Stopping the Use of a Pacifier

Stop the fight, we tried everything as well, and finally gave up. When he is ready he will stop on his own. Some kids just need it longer than others. There is Nothing wrong with him. Both are boys are just fine, and they had theirs until after 2. Be patient. When we want them to grow up to fast then we end up paying for it later I was told.

Don't worry, if you can break him of the binky by the time the new baby comes they usually wont go back, maybe occationally but not usually. Also when the new baby is here just really push the fact that the binky is the baby's not his and have him help give it to the baby when the time comes

Here's something that my sister did. . . she gave it the deadline of the birth of the new baby. So it was like giving a gift to the newborn that only they could give. It worked for her. . .

Oh, and a person I worked with made it so their little one (an active little boy) could not play with it in. They attached it to a stationary object where he could only sit or stand and suck on it. He just wanted to play (boring just sitting or standing there) and after a week or so, he quit going to the spot to use the pacifier.

Good Luck!

I haven't tried this, but I loved the idea. Take a shoe box and put the binky (or whatever) to bed each night.

My daughter is five and a half and we stop using a pacifier and one year. I collected all that had not been lost took her by the hand and we both threw them in the trash and took the trash outside. The first day/night was a little rough but she moved on, then the the next week we got rid of botlles and started soley on sippy cups. I would just do it and deal with the fallout, it won't last forever.

Hi R.,
My youngest daughter recently turned 3. She also was a 'paci' user. She felt that she needed it day and night, and was irritable without it.
I am also expecting our third in April.
We tried several ways in trying to get rid of it. Soaking it in vinager, and the paci fairy. Neither worked. She found that if she sucked on it long enough, the vinager flavor would go away.
We started asking her if she wanted to be a big girl. Of course she said yes. We explained that big girls dont use paci's and that they were for babies. After 2 weeks, she woke up one morning and was bound determined to throw that paci in the garbage. I have to admit, I was a bit reluctant. Fearful of the days and nights to come with no paci, and the tantrums that would accompany them. She insisted on putting it into the garbage. Timing was on our side that day, it was garbage day. The paci was gone for good. No looking back.
A couple of times we had to remind her that she threw the paci away, and the garbage man took it, she was fine with that. After a couple of weeks, she forgot all about it.
With the upcoming arrival of 'her' new baby, she talks about "giving a paci to baby - because they are for babies only"
To sum this up, it helps if you can find away to make the child feel like they are in control and making the decision to get rid of the paci, rather then being takin away from them.
Best wishes to you, and your family.
Heidi

Hi there - the best way to do it is just take it away - cold turkey. It will be tough the first couple of days, (and he will cry and fuss a lot!) but by about day 3 - he'll have completely forgotten about it! It's amazing! We went through the same battle with pacifiers and the sippy cups with both my sons and my daugther - finally just had to take it away. Good luck! :) P.S. You might want to wean your next baby off the pacifier by age 1 - it's a lot easier then, plus it won't interfere with speech development.

You may want to wait until afer the baby is born. That is alot for him to deal with in of itself. I do child care in my home and actually with his parents help got the 2 1/2 year old I watch off the pacifier. He didn't use it here at my house but at home. I basically made it a HUGE deal on what a big boy he was, if he wanted Santa not to bring baby toys for Christmas then he needed to show Santa he was a big boy. It is best if it is their idea and really stress what a big boy he is. Too many changes with a new baby you will have a much harder time breaking the habit later. I truly REALLY recommend try not to use a pacifier with the new baby, if you do then make it a thing where it is for babies and show your son. He will have regression possibly as he will see the "baby" getting a lot of attention. Neither of my kids ever had one and never even needed one. My daughter hated the pacifier and she sucked on her sleeve of her shirt for comfort as an infant if she needed it and my son I never even gave him one and he just sucked on his blankie. I didn't want to start something that I had a battle later on. Some babies really need it, others wouldn't even know what it was. I think we as parents use it to quiet a crying baby when there is other means to do that. Give him time, make it his idea, even have a family member call him pretending to be his favorite character telling him how proud he or she would be him giving it up! (That is how I got my daughter out of diapers).
Good luck and be patient.

