Weaning off the Pacifier

Cut the tip of the pacifier off ( not a big chunck ) enough to make a difference. This way she still has site of it.

Take a deep breth....this will probably take at least 3 nights. Cut off the tip of the pacifier and give it back to the baby, the next day cut it down again, give it to her, then keep cutting off the end till she throws it away on her own, then you have to gather all the others up and throw all of them away, so you don't give her another one when she's upset or just wanting it..and don't let it get 'to you'. You're doing what's best for her....and her teeth!

I have heard that if you cut the tip off just a little, the pacifier doesn't have the same 'sucking' sensation that they are looking for and tend to get disinterested....hope this helps!

We left the "fafa" in bed in the morning. So for a while it was only fafa at night. Then when those wore out (we didn't buy any more) we threw them away. Of course we talked about it.

A gf of mine had her daughter put them in a box, which got wrapped in pretty paper and "sent" to a little girl who needed pacifiers.

Good luck!

No suggestions, we have the same problem with our 3 year old precious grandson. As a grandmother I think it's not such a big deal, if only used at bedtime, but my concern is about the teeth issue, what's the pacifier doing to their teeth. Somedays it seems a bigger issue than others, my grandson calls his pacificier a
"bitz" and my heart melts!! He is such a doll! But he did turn 3 in october and the last thing any of us need is for our children and grandchilden to start sucking their thumbs. Can't take the thumb away. And after all they are only little once. Signed a Proud Grandmother!

Cold turkey seems SO SCARY, but we ended up weaning both of our boy cold turkey. It was not intentional, it just happened that way. With our oldest we couldn't find the backup and he kept losing them, so we told him they were just lost. I was majorly freaked out, and totally prepared to go buy more if it didn't go well. But he was fine! Then with our 2nd son he was having a "moment" on the way into a store one day and threw it down, so we left it. I actually got it in case, but I just kept reminding him it was gone. And I was more freaked out with him because he was really attached to the paci. But he did amazingly well too! When it was bedtime he fussed for a couple minutes and I just reminded him it went bye-bye. It really is a bigger deal in our heads than it ever really turns out to be. But if you do fear a struggle, just cut the tip as mentioned. :o) You'll do great!

B. Farrell-Menchaca
Bella Amadis Photography
www.bellaamadis.com

My niece wouldn't let go of hers for anything!! She was four when my sis-in-law finally had enough. She began trimming a portion of the pacifier off every couple of days. By the time half of it was gone, my niece threw it away herself.

What's the big rush? She's still a baby. If you throw it away, she'll just start suckiing something else, probably fingers. Sucking gives her comfort, a form or security. If she'll let you substitute something during the day, fine, but at naptime and bedtime let her have it for comfort. Eventually she won't need it and will discard it herself.

She may need her pacifier, 16 months is still young. For my daughter during the playtime we put the pacifier in a special place, gradually she played without it, and we built from there. But if she needs it give her more time she's still a baby.

Don't know if this will help because I just weaned my son at 34 months (yes, that's almost 3) but I prepped him for about 2 months by telling him that there were babies who needed paci's and Santa could take them when he came to our house on Christmas Eve. Before long he began to ask if Santa would take his paci's to the babies and I would always say yes but not until Christmas. He always said no they were his but the weekend before Christmas, they mysteriously disappeared and he didn't ask for one until the day after Christmas, at which point I told him Santa had taken them and he was okay with it. I of course still had them just in case but he only asked a few times in the couple of weeks afterwards and never threw a fit when I told him Santa took them. If you celebrate Easter, you could use the Easter Bunny. A friend said she had similar success with appealing to the "give it to a baby" technique. Best of luck!

I've heard to just snip a little bit off at a time. The first time there won't be any suction. After that every week snip a little bit more off before long there won't be much left of the nipple & they probably won't want it anymore!

My daughter was attached to her "meme" as well. We started telling her at 18 months that when she turned 2 no more "memes". She would only get it at night when she went to bed and we would remind her that at 2 she wouldnt have them no more. Well on her 2nd birthday after her party we tied all her memes to a bunch of balloons and she released them and that was it. Getting her to let the balloons go was the key, as they floated away she kept saying bye bye memes..
The first night was alittle rough but we just reminded her that she let them go and she was fine. She would tell everyone that the balloons took her memes.

