Ditching the passie?

[statefan]

Just curious to find out if anyone out there has ever ledt their children's pacifier "behind". My son is now 3, and we are having a terrible time getting rid of the thing. (My family is more about getting rid of it than I am!) He really only wants it at nap or bedtime, but I know it still has to go at some point in time. So my husband and I came up with the idea of giving it to Buzz so he could take it away on "a space adventure".
Any ideas would be great at this point, we only have a week left before our trip.
Thanks!!!!!!

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

I feel your pain!! My son was 3 when we finally got rid of his. He also just had his for naps and bedtime. We started with getting rid of the naptime passy---how?? We told him no more passys for naps and it wasn't allowed in the house anymore during the day, so his daddy "take it to work" with him. For a few days daddy would "bring it home" at night so he could have it for bedtime, but one night, daddy "accidently forgot it at work". Since daddy "couldn't go back to get it until the next day", he had to sleep without it. Then the next night, same thing--forgot it at work. Then the next night, the cleaning crew accidently threw it out..........gone forever. Yes, there were some tears, but oddly not until it was "thrown away" and even then they didn't last more then 2 nights. The trick is to stand your ground, and we really found that telling him they weren't in the house anymore (at daddys work) helped too. Good luck!!

 

[Stimpy]

It sounds strange but this worked for us....
We had the Nunny(our word for the pacifier) Fairy come and take it away one night. We told DS when he was about 3 1/2 that the Nunny Fairy comes and leaves a present for kids when they give up their pacifier and gives the nunny to babies that need it now. We didn't do it right away but kept telling him about it and asked him what he would like if he left his pacifier for the Fairy. After a few weeks (ok, not an immediate fix LOL) he found a $5 space set he really wanted. He though about it for 2-3 days and then came to us and said he was ready. We said goodbye and thank you to the nunny, and he left it on his night table. The next morning he had his space set and he was thrilled. He asked about his pacifier a few times but he wasn't really upset that he couldn't get it back. We just explained to him that another baby boy needed it more than he did now that he was a big boy.

Fortunately, my DD-17months, never wanted the pacifier at all, but she also doesn't have any kind of "lovey" which makes me a little sad. But that's a whole other topic!

Good Luck to you!!

 

[zachyandlindsmom]

We got rid of my son's pacifier the day before we left for our florida vacation (not a disney one). He was 4 y 1 mos. at the time, very old!!! We did the bed/car only use for a week of so before, and went cold turkey on a Wednesday. He threw it away in Wal Mart in exchange for a Game Boy. Our trip went very well, we were very busy, and he was so exhausted at bedtime that there never really was too much of a fuss when it was gone. I was very surprised at how smooth it went. I would leave it with Buzz, or do as I did and get rid of it just before you leave and maybe the excitement/exhaustion of Disney will help. Good Luck, that's a tough one!

Tracy

 

[Schmeck]

Tracy, what a jump - pacifier to a gameboy!

 

[tiggrbaby]

Before I would let my son move from the crib to a bed, I took him to a big toy store and let him pick out stuffed toys to sleep with. He had to trade his "binkies" to get them, though. Then he had something new for his big boy bed. He did not have any problems sleeping, which surprised me.

The cashier wanted to know if I wanted to keep the binkies as a memento. I said no thanks!

 

[Mom to Jordan]

If you decide to give the passy to Buzz, I would be sure to do it the last day of the trip just in case it does not go so well. My DS was a blanket kid , not a passy kid but it had to go everywhere. When we were away from home that was when he needed it most and even after he had given it up at home it went on trips. It's last trip was WDW when he was about 8. I love the idea of exchanging it for some really big boy toy! You could also do that the last day of the trip. Only problem might be a LONG ride or flight home of he does not take well to being without it!! Good luck. I am not really big on rushing kids away from comfort items but he might be getting to the point where teeth are soon going to be effected.
Jordans' mom

 

[crisi]

If you decide to give the passy to Buzz, I would be sure to do it the last day of the trip just in case it does not go so well. My DS was a blanket kid , not a passy kid but it had to go everywhere. When we were away from home that was when he needed it most and even after he had given it up at home it went on trips. It's last trip was WDW when he was about 8. I love the idea of exchanging it for some really big boy toy! You could also do that the last day of the trip. Only problem might be a LONG ride or flight home of he does not take well to being without it!! Good luck. I am not really big on rushing kids away from comfort items but he might be getting to the point where teeth are soon going to be effected.
Jordans' mom

My husband's blankie (or the shreds that remain) is under his pillow at this moment in time - he is almost 40, well adjusted and successful. It doesn't go everywhere - we don't take it on vacation with us. But I wouldn't throw it away for the world. Sometimes not rushing taking away comfort items just means they go off to college - I knew several girls in college who took worn out well loved teddy bears. (Though none that still used a pacifier).

Its pink. I'm not sure if I find the blankie or the fact its pink funnier.