We had the same problem when #3 was on the way. Our daughter still loved her binkie. She also loves ice cream... I used that. One night after baby brother had come home we had ice cream for a treat. She tried to give some to baby bro and we told her that babies don't get ice cream only big kids. Babies get binkies, and I gave brother his binkie. I then asked her if she wanted her binkie or ice cream. She chose the ice cream and tossed her binkie. I won't say there weren't hard times, or that she didn't take brother's from time to time. But we got over that. We were lucky with baby brother. He was done with his at 7 months. Kids are just different and he will give it up, you just have to be ready for some tough moments. But they will pass.

Good luck and congrats on the newest blessing!

Hi R....We stopped using a paci with our first daughter at about 2 1/2. We traveled all the time and it was my sanity to have that assurance of quiet! When it was time to be done I would tell her every night at bed that in 2 weeks it was time to throw it away. So for those two weeks she was warned. She only was allowed to have it in bed so that is when I would tell her. Then, on the night two weeks later I had her throw it away. She was pretty dramatic about it and cried for a couple nights, but then she was over it. Maybe it was just her personality, but it worked. Good luck with whatever you choose to do!

I told my daughter that it was yucky and we should throw it in the trash. She went and threw it in there and hasn't had it since.

Dear R.,

I'm 60 years old and it's been a long time since I've had a little one with such problems. While I was thinking about your son's obvious need for oral stimulation & satisfaction, I found myself wondering what effect it would have on him if you just loved him anyway & not make an issue of the binky at all until he is secure enough in this old world to put it down himself. I look around at many smokers, drinkers, and over-eaters who have been told that they just didn't have enough time as a child to grow out of the need for oral stimulation and satisfaction. It's just a thought, but, we as we all know, we all develop at different stages and have different basic needs. My last thought is that perhaps he will drop it himself in due time if no attention is paid to it. My best. Aunt B

As a mother of 3 boys, and expecting another baby, we have never had a problem with the binky. All 3 of our boys stopped using it at 6 months. But, my sister had a problem with her oldest letting go of the binky. I know that there are mixed feelings about this with mothers out there. Some say to go ahead and let him have it. What my sister had to do was to cut it in a couple of pieces and place it in a trash can and show him that it is broken and can't be used anymore. They said bye to the binky and didn't look back. Whatever happens, good luck.

My son loved his precious "bubba" as he liked to call it. He will be three in a few weeks and at the end of last summer we decided enough was enough. We had limited it to bedtimes only and then did what I had seen on the Super Nanny!
We put all of them in a bag and hung them outside on a tree for the bubba fairy to come and collect them for new babies as our little boy was a big boy. We then got him ready for bed and went to check if she had been as I realized bedtime would be hard. In place of the pacifiers was two Thomas trains, use whatever your son would love. It was VERY hard the first night and took him a while to go to bed and it was very sad, he cried for his pacifier but after 2 hard days by day three he was fine as he is a big boy, as he told us and we never looked back.
Good luck with whatever works. We also tried cutting them and he found one that worked! I made sure I threw them all out in the dumpster so I wouldn't be able to get soft. Having something in exchange reminded him that they were gone and he had helped.

My oldest daughter was going on two when I was expecting my youngest. She still had her paci, and we simply told her that we needed to take hers and give them to the new baby, because big sisters don't use a paci, only babies do. You may try that, if you haven't already. Good luck!

Once it was time to start stopping, my son only got his at night (it has been shown to reduce the risk of SIDS and there is an increase of SIDS at age three!!!). Since our second child has been born (a month ago) my first begs for it ALL the time and has major break downs for it. Just something to keep in mind. I wouldn't stop the use of it abruptly, but when and if you do decide to, stick to your guns when the new baby gets here! Don't give in! Also, judging from other peoples stories it sounds like when a child is ready they will be willing to let go of it.