My Mom simply cut the very tip of the paci off.
A day or so latter she snipped a tiny bit off.
Another day or so latter she snipped a tiny bit more off. Nathan got so tired of holding the paci in his teeth that he finaly started throwing them down. It became a bother to him. It didn't take very long and he was off of them.

As a mom and PARENT COACH, I have an approach to share. We waited until our kids were a few months older than your daughter is now and then started limiting the pacifier in stages. In the first stage, we limited it to the car or home. When the toddler adjusted to that, then we limited it to the bedroom. He could use it anytime he wanted but only in the bedroom. Then we limited it only to rest or sleep time. Then we eliminated it.

I have three kids. If the weaning was near Christmas, we left all of them for Santa to share with other kids. If not near Christmas, we "gave" it away to some kids who really needed them (Mom took them and took care of that.)

It is IMPORTANT that your toddler knows how to self-comfort in some other way because that is a major purpose of the pacifier. If she has a favorite luvee or blanket, encourage her to turn to that more often during this important transition.

Feel free to email me with any specific questions.

Good luck! Let me hear what you decide to do.

J. B
Parent Coach

I heard from my aunt that the best way to wean is to start by cutting the tip of the silicone pacifier. The pacifier won't provide as much satisfaction because there is air being released through the little hole. After a week or so, cut a little more off, then a little more the next week and so on until there's just a little nub to the pacifier that doesn't provide any comfort. Your daughter will likely throw the pacifier away herself. If she outwits this method, I've heard that the "losing the pacifier" method works, too. I cut the pacifier off cold turkey from my twins off when they were five months old because I read that it helps them sleep better. They don't wake up when the pacifier falls out of their mouth. If cutting the tip off doesn't work, I would try cold turkey. She'll scream for a few nights (probably for an hour or so), but she'll learn to put herself to sleep without the pacifier. Hope this helps!

I would start with weaning off it during the day. Let her keep at naps and nighttime. We waited until my little boy was 2 until we stopped nighttime paci. I don't think he was ready, he didn't sleep well for another 6 months. In hindsight, I wish we would have waited until he was ready.

We had a son that loved his "Passies" more than anything in the world. So on his 2nd Birthday that night we went and gathered up all his passies and put them in a gift bag. We then sat down and I told him that now that he is 2 he is a Big Boy and Big Boys don't use Passies. I told him that I would take the Passies as a present to a baby. And that the baby would love the Passies too. And he never asked for them again. It worked and I was amazed! Don't know that it will work for you but it did for us.
J.

I had a child that was very much attached to her binky... The way we got her off of it was we cut the tip of it in half and told her it was all gone , she stuck it in her mouth and pulled it out and said all gone and we told her to throw it in the trash and she did. I had read about it somewhere and tried it and it worked very well.

D., my daughter was 2 plus when I weaned her. First I got rid of all but 2 pacifiers, 1 for nap and 1 for night. I told her she could only use them for sleep time. (She also had a nap/night blankie to comfort her.)then we slowly weaned off each day because by 2 or so she stopped napping so much. Then we went out of town and I told her we forgot the paci and when we got home I had cut the tips off the other ones so they weren't so much fun to suck anymore but I let her have them and then she just didn't want it anymore. I think 16mos is too early to take them away and she needs some way to deal with stress, anger, fear and pacifiers are a way for them to do that. Good Luck!

My daughter was a few months older than your daughter but this worked for her. Each day I would snip off a little of the tip of the pacifier. By about day 5 she told me it didn't work anymore and she, herself, threw it away. No more pacifier!!

My youngest was a pacifier girl, to the extent that she had 23 of them stashed everywhere! When it was time I talked to her alot about her getting bigger. One day we rummaged through everything and found them all and put them in her bed. I told her they had to stay in the bed or they would run away to another house where a littler baby needed them. She was really good about keeping them in the bed but as they slowly left, I threw them away. Occasionally she would insist on a house search but of course they were no where to be found. Finally she got down to one and it left us too. She searched her bed for a short while, but by then they were just gone and she must have been ok with it as there was no fight from her for any more.

