Weaning from the pacifier

This is actually a subject I never really worried about. I was the person who refused to give my son a pacifier before he was born. However, the nurses at the hospital felt differently and gave him one. You may ask where was I? Why didn’t I object? I honestly don’t remember and he was with me the entire time! Hmmm…..

Anyway, it happened and he seemed so content with it that DH and I decided to let him use them. Our son was a big sucker…..needing to breast feed every 2 hours around the clock until he was almost 11 months old, having a paci in his mouth the rest of the time (not literally, but almost). He needed the pacifier to sleep for naps and at bedtime and when he was having a melt down in the car. It was his “security blanket”.

I did not have a time frame in mind for when I wanted him to stop using it because it made him happy and was fulfilling an obvious need of his. I figured when he was “too old” for it, one of us would realize it. When he turned about 18 months, we just started limiting his use of the paci outside the home and outside of sleepy time.

He seemed to want it less and less anyway. Well, recently he really has no desire for it at all. I can’t believe it. Confession here: I catch myself trying to give it to him at bedtime because he doesn’t stop talking!!! I guess I should be happy that he decided he no longer needs it. Now I just have to get used to no more pacifier. Any tips on how to wean myself? HA!

Comments:

That's hilarious, C! by B'sgirl
Yeah my friend said her daughter just stopped wanting it.
I was also a "I'm never giving my child one" kinda person 2 but my son has it quite often, it really helps to settle him down etc.
Has anyone had experience of having to wean their kids off them?
Just interested to know incase I need to in the future if he doesn't just stop wanting it. by kate236
My SIL did what C did, started just letting him have it when he's going to bed, taking a nap, or if she needed him to sit still. I don't know if he's completely weaned yet, but he was definitely making progress.

B refuses to take a paci. I'm going to have to wean him off his thumb! by B'sgirl
Quote:

Has anyone had experience of having to wean their kids off them?
Just interested to know incase I need to in the future if he doesn't just stop wanting it. by kate236

I haven't had to do it personally, butI thought I would share 2 of the most inventive ways to help convince a toddler to give up a bed time bottle or paci that I have heard. Hope this helps someone!!
A) At a holiday (christmas or easter or something) tell your child that they have to leave the bottle or paci in their stocking/easter basket in exchange for presents. A few ppl I know have done this successfully.
B) Get the child excited about a new sibling/cousin/friends baby, and convince him to give the baby a "gift" of his paci/bottle. Get the new baby's mom in on the plan and have him present her and baby with his gift at the same time you give her yours. Wrap it up and everything. This works with most toddlers because it mimics a grown up action, which they just love to do. by MamaRachel
my dd just turned three, and is very attached to her paci. About two months ago, we firmly restricted it to using it only in the bed and the car. I just really didn't see a need to get rid of it - it soothes her, and is a HUGE comfort item. However, I don't want it to affect her teeth -- I have been told by doctors and dentists that by 4 yrs she should be completely off of it. SO at this point, we have restricted use. I really don't see a problem with it, as long as she's not running through the house with it in her mouth. We did hit a point where, at times, we had to tell her to take it out to talk to us, and that is when we decided that we needed to have some restrictions. by Deana

Quote:

Originally Posted by B'sgirl

My SIL did what C did, started just letting him have it when he's going to bed, taking a nap, or if she needed him to sit still. I don't know if he's completely weaned yet, but he was definitely making progress.

B refuses to take a paci. I'm going to have to wean him off his thumb!

LOL I was terrified of having a thumb sucker! I knew a girl in middle and high school who STILL sucked her thumb! She and I were friends but it totally grossed me out.. and teachers were forever having to tell her to take her thumb out of her mouth to talk! SO, I think i was a tad traumatized by it

But, A has no interest in sucking on his fingers, only the paci occasionally, usually for sleep. At daycare, its his lovey, he goes to sleep with it and half the time pulls it out and holds it in his sleep. At the house he LOVES to find them (has anyone else noticed that those things seem to pro-create???) and play with them and stick them in his mouth and ours. Our current bedtime routine is bottle from daddy and then he walks over to me, binki in hand and I say "You ready to go ni-ni?" and he lifts his arms up to me. I pop the bink in, he waves bye to daddy and off to the crib we go. I lay him down on his back (he promptly flips over), cover him up and turn on his mobile. Before I have the door closed I can hear him starting to snore, LOL! So... I think binks aren't a bad thing! I'm hoping to incorporate some teeth brushing (he has about 10) in the time frame where he comes to me after his baba pretty soon. He takes change really well, but still, didn't want to throw tons at him at once! Plus, I LIKE knowing he has his bink bink I think... it gives me security for him

by pink_elephant

Well K started out using me as a pacifer. Then I finally got her to occasionally take a pacifer. Then she didn't want one again. Now if she finds one she pops it in her mouth and will walk around sucking on it. But My brother had a problem with his youngest girl. She threw a fit everytime she saw a paci and would put it in her mouth. Well everytime she would talk with her paci in her mouth my brother would tell her he couldn't understand her and that she needed to take the paci out and talk to daddy like a big girl. After about a month she just stopped putting the paci in her mouth. Now they are still having problems with her potty training. But that is another story. by shan
I have been trying to get rid of the paci and it doesn't seem to be working out for me. everytime i have the plan of taking it away dd either gets sick or is teething (only two more to go which are coming in very soon). Now my only problem with taking the pacis away is do i want to do it so close to a new baby coming home. I want to make the adjustment as easy as possibly for dd and now i don't know if timing is right again. I know timing will never be right. so as of now she still has the pacis but only for naps, the car, and bedtime. she knows the minute i open the car door that she has to leave them and same with the crib by Ema
Similar to what one person posted above, my sisters both told their kids that the mailman would come one day and take their paci and bottle away (they gave them plenty of warning and time to adjust to the idea..). When the mailman came, he also dropped off something special for them. My mom even did this with me when I was little. I remember I got Gizmo (sp?) from The Gremlins. LOL! I loved that doll!!! I kept it for so long. This has worked for our fam , and I imagine I'll do it w/ C when the time comes. He doesn't rely too heavily on his, though. by IUgrad02
Ema,
After seeing my son with another baby, and he does it a little at daycare too, you may have to wait until Rachel can understand that pacis are for babies only, hence why the new baby has one and why she can't take it! But, if you offer her a big girl gift, etc maybe it will work? by pink_elephant

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