Getting rid of the pacifier - at Disney?

[linnell]

My son will be turning 3 when we go to Disney. He uses a paci when he sleeps but the past month he keeps sneaking around the house with it. I keep it on a high shelf, but if I forget, he finds it and then there is a big tantrum to take it from him.

Anyway, I keep saying when he is three we'll get rid of it. I'm thinking since we'll be in Disney for his birthday, maybe we can leave it for the "paci faerie" or Tink herself and exchange it for a gift and then we will just be like "We left them at Disney!" and no more when we get home. But then I think that would maybe be a negative thing for him to associate with Disney, so I'm not sure.

We're not going until October, so ideally he'll be done with it before hand, but I doubt it. At this point, I think he'll be sucking on it at his own wedding!

Any advice?

 

[chris31997]

DS got rid of one because it was yuckies and he had to throw it away. At night he would also throw them in his sleep. It got harder and harder to find them. We finally were down to one and it grew legs and walked into my underwear drawer. Out of sight out of mind. We could not find it. We looked and looked. He never missed it. Now it is the occasional stuff animal which I can handle.

He was over 3 when we finally got rid of them. So you are not alone in this.

Good luck

 

[bekkiz]

My friend cut holes in all of her daughter's pacifiers so they no longer were comfortable or pleasant to suck. Withing a couple week, she decided on her own to stop using them. The little girl was a couple months past two. It may be worth a try!

 

[MayzDisney4]

My son had turned 3 right before our trip last January. We "left" the pacifier at home and didn't have it for the trip. He was so exhausted at the end of the days, he didn't need it to fall asleep.. After we got home he was already used to not having it.

 

[disneyandme]

I wouldn't press my luck and try to get rid of it on a trip unless you are up for middle of the night crying--wanting it back. Do it at home.

 

[hannahdrewmom]

My son had turned 3 right before our trip last January. We "left" the pacifier at home and didn't have it for the trip. He was so exhausted at the end of the days, he didn't need it to fall asleep.. After we got home he was already used to not having it.

We kinda did this. I "accidentally" left them in WDW. So we had them for the trip but they never came home.

 

[MSSANDRA]

While I agree that it is time to take it, I would never do it on vacation. Might work fine and it might be horrible. Wait till you get home and re-post for some suggestions and we will be glad to help. I took DGS at 2.

 

[nchulka]

I would not try to take away the binkie while on vacation. Those first few days without it are probably gonna be very difficult. When DS was almost 2 he loved his binky. One morning I saw that he had bit a hole in one of them. I was worried that he might bite a small chunk off of it and swallow it so I got rid of them all that morning. The next couple of days were rough, but then he forgot about them. If you really want to get rid of them you have to do it all at once. They have to be completely gone. If he thinks they are still around for really tough times, he will start causing really tough times. Go cold turkey now, and they'll be a thing of the past by the time it's time for your trip.

 

[here757]

i agree. not while on vacation..
my friend had the silicone ones. she would cut the tip off. then a day later cut off a little more. then m0re and more. soon there was nothing left to suck on.
her son got annoyed with it and threw it away on his own

 

[michael's mom]

We planned on doing it when DS turned 3 and I quickly noticed that when he didn't have his pacifier, he'd stick his whole hand into his mouth to soothe himself when he was upset and I decided that he still needed something to soothe and I'd rather it be a paci now and then than his hand. So, we waited a few months and then "we" made the decision to leave all the binkies for Santa and have Santa bring them to all the new babies. We had a special box for Santa with a note on the table with the cookies and milk. When DS woke up on xmas morning, Santa left him some little "special" toys to replace his binkies and that night, he went to bed without and issue and never looked back. And, we waited long enough that he no longer put his hands in his mouth when he was upset.

If your son is ready to give it up, I'd say use them for the vacation and then "forget" them there. But, don't be surprised if he uses something else in it's place if he's not ready to soothe without sucking. And, be ready to change your plan quickly. We had such a hard time getting DS to sleep that xmas eve that I gave him a binky and said "when you're asleep, I'll take it and leave it for Santa" which he was fine with. But, I needed him to go fall asleep so I could j

Good luck!

 

[Mrs.Malone]

Hopefully he'll easily give it up cold turkey (from experience, I think that's the only way to go), but I wouldn't do that on vacation! That would stress me out and I don't like to have any more stress than necessary on vacation.