A friend of mine went on a trip by airplane, took all of them and left them on the plane to go on their own vacation. She said they waved at the plane and her daughter was fine from then on. The cutest part was that everytine a plane flew over her daughter waved and said hi to all her pacifiers!

Well, I hate to say it, but I don't think there is a really great way to wean from the pacifier. If you give it for a set time frame and then take it then she might really get upset. I had a daughter that was much like yours....attached to the binky especially to go to bed. She is now 27 months old and I pulled the binky when she was 18 months old. I was having to find it on the floor in the middle of the night when it would fall out of the crib. I was also about to have daughter number two, and knew I needed to get as much sleep as possible and binky searching wasn't increasing the sleep time. So, needless to say I just pulled the plug; literally. The first night I just told her she was a big girl and she didn't need it and left the room with it. It took about 45 minutes of crying (I would go reassure her every 5 minutes) and then she went to bed. The next night same routine and it took 15 minutes, and the third night it took 5 minutes and then no more issues after that. Nap time went about the same way. It was a rough three days but well worth the end result. If that is too harsh for you, I have heard of people letting their kids "give" their binky to a friend's baby, or throwing it in the ocean for a journey, or even burying it in the backyard under a tree (kinda strange for my style). It isn't a fun milestone to say the least. Good luck, I wish you all the best! A.

I heard that some people cut the tip off and told their child it was broken. It worked for them...maybe it is worth a shot ???

When my son turned 2 I decided we had to do the same thing. He was extremely attached to it. I snipped the very tip of the pacifier. The next time he went to put it in his mouth, it appeared to be "broken". (we were down to this last pacifier) He was VERY sad. But it didn't occur to him that we would go to the store and get another one. After a while I looked at it and said, "Oh no, its broken." Then I asked him a little while later if HE wanted to throw it away, because I didn't want to be associated with throwing it away. So he threw it away himself. We also gave him a brand new teddy bear at the same time so he would have something to console himself and sleep with at night. It worked. Good luck!!!!!
B.

i remember taking my last daughter off the pacifer. she is now 24. first i took her off it when it was nap time. she fussed then she took a nap. so maybe give that a day or two. then at night do it and she will go to sleep after a little fussing. then they are used to it.

We did the same as Misi...fortunately, I was out of town for a week for work and my husband took it away "cold turkey" (she was already down to only having it at night). We now have a newborn who has one and she has yet to try to put it in her mouth.

Oh my goodness, my heart goes out to you! We just went through this ourselves. I must say, though, that it was much easier than I thought it was going to be. It started accidentally; I realized one morning that she (my 20-month old) had gone several hours without asking for it so I decided "now is as good a time as ever". I just hid all the binkies and didn't mention them all day. I told my husband to see how it goes for the night...surprisingly she went to sleep without it! The next few nights were not nearly as easy, though! We stuck to it, though, and now (two weeks later) we are binky free and I don't think she even misses them. We are truly shocked at how easy it was because this child was addicted to her binky! She would go into a panic in the middle of the night if it fell out of her mouth and she couldn't find it. It got to the point that we were all being ruled by the binky and it had to stop. *laugh* Good luck!

My son went off the pacifier when he turned 1. I took it away and never looked back. It was a rough two nights, but after that, it was gone. My daughter on the other hand... is 19 months and we have to keep ourselves stocked in pacifiers. We missed the 1 year old window because we were moving. Now, we are in the same position you are in. Cold turkey is not really an option with my girl. When she's healthy, we're getting over a bug. I'm going to try putting her down without the paci and letting her cry it out for twenty minutes. Like I did with my son. After twenty minutes I'll hold her in her rocking chair and then put her back down to cry for twenty minutes. Eventually, she'll realize that she's got to go to sleep. I HOPE!! I'll let you know how it goes.

