pacifier and bottle advice

[ImpossibleOfMe]

For the paci's at 2 we had our son become involved in the process - making it about him becoming a 'big boy' and letting him decide to toss them.
Cutting the tips didn't work for us for a while, he would just carry them around - but eventually since he couldn't suck them he was willing to throw them out himself.
And, though I hate lying to my child, when he saw them in stores and asked for a new one I told him that they only sell them to babies so we couldn't buy a new one.

I've seen other moms say who never cut them say they would have the child put them in a special bag to send away to new babies that needed them - just something else that puts them in power of the situation and makes them feel good about it.

If you can, and it's not against your parenting style - I would give something that represents the transition from baby to big kid when she is willing to give one up - even if it is just a sticker.
My boy managed to find them in hiding places of his for at least a couple months!

Good luck!

[taylor3297]

Originally Posted by wdwmom0f3

It was easy as pie for us! The "passy fairy" came to see my 2 year old to pick it up and take it to brand new babies because they are for babies you know. she also left a surprise in the freezer for her, some m&m ice cream cookies. She was fine. She never cried or anything. When she did ask about it we talked about how happy the new babies are and how good her ice cream was. I did the same thing for my son and he reacted the same way. Use the Passy Fairy. It was so easy!

The day each of my kids reached their first birthday, no more bottles. Neither seemed to mind losing the bottle. With the pacifier, we put the pacifiers out with the milk and cookies for Santa, so Santa could take the pacifiers to needy kids. Worked like a charm. My dd, did miss her pacifier the first couple of nights, after that, no problems. DS never asked for a pacifier again.

Good luck!

[2binak]

Originally Posted by twinboysmom

I will offer a different perspective for you to consider. A PP mentioned something about each child developmentally being ready to let go. We have heard the same thing from our therapists. Shortly after we ditched the pacifiers our boys "replaced" them with wanting to mouth every object they could find.

We felt that our DD was ready to give her paci just before she turned 3. She only used it at nap & bed time and only until she fell asleep. She only cried slightly for 5 -10 minutes the first night so we thought all was good but for the next 1.5 years she replaced the paci with fingers, blankets & her shirt collars. Whenever she was tired, she'd stick one of those things in her mouth

Her dentist said the same thing about thumbs being worse. In fact she told us that if DD started sucking her thumb, that we should give the paci back.

[kt_mom]

Thankfully both of mine only used pacifiers the first few weeks. Actually DS maybe the first couple months. But then neither cared after that.

DD was off the bottle by her first birthday with no trouble at all. She much prefered the milk in the sippie cup over the formula in the bottle. DS on the other hand was a little harder and closer to maybe 15 months. He would choose the formula in the bottle over the milk in the cup everytime. Since my mom was keeping him duirng the day and trying to get him down for naps I tried to give her time to get their naptime adjusted to no bottles first. It just seemed to work best that way. Then at home I just quit the bedtime bottle cold turkey and that was it.

I think it helped, at least with DD, that I never gave them anything but formula in the bottle. Anything yummy like milk or juice or even water was presented only in a sippie cup. DS was all to happy at first to just drink the formula in the bottle. But he has strange eating habits anyway. Our biggest problem right now is keeping him out of the dog food

It might be easiest to just do it cold turkey. I agree with the PP, I think the first few days might be hard but after that it will get easier. I would throw them out though. If they are just put away its way to easy to give in during a meltdown. I know my two year old can be really persistant when he really wants something and he will drive you to insanity over it.

[twinboysmom]

Originally Posted by 2binak

We felt that our DD was ready to give her paci just before she turned 3. She only used it at nap & bed time and only until she fell asleep. She only cried slightly for 5 -10 minutes the first night so we thought all was good but for the next 1.5 years she replaced the paci with fingers, blankets & her shirt collars. Whenever she was tired, she'd stick one of those things in her mouth

Her dentist said the same thing about thumbs being worse. In fact she told us that if DD started sucking her thumb, that we should give the paci back.

Thanks for this. Sometimes I am sure it's just my kids that do some of these strange things.

[torinsmom]

DS never used a pacifier, but he had a bottle until he was 2 1/2. When we went to the beach, I told him I had left his bottles at home and if we went back to get them, we wouldn't be able to drive back to the beach. I replaced it with a pop top water bottle and he cried for a few minutes each night that week, but then that was that.

[ColonelHathi]

We did the "nu nu" fairy for DD at almost 3? She was using them at night. One night we hung her remaining "nu nus" from the tree in our front yard, and in the morning the nu nu fairy brought her a new Tiana doll she had been admiring.

