2 Yr Old Having Trouble Giving up Pacifier

I just threw them out and explained to the child that the pacifer is all gone. I also told them that they were big boys and don't need them anymore. Eventually they accepted it and moved on. However, I threw them out when they were asleep.

Cold turkey. Gather them all up, throw them away, and do not leave any in the house because you'll be tempted to give in to the whining. Although you and he will have a very rough day or two, your child will not be irreparably harmed because he no longer has his pacifier. It is the quickest and easiest transition.

Cold Turkey. The only way to go. My oldest never used one, my youngest couldn't get it enough! We cut back to just naps/ bed and thought that was good enough. We had my oldest at the dentist and my little one (2 at the time) was with us and right away he looked at her smile and said "take away the pacifier". I was shocked. It was just her smile and he knew right away. The only thing that worked was to get rid of them. All of them. It really wasn't that bad just a couple of days and she was over it. Then in no time her teeth started to straighten out by themselves. You have to throw them out and you might as well get the baby off of them. If you don't have one, you can't cave when they cry for it. Good luck, it's really not that bad. :) She did get to pick out a new baby doll and we talked to her about being too big to have them.

I was just looking at photos of my second son who is now 6.5 years old. He has a pacifier in his mouth in every shot! But, I never thought it was big deal. In fact I was always looking for green or blue ones of the brand he liked in order to have a supply of clean ones. I asked my dentist if it was an issue and he said no--that he would not be able to provide me with any empirical evidence that sucking on a pacifier as a 2 to 3 year old would affect his mouth/teeth. So, I never did anything about it. About two weeks after his 3rd birthday my son told us and his caretaker that he was 3 and too old for a pacifier and gave it up voluntarily. Can you find scientific studies that prove that your child's mouth will be affected by using the pacifier? Why deprive your child of something that provides comfort and security? I don't believe you need to worry this.

I agree, cold turkey for both of them. Sucking a pacifier as an older child not only looks ridiculous (especially when they talk around them) they do cause harm to children's teeth when sucked on constantly. As a family full of child care professionals, we have all seen, as laypeople no doubt, what overuse of pacifiers do to kids teeth. That strong need to suck as a newborn diminishes and the child is using the pacifier as a self soothing method by 2. You can do it!

There are so many pros and cons out there it can be confusing. I worked for a dentist many years ago so I have seen some problems but they are mostly genetic and not pacifier related - unless the pacifier is 24/7 for many years. My oldest (now 20) did not take to it but my youngest did. The oldest had the braces. A pacifier is a comfort thing for a child and around the age of two is when you can start limiting its use. For us, we did what you are doing by limiting its use to night time. We were also able to give her something during the day to comfort her and for us it was a certain doll she could keep with her. Yes, at first the daytime had to be slowly weened - dont do it cold turkey, but they do gradually get over it. There is no "magic" age for things like this (potty training too) - they will let you know when they are becoming ready.

Thanks for writing about this. My daughter is 22 months, and became ridiculously attached to her paci and lovey around 15 months, when she discovered she could go pull them out of her crib. I've changed hiding places in order to only give it to her at bedtime, she eventually finds them and helps herself throughout the day. She's a great toddler, but this obsession w/ the paci/lovey is one that I never expected to deal with. I thought I was "on top of my game," but lo and behold she got one over on me. It's interesting the different opinions people have, but it looks like a majority are saying go cold turkey and suck it up for a couple days. I wish my daughter was old enough to conceptualize "giving the paci to new babies that need them." She would just look at me like I was speaking another language. And I think if we did have a Paci Tree here, she would think she made it to Meca...haha..."WOW! a whole tree of pacis." Good luck! Good vibes to those mommies who must face this.

My parents took all three of us to a toy store and said we would pick out something we liked and they would buy it for us but we had to trade the pacifier for it. Worked like a charm and they could always remind us we had something as a fair trade. Maybe this could work for you.
Also, I know this is may sound strange, but I spent time living abroad and in one the parks in Stockholm there was a tree where children went to give their pacifiers to the kittens who needed them. So the tree was filled with the other kids pacifiers and then the kids wanted to join them and give their pacifiers to the kittens in the petting zoo. It is a cute tradition there and it seems to work. We loved walking through the park on the weekends to see the parents take their kids to the tree to give them up there. Maybe if you don't want to buy them something you could come up with something funny like this.

My 2 boys are 13 months apart...they are 3 and 4 now. We had them both give them up at the same time, age 2 1/2 and 1 1/2. We had THEM throw them in the garbage on Monday...garbage day. We sent them out for the garbage man to take because we only have big boys that live here now. It worked, they never cried for them, although they asked occasionally, we responded that the garbage man took them. They were fine with that.

Children have a strong need to suck, even at 2 or 3 years old. I would gently encourage, but follow your child's lead. Pacifiers don't cause speech delays, and would only cause a dental issue if used past age 5.

When my son was 15 months, my husband and I made the decision to pull the plug (i.e. the pacifier) for the same reasons you stated in your message. We went cold turkey, but kept the paci in a secret location in case of severe relapse. We did not mention the word "paci" and prayed to God that he would not go crazy if he saw another kid's paci. The first 4-5 days were hard because he cried for the paci mostly at nap time and bedtime (the time he wanted it most). We comforted him at these hard times and told him how much of a "big boy" he was. After week 1 he asked for it more than creid for it. Each week got better and better with no relapses. Now we are still paci free at 20 months.

If you have another child in the house with a paci too, you may have to take her's away b/c he will want hers. Stay focused and stick to your guns with this one. It takes 2-4 weeks of patience. And do not give in.

M.

Like Denise, just before our daughter turned two, we clipped the very tip of the paci off. She tried it, tried it backwards and decided it was broken. She handed it back to me and I kept it for the next time she asked for it and just reminded her it was broken. Parents have cautioned this could be a choking hazard, but I was right next to her and she didn't want it after one suck anyways. She went right to bed that night without it, the next nap was a little rough, along with the next night, but she didn't fuss longer than 15 min. I was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly it went. Good luck!

We're going through the same thing with our 2 1/2 year old twins. Mostly they are just using them to sleep. I'm having fantastic luck with the forced choice question (do you want to give it to me, or do you want to leave it on the table), and then moving it out of reach while they're busy with other stuff. Mostly they don't ask for it, unless they get tired or hurt. For hurt, I have boo-boo ice packs that I give them instead of their binkies... and for tired, I sometimes start the bedtime routine a little early if they are very insistant, as needing binky and lovie seems to be a very good clue that they're tired. Sometimes if they ask during the afternoon, I will offer water or a healthy snack instead (cheese sticks, apples, etc, as appropriate) and they forget all about the binky.

Good luck... I look forward to hearing anything else you've tried that works!

Hi D.,
I went through this last spring with my almost 3 year old.
I love mama source...I had a similar post. The responses where so helpful!! This is what worked for me. My son would have it for only sleeping...but would ask for it when he got upset. I talked to him about being a big boy and that big boys don't use paci's. He was so attached that if his paci fell out of bed at night he would cry till it was retreived! Did I mention I was pregnant with my 4th at the time! Anyways I packed up all the paci's in front of him and through away. Then at his afternoon nap (make sure your son is tired) I cliped the end of the paci off!!! WORKED LIKE A CHARM....he immediatly noticed and said oh mommy this one is broken. I responed with I'm sorry buddy this is the only one we have... he kept it and cried for 45 minutes then fell asleep!!! At night time was a little rougher he cried over an hour! After 2 days NO KIDDING...He was fine! I would think your little one's would be easier because mine was a little over 2-1/2 years old. It was so freeing when it was gone! Good luck! Hope this helps!
D. T