I have a daughter who will be 2 next month and one on the way in July. I desparately want to break her of her pacifier addiction before the baby comes. I was thinking about just doing a "no pacififier" boot camp over spring break! Any ideas out there would be greatly appreciated!
My daughter was almost two when I broke her of it. She was playing with it one day and I told her that she didn't need her bink anymore because she was a big girl. I said to go throw it away and she did and hasn't used one since. She asked for it a couple of time but then that was it.
Hi
I have also heard of people telling thier child that they need to mail the pacifiers to another baby who needs them. Have her put them in a box and take them to the postal office. (just have them throw it away).
I have also heard of the "pacifier fairy" who will collect all the pacifiers at once and leave a wonderful toy in exchange.
Not sure if I agree with the "deception" part of these, but I guess it teaches some kind of social responsibility, and makes them feel a little more in control of the situation.
Good luck
Hi E. - We recently got the pacifiers away from our daughter and son, who are 2 1/2 and 3 1/2. I can't even believe my son had his that long, especially since getting rid of it was easier than I had anticipated. We put all the pappies in a box and left them on the front door step for the "pappy fairy" so that she could give them to the babies that needed them. She came and took them in the middle of the night and left them a new pair of trainer roller skates (something they had both been asking for). My son did not cry at all but my daughter had a rough time for about a day so not to bad as far as crying goes. She still falls asleep quickly but the problem now it that her naps are horribly short compared to what they used to be and she wakes up at the drop of a pin in the AM (not good since my husband is up at 5:30-6 am) I am still trying to figure out how to get her to sleep longer, if I could do some kind of white noise I know that would help but I don't like having things plugged in where she can mess w/them. So be prepared that her sleep might change. I forced myself to actually throw them in the trash outside so that I wouldn't give in on those first nights when I was tired and desperate. Good thing, because I totally would have. Good luck!!!
We did the same thing as Carolyn - making a big deal about the trash man picking them up. When my daughter asked for her pacifiers later - we just repeated the story and gave her lots of praise for being such a big girl. She went from having a cup filled with 5 pacifiers in her bed every night to no pacifiers - cold turkey - and we all came through it amazingly well!
Cold turkey is the best way to break the pacifier habit. My husband and I did it over a weekend expecting it to be the worst weekend ever however, it was easier than we thought. It was a little difficult at night but we played my daughter's fav videos and things like that and it wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought.
Good luck!
I have a 23 mo boy and a 3 mo old girl and my son is still using a pacifier. I never felt the need to take away my son's pacifier before our new one came - I honestly thought he'd need it when the new baby arrived. It's been very sweet to watch him try to relate to his sister, via the pacifier. Like when she's crying, my son will run and find a pacifier and offer it to his sister and then say "Baby crying." I think on some level, he gets so much comfort from his pacifier, he wants to try to comfort his sister in the same way.
Anyway, all that to say, your daughter will grow out of it... sometimes we're ready to get rid of it before they are. I always tell myself "They're not going to go to college with it." It helps me remember that my little ones have limitations and most of the things that frustrate me are just stages and seasons in their little lives.
Good Luck
If you don't want to do it 'cold turkey' cut the tips off of the pacifiers. Apparently, the child will think that it's broken cause she can't suck on it properly and there ya go! I never had to do this but a friends doctor recommended this. Good luck!
You need to determine whether the pacifier is used out of habit or need first. If use is out of habit, try to "break" the habits by changing the routine. For example, if your daughter always goes to sleep with the pacifier, substitute with a stuffed toy to cuddle with.
What we did when we broke them off of the bottle was to ask them if they are a big boy/girl. Of course they will say yes. Have the child put the item in a trash bag on trash pick up day and walk out with them to the curb and have them toss it in the big trash, then go inside to watch and wait for the trash man to come, and watch together as he takes the pacifier, bottle, whatever you are trying to break them of "so another little baby can use it, because you are a big girl/boy now!" It worked for us with all three boys like a charm! Good Luck! *Of course, if you can't pry it from their little fingers, this may not work for you, but you can usually tell when they are mature enough to handle this.
