it up on his own when he was ready…
A few days before his fourth birthday, he said he was ready to give his binkies away. We marched down to the toy store, picked out a really cool truck that he’d been wishing for, and “paid” the cashier using his binkies.
I’ve heard of lots of people who take binkies away around age 2/3, and their kids stop napping. Just a warning. I’m all about waiting….
9.
elizabeth | 10 03, 07 at 1:47 pm
My daughter was around 2-3 and using her pacifier pretty much only at night and naps when The Suckie Fairy came to visit in the night. That Fairy took the suckies, but left a very cool, real harmonica in her bed! That harmonica recently went to camp with her as a 7th grader:-)
10.
Kristy | 10 03, 07 at 3:56 pm
I don’t know if this will help you or not because you mentioned that she only uses it at home but I still thought I’d share what worked for us. My son had his paci with him at a toy store and I noticed he set it down while playing with something. I picked it up and slipped it in my pocket. (This was the only paci he had at this point. I refused to buy any more!) We left the store and he never even thought about it until we were in the car driving and he asked for it. I told him he left it in the store and then we went back to “look” for it. Of course he never found it so he cried on the way home. BUT, that was it! He never cried again! I think what worked was HIM being the one who lost it. It wasn’t my fault, it wasn’t like we had it and weren’t giving it to him (at least to his knowledge!) So, my advice would be to find some situation where it could be “lost” and then take it away and let her realize that she lost it. And if you have more than one I would start taking them away slowly until you are down to one. It’ll be much easier to “lose” just one! Good luck! I had visions of endless crying and sleepless nights, which is why we never took it away before, but it just didn’t turn out that way. It was so much easier than I ever imagined it could be!
11.
learningpatience | 10 03, 07 at 6:20 pm
We’ve done two different things with our kids: With the first, we told her they were all dirty and needed to be washed (which we did in the dishwasher). Those pacifiers got washed about a billion times before they finally just disappeared, but for some crazy reason, it totally worked. She bought it!
Our apparently much smarter son was not having any of that, so when he went to his first dentist appointment (we take them when they are two, just to sit in the chair), our dentist told him that if he would send or bring his pacifiers in to him (the dentist), he would send our son a package. It took a couple weeks of reminders that he should send his pacis to Dr. B, but he did . . . and he got a box FULL of junky dentist toys. He loved it! Perhaps you could talk your dentist into this?
Blessings!
12.
Andi | 10 03, 07 at 6:35 pm
My son (26 months) loves his binkie. It has been limited to bedtime use ONLY since he was a year old. That’s the first step. We recently clipped the ends of his binkies & now he’s not as obsessed with them.
But, if she doesn’t really need it to sleep, you might just suck it up & take it away. She will cry for it a little bit, but you can find other ways to comfort her. A special stuffed animal, blankie, lots of hugs & kisses.
13.
Stacy | 10 05, 07 at 3:27 pm
I have used this twice and given the idea to lots of friends and it works for them too. You have to take a deep breath, no turning back and CUT the BINKY OFF – all the rubber…..then stick them back in the places that your child goes to find them….bed…car….drawer…and when he or she finds them they will bring them to you and tell you they are broken and you have to act surprised….”WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR BINKY??” . that way you are not the bad guy. They will cry for a day or two, but then they are done. Works great, you just have to not back out or give in. It is for their best interest and for sure better for their TEETH!!!! they willl thank you when they get no braces or a shorter stay in braces….Love you neighborhood Dental Hygienist
14.
Amy | 10 06, 07 at 11:07 am
Just wanted to chime in that we, too, used the snip-off-the-end method. We cut off a sliver off the tip and the very next time he picked it up to use it (naptime) he took it out of his mouth, looked at it like, “what in the world is wrong with this thing?”, then put it aside and was done with it. It was soooo easy. But he was an easy baby, so no surprise I guess. Baby #2 is just 10 months, and hardly uses one at all. Good luck with whatever you try!
15.
thediaperdiaries | 10 06, 07 at 6:11 pm
wow, lots of votes for the cutting method.
We just did cold turkey take it away. It was a brutal first night, but then never a peep about it again.
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