I have a 29 month old son. About 3 months ago I tried to make it where he only could have it when he took a nap, and went to bed at night. But, that didn't work, For the record my son would never let the binky leave his sight, so I was amazed about 3 weeks ago, when he asked for a drink, and I was like, "let mommy have your binky", and he did!!!! I put it up in the cabinet and he hasn't had it since. He did ask for it a couple times, and I would say your a big boy now, how about we get you something to drink in your special big boy cup. He is now binky free!!

All 4 of my kids took pacifiers. My 1 yr. old still has hers. I let them keep them but I snipped off the tips with scissors. Just one at a time, and told them they were broken. They would try to suck them but didn't like the way they felt. Sometimes they would carry around 4 or 5 in their little arms repeating the word "bwoke" over and over again. After a few days they all fell behind the bed and were never seen, or missed again. Good luck!

Tell her about the pacifier fairy! She comes down and leaves a new toy in place of the pacifier. You can start by cutting the nipple part of the pacifer off and tell her it is broken. B.

Ok how I did it with my son I frist and for most throw them all away but one. Then for about a week or two I just let him only have one pacifier then one day i saw he was not sucking on it for a few hours because he was playing so I took the pacifier away and never gave it back. He cryed the frist night and the second night but by the three and for sure the 4th night he went right to sleep.

Throw all but one pacifier away.
Make one tiny cut across the tip.
Wait a few days and make that cut
into an x cut. Wait a few days and
tear one of the tiny tips off. She
will lose interest in it as it slowly
disappears as you keep taking bits of
the pacifier off. This was the only
way I finally removed both of my
daughters from the pacifier. Grin
That was 45 years ago.
Good luck honey.

I've found cold turkey to be the best way to go!

With my twin boys, i just took them away one day and they never even asked for them back! I was SHOCKED!

With my daughter, we did a whole routine leading up. I told her the "binki fairy" would be coming soon to take her binki so she could give it to the new babies. And then the night the binki fairy was to come, we wrapped up her binki and put a bow on top and she slept with that near her pillow. Then in the morning she had a present waiting for her from the binki fairy! She was very good about it too. Every now and then she'd ask for it, but didn't put up any bit fit. Then eventually she stopped mentioning it.

Good Luck!!!!

My first one was a thumb sucker, but my second child was a pacifier girl! We started telling her months ahead of time that when she turned 2 she was a big girl and she had to tell her "pappy" good bye. Every night (which is the only time she got it after about 18 months old) we would give it to her and ask her what happens when she turns 2 and she would tell us, "say bye by to pappy." She handed it over at 2.

When my husband and I decided to wean our daughter of of the passy, we cut the tip of it off, which made it less desireable. We gave her the "new" passy at night and she cried at bedtime for about a week and then never again. I promise it is worth the the fits.

Hi D.! I have a 5 year old who also loved his pacifier. The way we got rid of it was to snip the nipple so it appeared to be broken. Wants he realized it and showed it to me, then we would talk about how it was broken and that we needed to throw it away. He ended up going over to the trash can and throwing it in. I also helped a friend by doing the same thing with his daughter. Anyway, I hope this is helpful.

Good Luck,

J.

GO COLD TURKEY! Get them all out of the house so no matter how big of a fit she throws you can not give in.

Do it Nanny 911 style. Gather all the pacifiers up and explain that she is a big girl and she needs to let the pacifier fairy come get them for the babies who need them. The fariy will leave her a big girl toy instead.

I have had luck when I cut the pacifier and tell them it is broken. After a few nights they no longer want the broken pacifier.

I had gotten my daughter to crib only with her paci - and a little before she was 2 yo I started only putting one in her crib - when it came time to totally wean her off (at 2) I snipped a little off the paci every few days until it was gone, then she threw it out. This kills the "sucking" action of the paci and in my opinion more gradually weans them.

