Pacifiers - Missouri City,TX

Girlfriend, Is it the end ofthe world if the toddler stays on the paci? Clearly it is bringing the baby some comfort. I guarantee that the child will not head out to kindergarten still on the pacifier! Don't sweat it!

Hey S.,

I know it is always good to get them off the paci as soon as possible. However, don't make it traumatic for you and your baby. I would try to keep lots of distractions in his way. With my kids I noticed that when they were happy and busy they didn't need the pacifier. So of course keeping them happy and busy all the time is impossible. But, what you find is their time on it if fewer and far between only giving it to them when they are having a melt down. I think between 1 and 2 they still have that rooting and mouth thing going on and they just need the paci to pull themselves together when they are upset!!

Try to make him happy at bed time with rocking him and reading to him (again that distraction thing). You'll find sometimes when he is real comfortable and happy he can go to sleep without it. You'll find there are other nights that you'll both need it!!

Right before my kids turned 2 I was able to ween them completely off it! By just noting when they were fine without it just eventually disappeared!!

Good Luck!!
CJ

We did it at about 2 years of age for our daughter. Since our son who is 13 months now, uses it for sleep only, I'm not pushing weaning. When we weaned our daughter, I snipped the end and she thought it broke so she threw it away. Then, I "let" her find another broken one which she threw away all by herself. So, she fussed a little that day at naptime but it wasn't a big deal. It's really not as horrible as it's made to be for this age. Feel out your child, if it totally upsets them and stresses them out, then wait a bit longer. If he doesn't throw a huge fit, then go with it. :o)
Good luck!

I agree with others below...if it becomes too traumatic hold off for a bit. Paci's, though bad for the teeth, are a bit of a security blanket for young ones...I wouldn't push taking it away as much as I would making sure he feels secure and stable. I found that my "timeline" for my son was not what he had in mind when it came to paci's, bottles, potty training...etc. When he was ready he would do it himself. I tried for a year to potty train...but he wouldn't go for it. When he finally did...it took ONE WEEK and we've never had an accident since then! Same with the bottle and paci, when he was done...he was done! Good Luck. :)

We tried SO many things and nothing worked until we heard about the Paci Fairy. This fairy comes in teh middle of the night (much like the tooth fairy) and takes the pacifiers for new babies and leaves a gift. You collect all the pacifiers, put them in a pretty bag and hang them from a tree (or anywhere else) and then the next morning a bag with the present is there instead. Good luck!

My daughter cut the tip off the pacifier then told her it was broke, the baby threw it away and it was a few days until she settled down but she did.

Good luck
C.

I think you should try to get him off the pacifier when he's ready. A one year old is still just a baby and the pacifier is his comfort zone. You could try just giving it to him only when he sleeps and eventually just stop doing that. My son is about to be one and he uses a pacifier. It doesn't harm him or his teeth to be on it a little while longer .... you just wean them off of it a little at a time.

Hi S.,
I would not worry too much at this age. I am a Dental Hygienist and have seen up close that they do not start doing tooth damage until the child is a little older. I weaned my little one not long after his 2nd birthday. I think that it is a great soother to them and at this point this is good for them. When I did wean him, I told him that we had to give them to the little babyies that did not have any. Another thing you can do is cut the tips off and tell them that they are broken, then they will not want them. He was upset at bedtime for a couple of days and soon forgot all about it. I think the fact that he was a little older and could understand reason helped also.

When my son was about one the doctor got on to me and told me to get him off the pacifier. She suggested I cut the end of the nipple of the pacifier. I did try it and it grossed him out because it was like him sucking air and that actually got him the bottle. He would take either. Hope this advice helps.

you may want to wait a little longer. I had 2 kids on them till they were 2. Both have perfect teeth. I would try leaving it in his bed at all times. Say by by to it every time you take him out. Do not let him have it out side of his naps and bed time. Try to get down to 1 and a back up that is put away. Then when he is old enough to understand have him "give" them away. One suggestion is to give it to a baby friend.

I weaned my daughter from her pacifier at around 14 months. She was only using it at naptime and bedtime and was leaving it in her crib before she left her room and after her nap, so I didn't have the problem of her missing it all of the time. She only had a hard time when she went to sleep. It only lasted a couple of days and then she was fine. We just did the "cold turkey" thing and took it one night. I just told her that it went bye bye and so she would say bye bye everytime she went to sleep for about a week, but the crying fits stopped after a couple of days. She finally just realized that it went bye bye and wasn't coming back. I have heard from many of my friends that they wish they had taken it sooner rather than later, so I think you're doing the right thing taking it now.

If your son uses it frequently throughout the day, you may want to just start restricting it to sleep times first for a month or so before you wean him completely. Once he is used to leaving it in his crib when he gets up, then you can work on taking it completely. Best of luck! It isn't as bad as it seems and is short lived.

Congrats on the new baby.

With my daughter we took the pacifier away around 14 months. We went on a family vacation and when we got home we took it away and threw them in the garbage. The first few nights we re difficult, but she has been perfectly fine without them since. Maybe try to preoccupy his or divert his attention to something else. ie: a stuffed animal. Good luck!

I have also been weening my 11 month old from her pacifier. We went cold turkey and by day 3 (we are now on day 5) she was a lot happier and crying less during naptime and bedtime. We have been snuggling with her more before nap and bedtime and that seems to be helping. Just be consistent and strong!

I took my son's paci soon after he got top teeth (sometime around 7-8 months). He didn't take a paci unless it was nap or bedtime, but I wanted to take it completely. He cried for about 40 minutes with me laying with him during nap, and he cried for about 4 nights after that. The only change I noticed was that he didn't sleep through the night anymore after that. He started waking up for a feeding b/c the paci wasnt there to comfort him. He's not 10months and 4 weeks and he adjusted just fine. Im a wimp, if I thought he wasnt gonna beable to do it then I would have given it back, but he actually did better than I did!

Having said all that, I say you're the parent and no one knows your child better than you do so just go with whats comfortable for you and your baby!