When and How to take away the Pacifier?

Jodi - posted on 02/17/2009

I let my daughter have it until she was about three and then I told her that the pacifier fairy comes when you turn three to take them away and that if she would put them all under her pillow the pacifier fairy would come and take them all and leave her a gift under her pillow.  So on her third birthday I helped her round them all up and we put them in a cloth bag under her pillow and just like the tooth fairy, the pacifier fairy came and got them and left her a small gift under her pillow.  She never asked for them again.

Ann - posted on 02/17/2009

at 18 months I only gave it to him for bedtime/naptime and just wouldn't give it to him at any other time. it was hard but he adapted. Within a few months i'd "loose them" slowly and he didn't have to sleep with them either. so now we're 2 and haven't used one in like 3 months

Wendy - posted on 02/17/2009

What we did when our kids were between 2 1/2 and 3 was snip the top of the pacifier off. When they asked for them they would put it in there mouth and would look at us wondering what was wrong.....we would than tell them it must be broken....it worked like a charm both times!!! Goodluck!

Adrienne - posted on 02/16/2009

Thank you everyone! My son is not sick anymore and we are going to try to take the pacifier away again. My only question now is when they didn't have the pacifier anymore did they get up during the night and not go back to bed until a few hours later?

Shelly - posted on 02/16/2009

My son was attached to his binky and there was a time when I thought he would never give it up!! I cut a little off the end of the pacifier and when I gave it back to him we talked about how it was broken so we couldnt use it anymore.  Wasnt sure it would fly, but it did!

Susan - posted on 02/16/2009

My son is now just over 3, he still has his dummy at bedtime, we stopped it through daytime by just telling him he only allowed it when he goes to bed at night. It took only 2 days for him to stop asking for it in the day. We are now looking into ways of breaking it at bedtime, our dentist has said to him the tooth fairy would like it very soon so think we're going down that avenue with having a lovely reward at the end. Fingers crossed!

Tamara - posted on 02/16/2009

With our son, I cut the end off of the paci. I then gave it to him, he handed it right back. it didn't "work" anymore. It seemed to solve the problem for us.

Paula - posted on 02/15/2009

I just took it away from my son. He never asked for it again. Try that first. It might be easier than you think. If not, make sure you do it on his terms. Take him out and buy him a "replacement" toy or stuffed animal. Let him know whats going on and as soon as he choses his new item, go straight to the nearest trash and have him put it in. Then procede to the checkout and make your new purchase. Then... brag, brag, brag in front of him to everyone. hen he asks for it jsut remind him about his replacement and tell him the pacifer is gone now. He's old enough to get it. This worked for my friend. Good luck

Susan - posted on 02/15/2009

i took it away from my son cold turkey, yeah he cried and looked for it for the 1st couple of days but after that went on about his business and never asked for it again. He was 17 or 18 months when i did that. Did the same thing with the bottle, cause he was using a sippy cup during the day so just decided to take that away as well and start using the cup at nap time and bed time.

Amber - posted on 02/15/2009

my son was totally addicted to the paci, if it wasn't in his mouth, he was screaming bloody murder for it!
when he was about 20 months, he got a cold and couldnt breath through his nose with the paci in his mouth, so he just spit it out at night and hasnt asked for it since!
having a sick child is obviously nothing to be excited about, but see if he'll willingly give it to you if he cant breath.
good luck!

Barbara - posted on 02/15/2009

my son just had it for bed up to 3 year then we but it on the christmas tree for father christmas to take and my 2 child the same this year he will leave it for father christmas

Angie - posted on 02/15/2009

I have three boys and they have all loved their dummies. i wouldn't worry about taking it away too soon as they will only resort to thumbs which is a harder habit to break. We left it until they were 3 then the dummy fairy comes and takes it away for babies and leaves a nice present for big boys!

Jessica - posted on 02/15/2009

On our son's 2nd birthday, we told him that his binky had to go bye-bye. He was actually ok with it after he cried for a bit. Never had a problem with him after that. He understood what bye-bye meant at the time.

Tiffany - posted on 02/15/2009

if they know that you are just as sad as them about not having the binki they will play you for every minute, when you are complasant about it they get over it really fast.

Tiffany - posted on 02/15/2009

Quoting Brenda:

I never had that problem with my son, he spit it out every time after like two minutes, but I've heard dipping it in pickle juice to sour it will help.  Some kids are really into the oral stimulation.  My son didn't give up the bottle until he was two.  Try giving him plenty of things to chew on other than the pacifier!

I tryied the pickle juice with number two and now he loves pickles! but number two didn't suck on it like the first one did, number two would chew on it and then spit it out two minutes later, I guess I should have just not offered it to him... cause one day I was sick of replacing broken ones that he had bitten through and he didn't seem to care that he didn't have it anymore.

Amanda - posted on 02/15/2009

We started by only giving my daughter her dummy at nap time and bed time, then when we decided to stop giving it to her we told her there was a little baby next door who was sad and needed to borrow her dummy.  She gave it up quite happily and didn't really ask for it anymore...

Tiffany - posted on 02/15/2009

I was a stay at home mom for the first nine-months and I didn't do very well, I let my first-child have everything he wanted, if he wanted the binki now he could have it as long as he didn't cry at me!

So with the help of Day Care, we weened the Pacifier off in two cycles over a couple of months.
- One he was only allowed to have it when he was in his crib at home - NO Pacifier at Day Care the child needs to find another method of soothing him/herself instead of relying on what they can shove in there mouth!!!.

- Two, three months later, we went to grandma's for a long weekend and didn't bring it with us, he fussed for about ten minutes and then fell asleep, he had been sleeping at daycare without it, so why not a grandma, when we got home I just never took it out again, and when the subject came up two weeks later I just told him that the binki is gone and that he is a big boys who has been great without it for a long time now...

The binki was never requested again, it was sooo much easier than I thought It would be. he was just two...

Adrienne - posted on 02/15/2009

Last week we were doing the cold turkey for two days. First time he cried for 40 minutes then bed time was 15 minutes. We were doing fine we just ignored the crying. Our only problem with that was he got up at 1am and wouldn't go back to bed. He cried for 2 hours, played for another 2 hours, we gave up and gave him the pacifier. Shortly after going cold turkey he got sick with a bad stomach flu and we are waiting for him to get 100% before trying to take the pacifier away again. I just don't know if him getting up 1am and staying up for hours is normal when you take away the pacifier???? Before that he would get up for a drink and diaper change and back to sleep.

Cheryl - posted on 02/15/2009

My daughter was totally addicted to the pacifier and I weaned her in the same way you did. I began to give it to her only at nap times and bed time. When I realized this wasn't helping much I made her go cold turkey. It wasn't a pleasant sight as she was totally devastated, but within a few days she no longer desired it. As pitiful as they look when they are crying for it, if you can just deal with it and let them cry, they'll get over it. Kids adjust very easily. You just have to be able to handle a little screaming and possible tantrums, but they'll get over it and so will you. And the most the screaming will do is give them a sore throat and you a headache-- you both will survive.

Kimberly - posted on 02/15/2009

What I did to mines is I use to tell them that they are big boy and girl and told them to throw it away and when they ask for it I told them they threw it away. They never ask for it again.

Ashley - posted on 02/15/2009

i was told by a nurse the it is ok for your child to keep a sother until about 3 years old when there perment teeth start to come in

Brenda - posted on 02/15/2009

I never had that problem with my son, he spit it out every time after like two minutes, but I've heard dipping it in pickle juice to sour it will help.  Some kids are really into the oral stimulation.  My son didn't give up the bottle until he was two.  Try giving him plenty of things to chew on other than the pacifier!