Breaking the Pacifier Habit

Alycia - posted on 07/25/2009

We have slowly gotten rid of things one at a time...his pacifier was first then bottles. I am surprised at how easy it can be but I think because they are still so young it possibly makes it easier to remove that stuff. Sometimes using a transfer object can help, my son has a blanky now that he likes to have at bedtime.



I think sometimes cold turkey at this age is good too because although you'll deal with the crankiness it most likely will pass at a quicker pace. I think following your intuition on it things will work out just fine...best of luck Jennifer :D

Bethany - posted on 07/24/2009

We did it cold turkey a week ago (i.e- just didn't give it to him one night at bedtime and he hasn't seen one since). Some parts were easier than I expected and some were harder...but this is definitely a case of every baby will react in his own way...

I had a friend taking her son's away at the same time so that helped me stick to my guns and do it (I was a little hesitant because we were also taking bottles away and I just went back to work, etc- seemed like too much change at once.)

Her suggestions (and what we did) was to start with night time and just let him cry (going in every so often but being careful not to become the soother replacement!). It was rough but really only lasted one night for us. Nap times used to be almost silent affairs for us but could take at least 1/2 hour to fall asleep and now there is about 5-10 minutes of intense crying and then poof! asleep!

I know lots of people who say to just wait until they give it up- and that's fine if you don't mind waiting until 2 or 3- but I think that there's a little window between like 14 and 24 months where you are kind of stuck as they are old enough to really know that they want it but not old enough to understand why you are taking it away... so if you are thinking of doing it now, I say "Go For It!!!" :~D

If by "can't live without it" you mean he has it all the time then you might want to take Nichola's advice to start by limiting it...but maybe just taking the plunge will be easier in the long run as he will only have to make one adjustment...go with your mother's instinct on this one!

Best Wishes (and here's hoping it will be a piece of cake!!! :~D )

Nichola - posted on 07/24/2009

my son is also attached and just turned one...i weaned him off his bottle already and decided not to do the pacifier at the same time so he wasnt losing everything at once but now that he is off the bottle and has turned one i am limiting the pacifier just to bed time it stays in his crib and im hoping that eventually he will just get used to not having it so much and give it up on his own

Cara - posted on 07/23/2009

this will sound really mean but my doctor said to put a tiny bit of vicks on the end! it worked for me and she has never looked back