Pacifiers are a need for suckling, and moreso, a security thing. Second children usually have more of a need...second child syndrome! I know...I was a second. There is no proof that it causes a problem with teeth (although you may want to talk with a pediatric dentist), and there are no other harmful affects from a pacifier. I would suggest that you just leave him alone...maybe tell him he can only use it while at home (and after a few months pull back to only being able to have it when he sleeps or takes a nap, then only when he goes to sleep for the night....gradual....or just ignore it and let him let it go at his own pace. A new baby is enough change for a little child...taking his pacifier away is not a positive reaction to a new person in the house, especially when you plan to let the new baby have one. That could cause resentment. Being in the middle of 2 other children, with the baby being allowed to have a pacifier...I don't think that will cause any good feelings, and he may go to thumb sucking, along with taking the new baby's pacifier and resenting him, and you, along with it. Bottom line....who does it hurt for him to have that little touchstone of security? Don't stress the poor kid out for nothing. I'm sure by the time he's ready to date he'll give it up! :-)

I guess my question to you would be if you have tried all of these methods why didn't they work. If you do the binky fairy, and you tell him they are gone, then they should be gone. Sounds like you may have to use one last tactic and stick to it. He won;t like it, but unfortunately, thats the way it goes.

My two boys took their forever only to fall asleep. when I took them I realized that it was super difficult to get them to nap. I only allowed them at night and as soon as they fell asleep popped them out so as not to damage the teeth. Good luck.

Pacifyers can be a comfort thing and maybe he knows another baby is coming and needs the comfort

Hi R., my girls are well past the pacifier stage (10 & 8) but, I remember it well. Looking back, I think I was the one who was addicted to the "binky", when I needed peace and quiet the binky was often the answer. I remeber times when we couldn't find the binky and the whole house went crazy looking for it! When we decided to wean our children off the binky we tried everything but, in the end the only thing that worked was "cold turkey". The first day was a little rough but we got through it and by day 2 we had all forgotten the binky and moved on. I'm sure you'll be fine and so will your child. Best of luck.

Congratulations on the upcoming birth!

I finally cut the binky for my daughter at 2 years 3 months. Ugh. It was only horrible for the first day or so. We had tried it around 15 months and she did not nap or sleep well for 2 weeks straight. At the 15 mos. time we just gave it back to her and decided to try it again (after 2 years old). Went fine that second time...just go cold turkey! Good luck and hang in there!

Our oldest was a breeze to get to stop using the pacifier, of course she was never really "hooked". Our twins (a boy and a girl), on the other hand.....We had to just take it from them. We weened them first during the day; only let them have it at naptime and bedtime. When they went to sleep we took it out of the crib. Then, we took it away at nap, and eventually at bed. It was hard. For a week or so they cried for 15-20 minutes and then went to sleep. If you can hold out during that time, it will work, but WHEW! A big thing is, make sure babysitters, family, friends, are all on board with you. The twins' grandma couldn't handle them crying so she would give them the pacifier. We had to make some adjustments in our "life" till they were broke. When our 4th baby was born a few months later, we had no pacifier probs! "Have fun!" My prayers are with you!

Another idea is what my mom did for my brother (nearly 30 years ago!) He wouldn't give it up. She let him suck on it till it wore completely out and made him throw it away. He never wanted one again.

Hi, My oldest son used a binky too. And just like you we wanted him to stop because we weren't sure if his baby bro would use one. Anyway, we first created a pac (we call it the pac) box. They were all stored in there and the box was stored in his room. He was allowed to go to his room at anytime to use them but had to stay in his room. That way he could still use them at night. Then a few months from Christmas we said that Santa was coming to get them for other kids to use. He will bring you a special present for giving them to him so he can give them to the other kids who need them. So we wrapped up his box and left it for santa. He asked for them for a few days but I held my ground with santa really took them and then he hasn't asked since. And didn't relapse when his little baby bro was trying to take one. Actually he was the one always forcing him to try it. Anyway, I know you said the binky fairy came but maybe try the easter bunny since that is just 2 months away. Or just start with keeping to the room. Worst comes to worst, he is not ready to give it up. For my child, it was his safety net and he would't give in to any other blanket or stuffed animal.

