OT: Giving up the pacifier

[Aidensmom]

To the OP - definately do not give it back. We took DS's away when he was about 18 months, he asked for it for about a week, and then never thought of it again. The first couple nights he took a little longer to go to sleep, but it wasn't really a problem. He did for a while however have a much stronger attachment to his favorite stuffed animal as he began to use that for comfort. Now, 2 years later, I couldn't even tell you the last time I have seen him with that stuffed animal.

OMG! We are dealing with the same thing right now. My ds just turned 2 last month and I know its time to give up the paci but I am waiting till after our Disney trip (in 2 short weeks) for sanity sake. He is biting thru them all now though and I'm not sure we will have any left and I really don't want to buy more!!!

NJDisneymom - if he is biting through them, you need to take it away as soon as possible. It is a real choking hazard, especially if he bites it in his sleep. A piece can come off and get lodged in his throat. This is actually the reason DS had to give up his.

 

[kikipug]

My oldest DD was 2.5 when I made her give it up. Actually, she threw it out herself. She was really starting to understand that when something is broke we couldn't use it anymore, so I cut a few slits in her binky. She noticed it, I said it's broke, we should throw it out, and she did. She really didn't have a hard time with it. She would ask for it and I would remind her that she threw it out because it was broke.

Good luck! And try to resist giving it back.

I did the SAME THING!!! I am so glad that I'm not the only 'bad mom'. She had popped a balloon in the car earlier in the day, and told me that "we have to throw broken things away"... so when we got home, I snuck into her room, cut paci in half with a pair of scissors, and left it on her pillow. We only had 1 not-so-restful night. And we had just moved into a new house 2 weeks before!!!

 

[BeccaGrace]

I'm going through this with my youngest, age 2 1/2. Her sister was off it in the daytime at 2 and at bedtime by 3 (after nights of howling Bah-Boo like a dying wolf--that's what she called it!)...But I am having a harder time taking it from Becca because it is a big comfort thing to her--if she's tired or stressed she wants Boo-Boo (the binky) and her blanket. I'm not sure if it's because she's my baby or because she's had lots of health problems lately that I feel bad about forcing her to wean off it. So I asked her pediatrician last week and he said that any tooth issues caused by it before age 4 typically reverse themselves and that if she's using it as a coping mechanism at this point we shouldn't feel like we have to force it from her because of her age. I would definitely like it gone before the fall so I keep telling her that she can't have it at preschool and none of the kids at school have them and then point it out when we take Grace to school because she's dying to go to school with her...I'm hoping it works because then she'll be binky free at Disney in November!

For the OP...if it's gone I totally recommend not giving it back but have to admit I caved on that for daytime weaning. About a month after Grace stopped having hers during the day she was in the hospital with a virus and asked for it in the saddest little voice--needless to say it stuck around for a few weeks and we had to re-wean.

 

[va32h]

Neither of my daughters ever had much use for the pacifier, but my son had his until he was over 3 years old. And I was one of those self-righteous "can you believe how old that kid is and he still has a pacifier" parents.

So I was very humbled by my experience. Ds was a more dependent child - right from birth. My girls are very outgoing and vivacious, but my son is more restrained and definitely more sensitive. He had several comfort objects, the paci, a blanket and a stuffed animal. Everytime I would decide to get rid of the pacifier, something would happen in our lives - we moved to a new state, I had another baby, my husband got deployed (twice!). And I would think to myself, "I can't take it away from him now, he needs comfort more than ever."

He gave it up on his own at about 3 1/2. He still has the blanket, although it is just a scrap now. The blanket has never bothered me a bit - he can carry that around till he graduates high school if he wants!

The first few days are the hardest - now that you've started the process, best to just forge ahead and get it over with!

 

[shelby2001]

Well I will admit that my youngest DD had her pacifier at night only until she was almost 5 due to her acid reflux. That was the only thing that would calm her down at night when the heartburn started and it was really bad so she didn't use it every night just on really bad nights with vomiting. Pedi said let her use it she is suffering enough and if that makes it better than let her use it. I am happy to report that she is now 7 and has perfect teeth and will have no need for braces much to our dentist surprise but still has very bad acid reflux which I wish would go away.

 

[tiff211]

dd2 uses her "binky' mostly when she goes to bed but I think of it as her comfort thing and tend to let her have it when she is upset or cranky. She was overwhelmed at WDW last week and asked for it quite a bit. Hey, my comfort thing is chocolate or a glass of wine, for some it cigarettes. I read in a parenting journal that having one is not as bad as previously thought. My goal is to have her weaned from it when she turns three in nov.

 

[DebIreland]

Wow a paci at 3 yo? Here I was feeling quilty because the pediatrician gave me grief for having DD still on the bottle at her 1 yr old checkup Monday (she turned 1 the 14th). SHe had me wean DD off the paci at 6 months (she was also a 34 week preemie) and it was *heck*. Now we are on day 3 of no bottle and its just as hard........is my ped wrong in having me do it this way?? Now you all have me thinking maybe I am putting DD thru all this way to young.........

Wow! That must be tough going. I'm surprised she gave you grief for still having her on the bottle at 12 months. What age did she *think* a baby should give it up? Our DD is now 13 months - I slowly started introducing the beaker (we call them beakers here, not sure what they're called in the U.S. - you know the cup your baby is holding in the pic under your name - lovely baby by the way ). But even having 'introduced' our DD to it from 6/7 months there's no way she is proficient enough with it now to use it solely for milk/drinks. I'm not overly worried or anything cause I think 13 months is still an ok age to give her the bottle but it would definitely be nice to be rid of it in a couple of months! I'd like to wean her off slowly - cut from 3 bottles down to 2 etc. Did your doc. ask you to just remove the bottle straight away or did she 'allow' you to wean your DD off? It seems kinda sad to just have to take it away all at once

Is your baby fully adept with the cup? I find our DD takes a few sips and then throws it down, takes another few sips, throws it down etc. She's on follow-on formula still which I like using cause of the nutrients etc. I can't imagine getting a whole lot of it into her without the bottle. It's hard enough now getting a few ounces of water/juice into her with the beaker - can't imagine trying to get her to take her milk that way too!! And I've tried 4 different types of beakers. She has very limited interest in all of them. It's not for want of independence either - she loves feeding herself with her own bowl and spoon - she just doesn't seem to have the dexterity for it. Any tips on helping her to use it? I'm confused as I don't know how to ensure she gets enough formula and drinks?