Ditching the Pacifier

www.thebinkylandfairy.com will take both binkies/pacis and bottles/babas. For $5.95 the child gets a personalized engraved letter complete with fairy dust. Very cool idea!

If it doesn't affect his speech & he only uses it at night I really don't see any harm. Ear infections are usually from the fluids in the bottle or sippy cup & laying down.
You could go on a fun shopping day & pick out a favorite stuffed animal/toy, make a big deal of it & try that at times when he wants his security item. Then they may end up wanting to take it to school someday! :)
Don't sweat it. He will ditch it before he goes to school & if he doesn't the kids will change his mind! They are only little for a short time. He'll outgrow it.

It looks like you already got a few good ideas- we used the binky fairy story, and left a fun toy for them to wake up to. My girls were 3 when we took it away. It's your child and you need to do what you feel is right. And personally, I am one of the believers that it is okay for a young toddler to still have something that helps them soothe themselves and go to sleep. He is still a baby, so you can't tell him that a paci is only for babies! The paci is not what is causing the ear infections. If you want to take it away, do it. It will take a few rough nights, so be prepared! If you're doing it because you feel pressured to and feel he's not ready, let him keep it. My kids had them for 3 years - they're fine, their teeth are fine, and they talk nonstop!
Good luck!

I can sympathize my son was 3yrs old by the time we made him give it up and I felt so guilty. We used a suggestion that our dentist had and it was to bury all the pacifiers in the flower bed and in the spring flowers will come up(just make sure you put them where there is something planted=)) Another thing that I have heard is to give them to a newborn of someone that you know since "babies need pacies" or another thing that I have heard that works is the "binky fairy" you can look online cause I think there is an actual website where to send the pacifiers and the kids get something in the mail-just google it. Best of luck. My son was over the loss of his binky in a few days.

Maybe this will sound cruel, but you just have to lose it for good. You're little guy will definitely miss it and cry at bedtime/naptime, but after even just a day or two, he'll be fine. I certainly don't think you've waited too long -- in my opinion, there's no "easy" way to do it, but also the longer you wait to take it away, the harder it is to do. I have 3 kids - 3 1/2, 2 & almost 1, so I've been through this twice, for what it's worth!

We waited to long for our son also. He was almost three when we finally took it away. We did it cold turkey, we just hid all his pacifiers from site and when it came to bed time he asked where it was and we told him sorry we must of lost it we will look for it tommorrow. And it worked he asked for it again the next nite and told him the pacifier fairy must of came and got them to give to the babies who need them. Your a big boy and you don't need them anymore. He also only used it at night and I think that it was alot easier to take it away since he didn't have it all day. If cold turkey don't work cut the tip of it a little each day. He won't like how small it will get and eventually get tired of it and forget about it.

if cold turkey isn't in it for you try a few other methods....we did cold turkey and on the 4th day no problems...others have tried and it worked for them...telling the child that he/she is no longer a baby and the new babies need the passies lets gather them all up and send them to them..( you have him/her gather them all up) put them in a plastic ziplock and "pretend" to mail them in a box ..making a big deal outtta it.....
another method is to snip the passies off at the top a little at a time till there is nothing for them to suck on.....