You know your son best--but what I'd do is make note of some special souvenir item that the child really coveted while at Disney, buy it secretly, and then a week or two after getting home get rid of all the pacifiers and present the special toy as a "big boy trade" for all the pacifiers. That's pretty much what we did for one of my children when he had just turned 3. He cried off and on all night the first night but after that he didn't seem to miss the pacifiers at all anymore, and I think the new toy helped a little.

 

[tigger51276]

Personally I think you are crazy to want to do it on vacation! That could turn into a really ugly situation and cause a huge meltdown. Disney itself can be a huge meltdown for little ones without adding the taking away of binkie to the mix. I say either do it before you leave or after you come home. If on your last day you want to exchange the paci to the disney fairies for a special new toy you can try that, but also keep in mind that if you are flying and she doesn't have it that could lead to a major meltdown on the plane.

 

[simadi]

Our pediatrican recommended to get rid of the pacifier between 6 and 8 months. Apparently, babies begin to develop an attachment to objects around this point and its best to get rid of him before that date so as not to have a child who is emotionally attached to it. We removed our daughter 7 months, and while we were awake some nights later, there were no problems.

 

[BAMLuvMickey]

Our pediatrican recommended to get rid of the pacifier between 6 and 8 months. Apparently, babies begin to develop an attachment to objects around this point and its best to get rid of him before that date so as not to have a child who is emotionally attached to it. We removed our daughter 7 months, and while we were awake some nights later, there were no problems.

My doc recommended the same thing! However, I felt that it was something I could handle and decide on my own on when to get rid of it.
So I seriously chose his first birthday(younger son didnt use a paci ever). So on the day my oldest turned 1, I threw out bottles and pacifiers. At that point I saw no use for bottles since he mainly only wanted sippy cups. The first few nights were a little rough and there were times I wanted to give him a pacifier. But after about 3 days, he had forgotten they even existed. I don't think he even realized the bottles were gone too.

On a humorous note, about a month after this, I checked on him before I went to bed and found one in his mouth
I was like 'what the heck?' and took it out of his mouth and tossed it. it must have been a leftover one and he found it in his room or something....I thought they were coming back to haunt me....


I do not recommend getting rid of the pacifier at Disney if he is attached to it. It will make for a few sleepless nights and miserable days while on your stay. Either start getting rid of it now, or wait until after you come home from your trip.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

One thing I've heard of people doing is taking an envelope and "mailing" them to other kids while at Disney. That might work.

Also poking holes in them is another way to go.

DS stopped using his just past 2. He kept getting ear infections... that and he would gnaw on them and break holes in them himself. He got down to his last 3-4 pacis and I layed them out for him to see, telling him that I would not replace them once he broke them. Everytime he chewed a hole, I showed him the hole and he had to throw it in the garbage bin. He held on to the last one for a month, then not thinking, gnawed a hole into it. He didn't fight or fuss when the last one was gone.

DD, OTOH still asks for hers and she hasn't taken one since Christmas. We started them at bedtime only and slowly there were nights she'd fall asleep without one. We eventually just tossed them all.

It's a tough time, but you can get through it!

Good luck!

 

[2binak]

I wouldn't press my luck and try to get rid of it on a trip unless you are up for middle of the night crying--wanting it back. Do it at home.

I agree with this. Pacifiers are security and to take that security away while you're in an unfamiliar place isn't the best idea. We took DD's paci with us on our last trip when she was almost 3. When we got home, we started talking about what a big girl she is and how pacifiers are for babies, not big girls. After about 2-3 weeks of talks, we put them in a gift bag & brought them to the babies at daycare. DD cried a bit for it twice in the first week of not having it and then never mentioned it again.

 

[Belle5]

DS18, was so addicted to his paci right up until he was 3. We used the cutting away strategy and it worked like a charm. I would do it now...well before your trip.

 

[mjkacmom]

I got rid of pacifiers for 4 kids at this age (one gave it up on his own before the age of 1). It wasn't a nightmare, but it was a few days of tears. I wouldn't do it on vacation.

 

[Sugar Jones]

I was dreading taking ds's away. I put it off for so long... and when we actually decided to do it, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be

He picked out a new movie he really wanted. The only way he could have the movie is if he threw his "chew chew" in the garbage. He did it and we never had a problem.

I hope it goes smoothly for you!!

Now dd on the other hand is a thumbsucker.....how do you break that habit?

 

[2binak]

Now dd on the other hand is a thumbsucker.....how do you break that habit?

UGH! I hope you find a way to breaks your DD's thumb habit. DD's dentist told us that once we got rid of the pacifier, if she started sucking her thumb, we'd have to go back to using the pacifier since the thumb does more damage.