Cold turkey is the only way to go. Sure it's a couple sleepless nights, but you'll be surprised at how quickly they will forget all about it! My daughter was 2 before we did it so she was totally attached to her binky, but it took less than a few days for her to forget all about it. Just be sure to do it when you have a few slow days to recuperate (for both of you)!

cut a small piece off the tip, then periodically cut off more, and more, and more. eventually it will not be long enough to get suction on and they loose interest. i have found that this worls best in very small increments over about a week or 2. I have used this technique on 3 kids. Two children through foster care and my biological son. My son actually refuse to suck the pacifier after the first snip. And went cold turkey himself. The other 2 kids took about 2 weeks each

I think you should cold turkey..... Just tell her the truth...."mommy loves you too much to see you ruin your teeth...big girls don't need paci's, only babies get paci's..... " It shouldn't take more than a week of hard weaning....if she fusses enough and you give in, she will know that fussing will always win. Good luck! It will never be easy...just do it! Praise her really big and reward her..... You know it's for the best and only because you love her, you have to do it!

My daughter was also ATTACHED to her pacie so cold turkey was never an option. I've heard that snipping a little off the top of the pacifier each week makes them not want it on their own. Same goes for the blankie. Start snipping until it grows smaller and smaller little by little over time.

Well, I'm not sure if this will help but once my son got a little more reasoning capacity (around 2), we only allowed him to have it at night. Then, when his two year molars came in and he was having a lot of teething pain, the pacifier bothered his teeth. So, from that day forward, we told him that his pacifier hurt his teeth and that was that. Much easier than I thought.
Good luck.

Weaning a child off a pacifier is just like weaning them off the bottle.If you can stand to hear them cry for at least two nights without the pacifier you will have it under control.The first thing you need to do is tell her that babies suck pacifiers and bottles not big girls.Let her know that shes not a baby and she doesnt need the baby things any more.B. F.

Take them all away. They cant have them if there is one.

My little boy never had a paci, but I have heard to give them a sugar free popsicle before bed to numb her mouth a bit... I know it sounds wierd, and if that doesnt work tell she will get another in the morning if she does not use the paci...good luck

My daughter, who is also named D., had a daughter who wouldn't give up her pacifier, either. She finally took her to Build A Bear and encouraged her to put the pacifier inside the stuffed animal. She told her daughter she would always be able to keep the pacifier because it would be in side the bear. She let Savannah make the decision to do it, instead of forcing her, but I guess used enough psychology so that it seemed like a good idea at the time. It was a sad ride home from the mall, but after that, she adjusted just fine and never seemed to miss it. She probably hugged that bear to get her thru the rough spots. Hope this helps.

J. Pierce
www.familyfirst.fourpointmoms.com

Hi, it has been quite awhile since weaning a pacifier was my daily challenge, but I think I can help. My daughter was almost 2 years old when I began weaning her from her pacifier, she is now 16 years old. I attached her pacifier to her bed by a short string (so as to eliminate the danger of wrapping it around her neck accidentally). This way the pacifier was only used at nap time and bedtime for comfort. I followed this routine with my daughter for a couple of weeks successfully-maybe even a month. I then took the pacifier away at nap times, making it available at bedtime only, I stuck with that for a couple of weeks also. All the while I remember talking with her about the pacifier reminding her she didn't need it and trying to redirect her attention to something else at nap and bedtime. Finally i tried my hand at no pacifier at bed time, and it worked. Of course every once in awhile it was as if she had a memory from habit and requested her beloved pacifier, but in time, like the bottle and other things the pacifier was forgotten. Hope this helps.

I have 3 kids with one on the way- as my pediatrician said- don't worry about the paci - He will not go to Kinder with one. I let him give it up when he was ready- no fights no crying no nothing one day he just stopped- He was 4 (At 3 we started saying "you may only use this in your bed") He would go crawl up on his bed for a few seconds "take a hit of paci" and then get down again. I have done it with the older two and plan to do it with the third as well. If anyone asks you can say "I am following a pediatricians advice"

To start with, my grandmother taught me this...She had 8 children of her own, she raised 5 grandchildren, (not including me) and I have 5 children of my own. This worked on every child in our family for pacifers and bottles, not to mention sippycups. Purchase a ALMANAC or Farmers Calendar that contains the "SIGNS".. you can get this at your local Feed Store or Walmart. Find the currently month.. Look at signs, find the RAM. When the Moon is in the RAM's knees and going down, take the pacifer away. NO JOKE.. COLD TURKEY..It works. I used this on all my children, my mother used it own me and my grandmother used it on EVERYONE... lol... Remember the Rams knees and going down.. you will see the moon in the Rams head, shoulders... if the "day" for the currently month has already passed you will have to wait till next month.. GOOD LUCK

what worked for mine was "giving" it away to dolphins at the beach... an when she missed it, well I just reminded her gently that the baby dolphins had more need of it (all the pacifiers were in the same package, and let me tell you I almost went crazy for 24 hours...was about ready to go and buy another one, but it went well)