 

[mcbj]

My DS gave his to the Easter Bunny at 3 and has never looked back. Worked great!! Have a fun trip!!

 

[Wendy*Darling]

My oldest was 3 when he got rid of his on a WDW vacation. We had already had the "if it comes out of your room, it gets thrown away" rule for a while and had been noticing he didn't "need" it as much. When we went to WDW we of course packed it. He was so wiped out the first night he fell asleep w/o it. We decided to just see if that trend continued. Lo and behold, it did! Naps and bedtime. He was just so tired he fell right off to sleep as soon as it was dark and quiet. After 5 nights we pointed out that he hadn't needed them and we had a celebration because of it. He never looked back!

 

[Servants of Evan]

At age two and a half the Binkie Fairy traded it for a really cool Tonka Tow truck. Yep, there are a limited number of Binkies in the world (just like fruitcakes), and the Binkie Fairy was responsible for ensuring the chain continued. Worked just fine...

Servants of Evan

 

[Kitcat]

My son was never allowed to take his "ninny" out of the house as he got older he could only have it at bedtime. I told my son he had to give up his "ninny" for his 4th birthday. I gave him about 3 months notice. I kept reminding him he was going to give it up. On his 4th birthday he gave it up and was just sad one or two nights. He is going to be 5 soon and every once in awhile he tells me he misses his ninny. I feel so bad. I tell him I know you do. I wouldn't let him give it up on your trip he may need it being in a strange place. Wait til you get home. Have a great time.

 

[ryan840]

We just got our son off of his "bubba" about a month ago, right after he turned two. We simply cut the very tip off of it so that he would no longer be able to get the sucking satisfaction, and when he tried it out he thought it was broken. We told him it was ok if it was broken, he can still have it, and he never shed a tear. He was using it only to sleep, (and very rarely to calm himself down) so he did have issues getting back to sleep at night (he never had a problem going to bed in the first place) for a few nights, then all was well. He does still have his bubba, but it never goes in his mouth so we're fine with it at this age. We did have back up bubbas just in case he didn't react well, we weren't going to push it yet.

 

[LizAgna]

The "Sappy" Fairy came when my oldest DD turned 3. We got the idea from one of her little friends at daycare. That little girl turned 3 about 3 months before DD did so we had time to prepare her for her Sappies to disappear. We didn't actually do it on her birthday we did it the day after her birthday party. She cried for 2 nights but after that she never asked for it again.

Now youngest DD is 2 and we said that we wouldn't let her take it this long but we just can't seem to take it away from her quite yet. I guess in a few months we will prepare her for the arrival of the "Bappy" Fairy (Isn't it funny how she woudln't call it the same thing her sister did?)

Personally I wouldn't "leave" it at Disney World or "give" it to Buzz. It would be my luck DD would always remember that that's where she "lost" her Bappy and wouldn't want to go back.

 

[statefan]

All of these suggestions are SUPER GREAT, thanks so much. After starting to pack tonight, I realized in my small minded attempt to keep my son happy, I have only been adding to the madness, by of course, buying more passies over the past few months! I keep finding them everywhere, and we are not even in our house! I can just see it now, leaving the passie, only to come back, and him remembering each hiding place, pulling a different one out every day! Now that is the stuff of nightmares!
So, if the Buzz trick doesn't work, I really like the fairy idea. But I do not know what to expect, my ds is hard headed just like my dh! I have even offered every Buzz Lightyear toy we could if he would ditch the pullups!
He wouldn't go for that either! Potty training, the next mission!

 

[Nank]

I snipped it. He saw it was broken. It was hard for him to go to bed for 2 nights. He kind of just wandered around a little until he was sooooo tired. After that we were good. Good luck.

 

[VSL]

As far as I can remember, my mother just took my dummy (that's what we Brits call them!) out of my mouth one night when I was sleeping and told me that some fairy had taken it away.

I can't remember being upset at all - it wasn't as if I could do anything about it anyway!

 

[crisi]

Watch the potty training - it will happen when he is ready.

My daughter was stubborn as well and we had a grand old power struggle about it. I realized the bribes had gone too high when her brother (then four, she was three) said "If you get out of pull ups, Mom will buy you a yellow bug car" (i.e. a VW Beetle).

 

[PatricenPete]

Our DS is only 10 1/2 months, but I want to get rid of it early!!! I don't want to wait until he is 2, 3, 4 years old. So far we are off to a great start. He has gone 2 nights without it (he was really only using it to sleep) and yesterday he took his nap without it. We will be bringing a few with us to Disney next month, just as a comfort, just in case, as I am sure he is going to get all off track.

 

[bedgraynexl]

Our DD3 gave it up on our trip to Disney World in April. I think we had it with us just in case, but we told her it accidentally got left at home and that she was such a big girl that she would be fine without it. The fact that she and our DS5 went hard and fast they were exhausted, but she never asked for it after that first night, or even on the plane. She has never asked for her Binky since. I have heard that trips are the best way to get rid of it, simply because there is so much to do they forget about the thing.