What Age Should I Stop Letting My Daughter Use a Pacifier?

I think she should have it as long as she needs it. If she still wants to suck she'll find her fingers, a corner of a blanket, a toy, etc...she sucks on something if she still needs it.

I have never heard of a doctor saying it wasn't a problem until age 5. At age 5, damage to the mouth can already be done (as can be seen w/ the overbite...not that it did cause it but it certainly didn't help it). I have always heard that around the same time as they are weaned from the bottle, they should also be weaned from the pacifier...both around age 1.

My son loved his pacifier so by age 1 we had started the process and had it complete around 14-15 months. In between, he really had it at bedtime only. As soon as he fell asleep, we took it. As long as he didn't have it when he woke in the am, he would go all day without it. My daughter rarely took hers and weaned herself by 8 months!

Whether you have an overbite or not depends upon the line up of your teeth which is genetically determined. A person whose parent are from an unmixed family background usually of closely related people have teeth that line up front and back. This is very rare among "civilized" people because we tent to meet and mate people from everywhere.
It's an old wives tale about overbites being caused by Binky's.
Let her have it until she out grows her motion sickness or you learn a homeopathic method to keep her from puking.

I'm not in the club that thinks it is ok past a year...just can't stand to see toddlers walking around with those things in their mouths. Drives me up the wall to watch one talk to his/her parents with one in their mouths.
Both my boys were cut off at the same time the bottle was cut off at one yr old. My oldest loved his but when it "got lost at Grandma's and Grandpa's" he didn't bat an eye. With our second he wasn't a huge fan of it so when they all disappeared the same day as the bottles well he didn't even notice.
I would skip your dr and ask your dentist when he/she thinks it should be stopped.

When they start talking I think it's time to get rid of them personally. They are old enough to rationalize and old enough to self soothe. Keeping them in a binky till their 4, you're asking for a future "smoker".

I was told if it was not gone by 6 mos. then it would be a problem to get rid of it later. It's about the only think I did "by the book" with my son.
Cut off the tip and she'll likely lose interest in it.
And get the binky off of your 5 month old soon!

I stopped the paci at1 1/2 wiht my daughter. I think 2.5 is way over.

My daughter was the same age as yours when we decided it was time to give up the binky. She was only allowed to use it for sleeping, so it wasn't like she had it all the time and wasn't speaking clearly as a result and all that. But she was fixated on only have one in particular and it was starting to get pretty gross, despite cleaning it all the time. I had tried prepping her a bit by talking about the "Binky Fairy" coming with a big-girl present in exchange for the binky but she didn't really decide to go through with it or initiate anything. Finally one night I just decided to give it a try, came up with a special box, and talked DD into it. She was fine with leaving it in the box on the windowsill. She had been asking for a soccer ball so that is what she got. She was excited about getting the soccer ball in the morning and having a letter from the Binky Fairy telling her thank you for giving up her binky for another little baby that needed it and for being such a big girl. But then that night reality set in that she was not getting the binky back and she was fairly upset but still managed to go to sleep without it. Next night, same thing. Then she became progressively less upset about each night until after a week, she didn't speak of it again. I just stood firm about not bringing it back and she got over it. She would sometimes talk about how much she missed Binky and I would sympathize with her, but still reminded her that she was a big girl now and a new baby somewhere needed it more than she did. Eventually she stopped talking about it altogether and she was fine. She really was.

I think it is great that you Dr has told you it's nothing to worry about. Maybe check with him again and tell him about the overbite. He would probably know if it is related.

I used the "bye-bye binky" method and it worked (basicially you cut the binky down so that it loses its "suck"). I found the method online and it took me a bit longer than was outlined, but my son threw his own binky away; plus he is not interested in other kid's binkys.

You have already made progress by limiting when your daughter uses her binky, so you are part way there already!

My son:
was a total Binky user. All day and night.
When he was almost 3 years old, we stopped it.
We told him that Santa, needs it for the other kids.
We then gathered it all up, to "mail" to Santa.
It took him 2 days, to adjust.
He was a trooper.
He ALSO though, had a Lovey to sleep with.

Now, the reason we did that was: his age and, the Binky was malforming forming his mouth.
When his mouth was closed... there was a space in between his top and bottom teeth, where the Binky would be.
In other words, his mouth/teeth would not shut, properly.

The mouth however, does go back to its original formation.
It took about 6+ months, for his mouth to do so.
The Dentist, said it was fine, now.
BUT, if done so after 3 years old... the mouth has a less of a chance, to revert back to its original formation.

Being that it is almost the Christmas season, maybe it is a good time to use the 'excuse' that we gave to our son. That "Santa" needs it etc.
And let your daughter, have a Lovey to sleep with/transition with.

With my foster kids that like(d) a binky, I pull the binky the same time we transition to a cup, between 9mo-1yr. My son, however, was a thumb sucker and he didn't stop until 3.5 and that was only because he got an owie on his thumb and it hurt to suck it so the habit was broken.

I had the hardest time getting my daughter to give up her binky. It got to the point that she only had one and it was coming apart. She was four and she had a little overbite. I finally threw it out, I told her the binky fairy took it to fix for another baby. She still tells me she misses it but she is just fine without it and her teeth are just fine too. From my own experience I would get rid of it ASAP and your younger one too. Can you try a wrist band or something for the motion sickness?

Whenever you want to stop. People have such a negative opinion about pacifiers.

My kids were never interested in their binkies, so I really can't speak from experience. But some friends of ours poked little holes in them. They said after a couple of days their kids simply lost interest. Just a thought? Good luck!

I bought my tricycle with mine. My son was 2 and only used it for sleeping. The dog got to it and when I tried to give it to him, he gave it right back (the plastic was all pointy). When my second son turned a year old I cut the nipple off and he wouldn't take another one again.

The sooner the better. Its not as bad as thumb sucking (i.e. my kiddo), but truely, the sooner she can cut back and/or stop the better.

The trick that I've always heard that worked was to poke extra little holes in it so that it looses the sucking ability.

My neice had one until just after 3 when she got thrush 2 months in a row. Her mom told her it was from the binkys and the neice said 'toss them out!'

My oldest never cared for one, my daughter gave it up on her own at 5 months, and my little guy got rid of his cold turkey at 13 months, the same day he gave up the bottle (it wasn't planned, we couldn't find it at bedtime.) He is 2.5 now as well, I simply cannot imagine him with one in his mouth, he's a little boy, not a baby.

For motion sickness try a SeaBand (she wears it on her wrist, it works by accupressure) or a sippy cup with a straw in the cap filled with water to sip on. (I tend to get motion sickness and having a cup of water to drink while driving helps me.)

To get rid of the binky tell her you're packing them away to mail to children who need them, (don't say "might" or ask her, you're the mom) or leaving them on the front porch for the Binky Fairy (who to her surprise will leave a new lovey to snuggle with) If you can't make her go cold turkey snip the tips off them so she doesn't have the same feeling from them and will hopefully toss them in a couple of days herself. As far as her wanting it because the baby uses one, tell her the baby IS a baby, she's not. By the same rationale the baby doesn't do the same things she does, she needs to learn the difference.

Here's an excellent article on pacifier use past babyhood, reasons why parents allow it, why children do it, etc:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,###-###-##...