Pacifier - Kansas City,MO

My youngest had a tough time getting rid of his pacifier. Finally, at 3 years old, we went to Build a Bear and he got to pick out a bear, stuff it, etc. He put his pacifier in it (we talked about this all the way there). That night he asked for his "goo-goo" as he called it. I told him it was in his bear, now he had a "goo-goo bear" He seemed fine with it and chewed on the bears arm the first couple of nights, then he was fine. Now that he's 4 1/2, he still remembers which bear has his pacifier in it.

This is a hard one. My daughter was so attatched to hers. My son was born 4 months before she turned 3. I didn't try to take it away before he was born, because I didn't want her to resent him in any way. Luckily her birthday was 1 month after christmas. So we had a long talk about how there were baby girls in the world who needed paceys and she didn't really need hers anymore. So for christmas she gave her paceys to Santa to take to other baby girls in the world who really needed them. She totally went for it. I think because she had a new baby brother that used a pacey, she really wanted to do something to help other babies. She did cry the first night, but after she woke up that morning and saw that Santa had took the paceys and left her gifts in their place, she was fine. I don't know if this will help you, but this is how we broke her. Good luck!!!!

We cut the tip of the pacifier off, and then gave it to my daughter. It didn't take her long at all to realize that it was broken and she didn't want it any more. make sure that you cut all of them at the same time and if it doesn't work right away cut a little more off each day. the great thing about this is it ends up being their choice and not something forced on them. good luck.

A.

Hey there C.,

It's so hard to get rid of those little binkies. We just went through this with my three year old daughter. We did a lot of preparation. I talked with her about it a lot. I explained that it isn't good for her teeth. When the time came, I had her throw it away. She cried at night for it. I just held her and told her how sorry I was that she was so sad. It was nice for me to be able to hold her through it. It actually only lasted two days. Of course, it seemed like two years to me. Hee hee. She's completely over it now though.

Good luck to you!

C. Smith
www.EnhanceYourWayOfLife.com

Oh boy...I feel your pain. I tried everything to get rid of my daughter's and nothing worked until I stumbled upon the Binky Fairy idea. She had 3 of her "favorite" pacifiers" so we didn't go cold turkey. Each night we'd put one of the binkies under her pillow and each morning she'd wake up to a little present. She was so into it she was excited to go to bed and give the next binky to the fairy. I told her when we got to the last binky, she'd get a really special present because the binky fairy was thanking her so much and was so happy that she was a big girl now. So, that last night she went through a bit of angst, put the last binky under her pillow, pulled it back out to say goodbye to it and put it back under her pillow. She cried a little and I even asked her if maybe she wanted to wait one more night but she said, "Noooooo! I want my present!" I was so proud of her determination. She cried some more but with a brave and determined front. She eventually fell asleep and woke up to brand new sparkly red "Dorothy Shoes." She was so excited about the shoes she forgot all about the binkies. I was shocked at how easily it worked because she was vehemently attached to those binkies!

My son was 2 when we got rid of his passy. We did it alot like Heather H only used the Passy Fairy who needed passy's for other babies. I have also heard that if you cut the tip off just a bit then it doesn't feel right and they don't want to use it anymore. I agree with talking to them about it - they understand alot more than we give them credit for. My son cried during his first nap without it and never asked for it again. Good luck!!

I got rid of my daughter's pacifier much earlier at around 1 when we got rid of the bottle. I also cut the tip, but a little off the ends was not enough - I gradually cut over a period of weeks and the last time cut off a larger chunk such that only about 1/2 of it was left. Additionally, from the time that she was very small, once she fell in to a good sleep, I popped it out of her mouth so she didn't get used to sleeping with it in, but left it in her crib so she could find it if she woke up. Your son may be beyond that now, but since you said he wakes up and becomes upset if he can't FIND it, you might consider how long he has it in initially before it comes out and try to determine if you can remove it earlier to help him get used to sleeping without it.

i know this sounds kinda mean but my daughter and i were driving down the highway and i took her binky away and was playing with it and said Hey mommy's gonna throw this out the window. you're a big girl now...you dont needit and I pretended to throw it out the window and she was a little shocked but found it funny. Then when she aske for it later...i reminder her that we threw it out the window. She kinda looked at me and said oh...
i know it doesnt work that easy all the time but I guess I got lucky. This probably won't help BUT it was still nice to reminise (sp)

K.

My daughter is three and we just recently freed ourselves from the paci. My daughter also would wake up in the middle of the night when she lost her paci. I think I was getting less sleep when she had it because now she sleeps better. We were able to get rid of it by first, narrowing it down to one. Then, since my daughter loves scissors so much I let her cut paper one day and said, "do you want to cut your paci?" She cut it and then she didn't like it anymore. She hugged it, kissed it and threw it in the trash. We had a couple of difficult nights at bed time when she was trying to fall asleep, but now she sleeps better than she used to. We have been paci-free for five weeks. Hope this helps.