D.,

I know that taking her off cold turkey sounds horrible and makes you feel like a horrible mother, but I was in your situation with my son when he was about the same age (especially to go to sleep!) I took his "paci" away from him one night and let him cry it out. The good news is that it only took about 24 hours for him to forget about it... the bad news was that I had to listen to him cry out for his "paci" that night for about 20 minutes before he fell fast asleep. It was a tough decision but as far as I'm concerned the longer you let her keep it....the harder it will be to get rid of it. The other thing I did was throw them ALL away! If you don't have any to give her the easier it is not to give in! Weaning cold turkey is the only way to go!

My daughter was 3 1/2 when I decided I'd had enough of the binky. We started using it only at bedtime when she was 2 but I was tired of the binky battles. I told her for a few months the binky fairy was coming and she even started telling other people about it. On D-day we wrote a note and asked the binky fairy to take her binkys to the babies in the hospital that need them (she didn't because she was a big girl now). After she went to sleep that night, all her binkys went away. When she woke up there was a new big girl toy the binky fairy left for her to sleep with. She cried for her binky the first night but I just kept reminding her that the binky fairy had taken it. After that first night, there were no problems. She never even used the doll I got her. Just prepare her for it, stick with your decision, and don't stress. She won't take it to college.

She will get off her pacifier when she is ready.
My son gave his up at the age of 3.
When he turned 1 it became a bed binky instead of a clothing accessorie. If he got too tired in the car, I gave it to him . But, at home if he wanted his binky he had to be in his bed. That didn't mean he was going to sleep , he would just lie in his crib until he was happy and thenhe would yell for me, get out of his crib and leave the binky behind.
Whatever method you choose, keep a spare one close buy for emergencies.
Good Luck.
P.S.
How we got him to get rid of it...
he traded it for a game of Hungry, Hungry Hippos from Walmart . :)

Let me ask you a question,has he been using the same kind of pacifier? if so what work for me was I change the brand of pacifier he did not like it so he quit. lizzie

I don't have a solution but can offer our experience. Our older daughter was a pacifier addict and was even older (almost two)and her front teeth were beginning to protrude from the pacifier usage. We worried about it but didn't know what to do.
We went camping one weekend and honestly forgot to bring the pacifier (at that point she used it only at night). We apologized to her and sat up with her -- she stayed awake almost to midnight, poor thing.
When we got home, we pointed out the she really needed to stop using the pacifier since it was making her teeth stick out, and that she had managed to go to sleep without it. Thank goodness, she had enough sense to see our point and gave it up. So I guess we lucked out.

Cathy

My oldest daughter was about 19 months when we finally got her off all pacifiers. At that time she had been having them at nap time and bed time. She would throw a fit if I started to read to her or get her ready for bed without her nuk. So I thought it was going to be a huge struggle to take them away completely. But what we did is we gathered all the pacifiers in the house and I got some yarn and we strung them all together and made a pacifier necklas. She got to put it on for a couple minutes when we finished and of coarse she stick each one in her mouth for one last time. Then we packed it in an old formula container and I told her we were going to send them off to the new little babies that really needed them and that this would be such a special gift from her. I expected a struggle that night at bedtime but when she asked for her nuk, I reminded her that we sent them off and she was fine and never asked for them again. It was wonderful!!! Hope this helps! M. - www.workathomeunited.com/freedom

Show her pictures of babies or everytime you all see babies in your presence tell her that those are for babies and she is a big girl, it worked for my grandson and he is 16months, also. Good Luck

We cut the ends off the pacifiers so they were no longer desirable to her. We told her they didn't work anymore. After some frustration on her end she took upon herself to throw them away herself.