Just a couple of weeks ago DD lost her first tooth, and

[ColonelHathi]

Oops - iPhone!

She lost her tooth and it was so cute when I had to explain how the nu nu fairy and tooth fairy were good friends, but nu nu fairies lived outdoors and only collected nu nus.

With bottles, DD was also harder to ween off. We uses sippies that she got to pick out, and that made it a bit easier. We made a big deal about the sippies.

[2binak]

Originally Posted by twinboysmom

Thanks for this. Sometimes I am sure it's just my kids that do some of these strange things.

[Happiest mommy]

my oldest DD didnt care for the paci and gave up the bottle on her own, but my now 3DD its a different story she only takes 1 bottle at night and in the morning we are now in the process of taking away her paci and as a pp said when we took it away she replaced it with her fingers which I do not like so I gave it back to her but only for nights I feel you good luck

[arthuruscg]

Of all things that helped transition for bottle to sippy cup was WDW. It was hot and DS 18m had picked out a straw cup at Rainforest cafe. He loved drinking out of it, I think because it was a "big boy" cup and he could get a lot more juice faster.
So when we got home we bought more sippy cups and would only let he drink juice and eventually milk from them.

The getting rid of the pawpaw wasn't that bad. When DS was around 2yr, One day when we were leaving after visiting his younger cousin (10 m), she stated to cry. He founder her blanky and gave it to her but he couldn't find her pawpaw. He pulled his out of his mouth and said "here hayhay" (Haden).
Well, I guess he thought he was a big boy and gave up his pawpaws. So when we got home we asked if he wanted to give his pawpaws to baby Haden and helped collect them. But when he was tired, he wanted them back and he was smart enough not to give us all of of them. Which we let him keep and slowly they wore out and were thrown away.

Also, DS wasn't as attached to his pawpaw at and after WDW because he would fall asleep with out it due to shear exhaustion.

Don't stress about it.

[kandb]

My son is 3 1/2 and just gave up his binkies after loosing his favorite one in disney last month. I felt so bad, he kept saying "that one was so special to me", but he got over it rather quickly. He still has a bottle of milk in the morning and at night. I hold him and we cuddle when I feed him and I will stop the bottle when he wants to stop, it really does comfort him and I get a full bottle of milk into him.

[torinsmom]

The little boy I babysit for had his bottle until he was 5. It was just one at night before he went to bed. He is 7 now, and it did not affect his teeth at all. I say do what you(as a parent) think is right.

[dsneygirl]

Originally Posted by Alesia

The easiest way (for the child, at least) is to just stop. Period. Throw them away and don't look back. You will feel like the meanest mom in the entire world for a couple of days, but it's going to be much easier than a long, drawn out transition.

We did cold turkey with the bottle as well. Just put milk in the sippy cup one day and that was that never looked back. Probably at 18 months we stated the pacifier could only be in the bedroom or the car he had it until he was about 2.5 at night and I wish we had cut it sooner. Thankfully DS#2 never took the paci so we don't have to deal with that this time.

[ruadisneyfan2]

Originally Posted by laughinplace199

We got rid of bottles at 12-18 mos, and the last bottle to go was the bedtime bottle. None of mine were particularly attached to the bottle, so it wasn't a big deal. They could have a sippy cup of milk instead of a bottle during storytime, then it was off to bed.

All of mine were super attached to the pacifier and all of them had pacifiers until age 3. Then, the pacifier fairy came. The kids decorated a paper bag and then put the pacifiers in it and left it by their bedroom door. While they were asleep, the pacifier fairy came and took the bag of pacifiers to give to new babies who needed them. In its place, she left a big kid present.

The first night or two was a little tough. They'd ask for the pacifier and I'd remind them that the pacifier fairy took them. There was a little bit of crying, but not much and then it was over.

My youngest had his tonsils out at 3 and during recovery, he was not allowed to suck on anything, including his pacifier. So, the pacifier fairy came when we got home from the hospital and he never even asked for it again.

I agree. Our pediatrician warned me when ds was around 9 or 10 mos old that by 12 mos he should be off the bottle. Keeping it any longer only makes it that much harder to stop. They both had binkies way into age 3 but we did not take them into public. Just kept under their pillow for bedtime. Neither wanted to hear about sending them to new babies. They both said someone should go to the store so they can get their own.
I finally told them they're getting too big for it and we set a date to give it up. I snuggled with them at bedtime and a few nights were rough but it all worked out. They're 15 & 12 now and it didn't harm them.