Pacifier - Grand Prairie,TX

How old is she? I ask because I personally don't see a problem with a pacifier up to about the age of 3. If she's older than three, then I would worry about getting rid of it. Anything under that, you may be 'causing more stress on yourself worrying about how to get rid of it now than is necessary.

My daughter used hers until she was 2 1/2 I believe. I thought she'd never get rid of it, but she kept losing hers. One day, we were on our last pacifier and we were going into Walmart and I told her to leave it in the car 'cause I didn't bring her little pacifier string thing to keep it attached to her clothes. She said she really wanted to bring it so I warned her that if she lost it, there would be no more "fafver" (that's what she called it). She said ok, we took it in, she lost it, we looked for it a little bit and that was it. I think she asked for it for a couple of nights, but I reminded her that she lost it at Walmart and that I had told her there wouldn't be any others. That was all it took. She never had another one after that.

One thing I've learned with three kids, they each go at their own pace and it's much easier to get them to change behavior when they understand why they have to change. I think some people try to take away pacifiers, transition from bottle to sippy, potty train, etc., too early and it causes added frustration. And as always, what works for one child won't work for them all.

Good luck!

i only allowed paci use in the awake hours until about 6 months, and then for sleeping until 12 months. i am one of those that can't stand to see a 3 year old with a paci in the grocery store. ick! if you shared her age, i think it would be much easier to give realistic suggestions.

okay, so she's 10 months old. first, kudos to you for taking are of this EARLY! i think it's great that you are already wanting to encourage your child to self soothe! okay, here's some ideas. when your little girl falls asleep, go in and take it out of her mouth AFTER she falls asleep. she may get used to falling BACK alseep without it. or you can go cold turkey, get them OUT of the house so YOU can't cave either... at this age, it shouldn't be too hard, it's when you wait til they're older that it's hard. good luck! does she nap without it during the day? if so, it shouldn't be too tough.

I agree with Nicole, in that it really isn't such a big deal if they're attached to a paci while they're little. don't worry about an arbitrary age/date that a pedi or book or your friends set; keep your kiddo comfortable and happy and she'll give it up in her own time.

My eldest had hers until she was about four (bedtime use only at that point). At that point we made a chart which allowed her to open one "window" each morning she woke up and hadn't used the paci the night before. When all windows were opened, a picture of Scooby Doo (her favorite at the time) was visible & she was allowed to go to the toy store to pick out a Scooby Doo toy. It was soooooo easy because she was old enough to understand what was going on. SHE made the choice; we didn't simply take it from her. There were never any tears and she was completely over the paci way before all of her "windows" were opened.

Good luck!

I just started taking it out of her mouth when she didn't need it or picking it up when she took it out. I would put it up high somewhere. That way, she would always have to ask for it to get it. When she would ask, I would give it to her. One night before bed I couldn't find it and I was nervous. I was always giving it to her at night without her asking. But she didn't ask for it and went to sleep. Three days later, out of the blue, she asked me for it, and I said, "you don't need it, you haven't even asked for it in 3 days" And that was it. It's been almost 3 weeks.

Certainly I didn't have this all mapped out ahead of time, but it's how it went down, so maybe you could try it. She's 23 months old.

A.
www.greenbabydiaperservice.com

I don't know how old your daughter is, but here is what I did with my second child. We told him that if he put all his binkies in his Easter basket (it was Easter time) and put it outside his door, the Easter bunny would bring him a special big boy present (he just finished potty-training and was into anything "big boy") and deliver all the binkies to the babies who need them. He made the choice to do it and has been fine since. He still talks about it, but it is very matter-of-fact, not like he is upset. This wouldn't work if you child is really little, but maybe something similar for an older child. I agree with the previous post about not rushing. We had already weaned down to bed only so it wasn't a big transition. Good luck.

After the 1st birthday, use it only when going to sleep. Just keep them in the bed/crib. When she gets up in the morning, take it away and put it back in the bed. If she fusses, get her busy doing something or go straight to the kitchen for breakfast.

When she turns 2, then you can try to put her to sleep without it at nap and ONLY give it to her at bedtime. Then one day (when you know she is ready), misplace the last one.

Good luck!

Blessings,

P. <><

When my son turned 1 we used it ONLY for sleeping. It took a little while, but he soon would wake up, turn around, throw the passy down in the crib and go on about his business. Right after his second birthday, I cut the tip off of one and he looked at it (hard) for about a minute, came up to me and said "passy broken." I asked him if he wanted to throw it away and he said yes and did. I then did the rest with his others and planted them in his bed. When he went to bed that night he found more "broken" passies. He wanted to throw those away too, so we did. He asked a few times a day, "Mommy passy broken?" I'd say yes and then after a few days it was over. He saw a boy over 2 with a passy in his mouth at the park and said, "take that out - go put it in your bed." LOL
Passys DO make their teeth and mouth push out some (I have asked 2 doctors and my daughter's orthodontist AND my dentist) - his teeth are pushed out some.
However, passies are WAY better than finger sucking. We just spent big $ to start treatment on our 10 year old who sucked her fingers for a LONG time.
But, until she is old enough to understand what my son did (broken - throw it away - whatever works for you) I would use it at night and nap ONLY. Just tell her, "passy up now" or something. Good luck!