my daughter will be 2 in a few months and we think its almost time to be done with the paci. She only uses it to sleep and its been this way for a long time. shes still very attached to it, though, and asks for it at other times - we just dont let her have it. i know sleeping will be really hard to get used to without the paci. ive tried getting her attached to other objects but that doesnt seem to be working. other ideas??
That is funny-I just posted a request about the same issue, but my daughter if 4!! I let it go on way too long and now she isn't sleeping well because she doesn't have her pacifier anymore.
Hi A., I have to say that I had this same problem with my daughter. I started trying to take away her paci at 2 and I wasn't successful until she turned 3! I tried ALL of the things suggested below - cutting the tips didn't phase her, we passed it down to a new baby, mailed one to someone that really needed it more than her, threw them away (even had her do it!), still she found one stashed somewhere and would scream in bed without it. With it she slept all night long in her bed all by herself so it was as hard for me to take it away as it was for her to give it up. We finally ended up taking her to Build-A-Bear on her 3rd birthday and had her build in into the animal of her choice (a kitty). She begged to take the paci out of the kitty for the first 2 nights but when to sleep anyway, slept with the kitty for the next few weeks, and then she was done! Good luck to you with whatever approach you take!
A little about me:
I'm a 31 year old stay at home mom. I've been married for 9 1/2 years. I have a 4 1/2 year old daughter and a 10 month old daughter. And I own/run my own business - AMB Paperworks (www.ambpaperworks.com)
Make a 'house' for her paci which she needs to put it in when she is not in bed... it makes her feel like a big girl and her responsibility. The 'house' consists of water and vinegar. Every day, when your daughter is not watching, add more vinegar to the water. Before long, she won't like the taste of the paci and give it up herself.
The "Bink Fairy" came and took my son's for a child who needed it (because he was a big boy). The fairy left a gift to remind my son of what a great thing that he had done! Never looked back.
This is some good advice i found.....Our daughter was 2 1/2 when we decided to snip the very tip of all the pacifiers. We went through all the normal bedtime routines and when I handed her her pacifier. She put it in her mouth, then pulled it out, stared at it and said "paci broken". I didn't make a big deal, I just told her it was fine and she could still use it. Well, she didn't! She had the same reaction with the ones we kept in the car. She just had sort of an annoyed look on her face but she didn't want them if they were "broken". With my son we didn't think that would ever work because he'd rip them and still use them. He's now 2 1/2 and has been paci-free for 3 weeks now! We snipped the tips and he had the same reaction. Something about cutting the tips off makes them less appealing. If you are sick of the pacifiers I highly recommend snipping them. I was terrified of tantrums as a result, but I was pleasantly surprised. I wish potty training was that easy!
I was pretty sure our second son would take his pacifier to college when he went! He was almost three before his "chupy" went away for good. He really wanted to go to school, so that was a good motivater. We finally talked to him about the "Chupy Fairy" and let him decide when it was time to put chupy under his pillow. When he woke up, he found a note from the Chupy Fairy saying she would take good care of his chupy and thanking him for sharing it with her. He also had $1 and a lollipop attached to the note. He thought it was pretty cool and that was the last we heard of it.
The older kids spent part of the day digging around to see if they could find an old chupy to put under their pillows for prizes, too. Good luck....
Honestly, it might not be that bad. My son was the same way. I thought it was going to be horrible... we told him one day big boys don't use "pyers" (that's what he called them) and let's throw them all away. I let him throw them away and he really didn't ask for them too much. A few times over the next couple days... I think it was much harder on me than him.
With our daughter, we talked about all the other kids that don't have pacifiers, and one day she rounded them all up and we put them in a big envelope and "mailed" them to the "less fortunate" kids. She was almost 3, but we made it her choice.
