Help me get rid of my 3 yr olds pacifier! UPDATE pg. 4, #52

[GeorgiaAristocat]

Okay, parents extraordinaire. Please help - My 3 yr old still has a pacifier at bedtime. She only gets water to drink, we always brush her teeth, she doesn't take it to school or get it anytime except bedtime. BUT IT IS MAKING ME CRAZY. I'm afraid she's going to mess up her teeth/bite.

How do I break her of the habit, short of just throwing them all away and going through the screaming fits for a couple of days? I also don't want to cause permanent emotional harm (i.e. oral fixation) by doing anything too drastic.

I cut the tip off of 3, which she readily threw away, as soon as she knew there was at least one more to replace them. Should I go with slow attrition? I tried to get her to give them to Santa to give to babies that really needed them, and that was a no-go.

I'm so frustrated with this! I've already told her that she can't take it to Disney world, but that isn't until September, so she really doesn't care, and has no concept of time anyway!

HELP!!!

 

[luvmy2sams]

DD constantly had to have at least 3 "kikis" in her possession at all times. We used to joke that she thought the different colors were different flavors. When she was a little over 2 we took a trip and had to put our pups in the kennel. She was so sad to see them go that we seized the opportunity and told her that we'd left the kikis with our dogs to help them feel okay. When we picked the pups up a few days later, she asked for her kikis, and we told her that the pups had left them behind to comfort the other dogs in the kennel. We didn't hear another word from her about them.

A friend of mine tried slowly cutting down the nipples until there was nothing left to suck on. Her DD didn't seem to care and would still try to kept the non-existent binkie in her mouth. She finally broke the habit when her DD was about 3.5 by just going cold turkey.

Good luck....I'm so thankful that DS was never interested in one.

 

[laura001]

I did the same as you and cut the tips off of all of them, saved nothing back, I figured that if I knew I had a back up we wouldn't go through with it. My son walked around for a couple of days with the one end in his mouth and held it in with his hand because there was nothing for him to suck on, he cried quite a bit but then ended up throwing it in the garbage too and that was it. After I cut them I just showed them to him and told him they were all broken and threw the tips away. good luck!

 

[Jenn]

We had the binki fairy. My DD had about 5 binkis around the house, so each night for 5 nights we left one for the binki fairy and in the morning it was gone and a little gift was left in its place. She got to sleep with 1 in her mouth until the last night, then, since it was the last binki it had to be left for the fairy. She pouted a little, but did it anyway. She pouted for another night or two, but no full blown hysterics.

We did the same with our other DD and it worked like a charm. Painless for us and them.

 

[padams]

Just throw it away. Tell your dd that she is a big girl now, and big girls don't have pacifiers. We did the cold turkey method, and it really wasn't such a big deal. Both of my boys went through a day of being upset, and then it was over.

 

[mickeyboat]

When DD turned 3 our sitter told her that the pa's had to go. She never looked back at her house.

It was a little tougher (because we were a little wimpier) at our house. Our neighbor had a baby, and we ended up bringing some of them to her. The rest went in the garbage. She asked about them for a while, but then got attached to sleeping with a stuffed animal at bed time, so she forgot about the pa's.

DH and I were talking about it the other day. He said he still feels bad about taking them away from her. They were her best buds and we ripped them away. He wonders if there will be permanent scars.

She seems fine!

Denae

 

[Sandy V.]

We had to do the "cold turkey" route, but it only took one restless night and DD was fine. Good luck!!

 

[Cindyluwho]

I promise you, from the bottom of my heart - your child will not have the pacifier in her mouth when she walks down the aisle at graduation from High School. Don't sweat it!

 

[KelNottAt]

We always had a supply of binks around the house. When DS turned 2, we told him he was getting too big for them and we weren't buying anymore. Eventually, overtime, he just lost them one by one. Around the time he was 2.5, they were all gone. He accepted it, dealt with it, and that was the end. Period. No negotiation.

BTW, his little sister was born almost exactly on his 2nd birthday. So even the arrival of a "rival" didn't have any adverse affect on his transition.

I'd bet that since your DD has already given up her pacifier for most of the day, she'll adapt in less than a week.

 

[Regina]

LOL, I remember this problem with my oldest. Just like yours, he only took it at bedtime.