My daughter had her "fifey" until she was about 4. We lived in Texas at the time and I was homeschooling my children and was not tied up in "the norm" and what people thought. I did a lot of research for home schooling and learned that with many things children learn better when it is something they are interested in and want to do on their own. Bottom line: I didn't really care what others thought, I wanted to do what was the very best for my child even if it wasn't the societal norm. My daughter had an ongoing rare neurological movement disorder which took us three years to have diagnosed. Our dentist said if the pacifier gave her comfort through her episodes which took all those years to diagnose, then she should have it for comfort for as long as she needed and any dental damage that was caused could be fixed later. Well one day at the dentist he talked to her about it and not long after she gave it up. She also ended up having to have an expander on her top teeth because they were starting to cave in due to how hard she had been sucking on the pacifier. She is 13 now and had an orthodontic consultation just this week and it ends up she doesn't need braces and he says he has a feeling that a big part of it is because of that expander back when she was little. I would say let the little guy keep the pacifier, especially with a new baby on the way. I think the comfort it gives him will be quite valuable when the new baby arrives and maybe after he sees the new baby he will decide on his own that if the baby has a pacifier, he is too grown up for it and give it up on his own. When my son was young he did much better on these types of things on his own terms and time. If pushed to do something such as potty training he would want to do the very opposite of what I was trying to teach him, so I let him do all those sorts of thing in his own time and he did learn them all just not always on the time line that many others thought was the proper timing. The other thing that I often thought of when they were little and now at 13 and 14 is, when they are an adult no one will ask them how old they were when they stopped using their pacifier. It just seems so important when they are at that and others around you are talking about stopping this or learning that. Good Luck to you with your 2 year old and your new baby and I hope this helps!

My son was addicted to his pacifier so I was not excited about taking it away. We decided that we would try something different since Easter was approaching. We hyped up the whole empty basket at night, lots of cool stuff in the morning. Easter Eve, we made him put his pacifier in the basket. If he didn't, the Easter Bunny wouldn't leave him anything. As for where the pacifier was going, the angel babies in heaven were going to get it. It was a rough night. He was super excited about the goodies the next morning, but naps and bedtime proved to be a little bit of a challenge over the next five days or so. But is got better every day. Trust me, there were times I wanted to run to the store and buy him more... I didn't like seeing him so sad. Three years later, it's hard to imagine that he ever used one. My daughter (2) is probably more of an addict that he was, and pretty emotional (probably for show more than anything). As Easter nears this year (and it's earlier!), I'm nervous about the challenge that lies ahead. I encourage you to try it. I wish us both luck!

We have a 2 1/2 year old son and we have a 6 month old son. We had just stopped giving him a pacifier, he never really used it during the day after he was one. We would take one just in case when we went out so if he had a meltdown or was tired and would not sleep. He went to daycare at my mother in laws and she would give him his binky whenever he asked which irritated me because we were trying to wean his use. Well one night we just put them all in a plastic baggy so we could save them for our second baby to use and he would ask every night at bed and I would just say oh it is gone...he would cry a few minutes and drift off to sleep... So if your son uses it all the time, just start offering it at bed and then after a few weeks stop offering it altogether, he will forget about it. Now that our second has been here for a little while, our toddler occasionally will take it from the baby or if he sees one on the floor he will pop it in his mouth and come show us, but he thinks it is funny and when we ask for it he puts it behind his back but he will give it to us.

My daughter was a binky user and I forced her to stop and now I wish I hadn't. In retrospect, there really was no good reason for her to stop having a binky. It gave her pleasure and comfort and she probably would have stopped on her own eventually anyway. My son is(was) a thumb sucker and I just don't say anything about it. He only does it now at night and in bed when he is really tired (he is 8 1/2).