I told him now that he's three, the rule for three year olds is no more pacifiers. He looked a bit confused but never protested.

 

[Servants of Evan]

We additionally had a visit from the Binkie Fairy. You understand of course, that there are only so many binkies in the world (just like fruitcakes). These binkies need to be redistributed to the young babies which need them. In exchange, the binkie fairy will leave a big-boy/big-girl toy as a showing of appreciation for participating in the program...

I've also heard of people taking the last binkie to Build-a-bear and having it sewn into a new stuffed animal -- that way it's always close...

 

[Ava83]

I suggest you call my MIL!

She did it, we were going to do it after out Disney trip in October, but she asked if she could try and it worked! Cold turkey And Ava used it all day..I mean she would get out of preschool and ask for one (like she had a rough day)

Ava was very addicted to her paci, we had one in her mouth and she would hold one(and we would have one in our pockets). When she was born, she was in the NICU and couldn't eat for the first 24 hours so she had a paci, I think it was the first thing she had and that is why it was so hard to break

Ava was a nut for about 2 months after, she was cranky and tantrum prone, but we worked through it and now she is paci free and much better behaved.

 

[Disneyglobegirl]

I've heard that some people have had great success with going to Build a Bear - letting the child pick a bear, the child says "goodbye" to the pacifier and then they put the pacifier in the bear and it is stuffed and sewn up. The pacifier is not thrown away but in the bear for them to keep as their comfort toy.

 

[Cindyluwho]

I'm trying to figure out exactly why you all are so freaked by a 3 yo sleeping with a binky. Why do you think it's so darned evil. Honestly folks just let the kid be a kid and give it a rest. It's not going to kill her and she'll give it up eventually.

 

[Caradana]

My mother told us that the bird took them.

No joke. She said the bird flew in the window, and took them for his bird babies.

We were peeved at birds for about a week. We got over it. I think she thought it was better we be peeved at birds than at her.

 

[GeorgiaAristocat]

I like the build-a-bear idea - it actually brought a little moisture to my eye. Only problem is that the closest build-a-bear is about 2 1/2 hrs away! (Gasp!) But, maybe that is the thing to do, just make a really big deal out of it, a special trip, etc. I really like the "binkie fairy" idea, too. A trip to wal-mart for presents may be in store!

Thank goodness, the little man has never been interested in a "pappy."

 

[luvmyfam444]

We also cut our dd's paci & she just looked @ me & said fix it! LOL so that was useless...

Then just as a fluke we were @ the movies & she dropped it in the dark & we couldn't find it (really I tried!) so I told her it was gone...then we saw some other toddler w/the same type of paci & she thought that girl had her paci so I told her she did ---"baby so n so " got her paci 'cause she needed it & it worked -

I dont' think she even cried that night if she did it wasn't for long- of course now we ususally have to lay down with her to get her to sleep but it's a good trade off to us.

My dh can remember his mom making him throw his paci in the dumpster so SAnta would come - he talks about this to this day....

 

[K&KsMom]

We told DS (3) that it was time for the pacifier fairy to come to our house. We created this imaginary fairy that takes all 3 y/o pacifiers to a far away land and gives them to babies who really need them. He was told that we needed to find all of them and place them in a box for the Fairy. When he woke up the next morning there was a surprise from the Fairy. He really had no problems.
I hope this helps.

 

[mylightshines]

My DD, who is 12 now, had pacifiers until she was 4. Not just bedtime, but all day. There was a "hole" in between her teeth for the pacifer. I remember my MIL saying that her front teeth hadn't came in yet. They were there. You just couldn't see them. Anyway, I had a friend who was having a baby and we gave her pacis to the paci fairy for my friends baby and so that other babies could have them. She never asked for them again. Within two weeks, (i'm not fibbing) her teeth came together and now she has a beautiful smile and never had to have braces.

 

[horseshowmom]

DD didn't care when we took her bottle away, but she was really hung up on the pacifier. We kept 5 or 6 in her bed at night, because if she didn't find one easily when she woke up looking for it, somebody was going to be getting up and looking for one (if you know what I mean).

We went to a family reunion in another state the month before she was 3, and she lost the last one. We decided that was it. She through a fit all the way home (3 1/2 hours), but that was the end of it.

Cold turkey worked for us (and she's now 18 with no emotional trauma or oral fixations! ).