OT: What to do with my pacifier addict?!

[wrldpossibility]

My DS is turning 2 this week, and still uses his pacifier. He's my only child who has had a pacifier...his brothers were never interested. He only uses one at night and naptime, and to be honest, it doesn't bother me that much. He keeps them in a little mesh pocket by his bed and bedtime is the only time they come out. My problem is that he still doesn't sleep great at night, and I think it may be because of the pacifiers.

He still wakes several times during the night, but only for a minute...just long enough for his dad or me to find the pacifier in his bed and pop it back in his mouth! Then he's immediately back asleep. I wonder if we got rid of the pacifiers, if he'd sleep through without any wakings?

Or, is there a better way to help he "find" his pacifiers in his bed so he doesn't fully wake (or wake us)? I've never had a pacifier kid!

If you've gotten rid of the pacifiers, how did you do it? I dread that because while it does wake him in the night, he falls asleep at naptime and bedtime like a dream...within 2 minutes usually without a single fuss...as long as he has a pacifier. It's magic.

Is age 2 too old for the paci? Just please don't flame me for introducing it in the first place...he is extremely oral, and as an infant, it was a lifesaver. Anyway, it's too late to change that now!

 

[daisyduck123]

Hi!!

I have a DD12 & DS8 who both used pacifiers. It's been awhile but I remember it like it was yesterday. My advice is to just quit cold turkey. With my first, we tried lots of things: Pacifier fairy (we put a different paci under her pillow each night & the Paci fairy left a gift). We did the "Toys R Us Pacifier exchange" & actually went to TRU & "exchanged" a paci for a toy of DD's choosing. (I pulled a salesclerk aside, explained what I wanted to do, & she played right along)!! She did cry in bed for her pacifiers the first couple of nights, but then that was it.

Well, I didn't want to go thru all that again with my 2nd child, DS....so we kind of did it "cold turkey". I took all the pacifiers & snipped off the tips with scissors. DS thought they were broken & that was it. I remember he tried them, realized they didn't work, & that was it. No real tears that I recall....but I think he was about 3yo.

 

[PA Princess]

No flames from me, but alas no solutions either for I have a soon to be 2 paci addict of my own She is the youngest of 4, and we did have one other paci user in the bunch. DS now 11 gave his up on his own right around 2 1/2 when we lost his one and only paci...he was like, oh well and was completely finished with it after that.

I am hoping dd 1 (2 on on 12/20) will hit a natural point like that on her own and that paci weaning will be easy. She will occasionally wake looking for the paci, but that is very rare and she is an awesome sleeper overall (my best baby). Though, she will look for the paci when not in bed, but that is usally when we are pushing close to nap or bed time. The only other time she really wants her paci is in the car.

I figure she will not take the paci to kindergarten nor college, so I am not going to stress about it ;-) Hope the paci weaning is peaceful in your home!

 

[Fintastic]

DD just gave hers up this past June (she was 2½!!). What we did was cut the tips off them and then left them for her to find. She tried each and every one of them, told me they were broken, and agreed that we should throw them in the trash. The first couple of nights she was a little restless, but it was way better than I thought it would be.

Going cold turkey wouldn't have worked in our case because if they just disappeared, she would have cried and cried for them. But with them being "broken," she had some closure as to why she couldn't use them anymore. It worked really well for her.

 

[LuvOrlando]

We used to call them binkies in my house. When DS & DD started getting a little old for them we started do a slight of hand as we threw the binkies up to 'Binkie land' every so often. At one point we began to prepare the kids for the soon to be gone binkies by telling them that Binkie land was running out of binkies and that soon none of the new babies would have any left. After a few weeks of preparation we let the kids kiss them goodbye and we launched them up (we pretended to throw them but would actually palm them into a pocket on the upswing) into Binkie land forever. They were a little sad for a while but felt better knowing their beloved binkies were going to a good home

 

[mouseketeer_mom]

We had a "papice" user. (pronounced pa-peice, DS named it ) He was just over two when the papices started to "break". One by one, he would have to throw them away because they didn't work any more. He was fine with it. So, I think you are at the right age.

The tough one is this: falling to sleep is a learned behavior. We learn how to slowly shut our bodies and minds down and fall to sleep. Your DS has learned to use his paci to fall asleep. I'm not sure if this will work for you but... we started clipping the very end off. Very small bits at a time until there was nothing left. Then, they were "broken" according to him. We also would go in and take them out of his mouth as soon as he started to fall asleep. We had no nights of crying himself to sleep, but a few nights of having to remind that the papice was broken.

 

[pbharris4]

I beat you all. My DD is 3 1/2 and every thing was very easy to break her of...went cold turkey with the bottle..no problem...she was potty trained day and night (and pee and poo) at 2.5 yo within 1 week. The binkie? Ha! SHe does give it up when she goes to preschool and when we go into the mall. She is a good sleeper and always has been even if the binkie falls out. But she's getting too old and I would suggest slitting the binkie to deflate it and cold turkey. My sister's kids were in Kindergarten before they gave it up!!! They had it at night only. Once they saw other kids didn't use them it was easy for them to give it up.

 

[mouseketeer_mom]

I beat you all. My DD is 3 1/2 and every thing was very easy to break her of...went cold turkey with the bottle..no problem...she was potty trained day and night (and pee and poo) at 2.5 yo within 1 week. The binkie? Ha! SHe does give it up when she goes to preschool and when we go into the mall. She is a good sleeper and always has been even if the binkie falls out. But she's getting too old and I would suggest slitting the binkie to deflate it and cold turkey. My sister's kids were in Kindergarten before they gave it up!!! They had it at night only. Once they saw other kids didn't use them it was easy for them to give it up.

(please take this in the spirit in which it was intended )

"BEAT US ALL"?!?!? ha! my DD potty trained herself at 21 months!! and, honey, my twins never even saw a bottle after 14 months!

(okay, so Mommy was a little tired of washing bottles but they are not emotionally scarred, I swear! )

 

[juligrl]

The pacifairy came and collected our pacifiers and left toys in their place. It worked nicely for my sis and I since we were then able to direct the progression of our weaning off the pacifier. We were probably about 3 or so, each of us. Since we had several pacifiers, we chose when to give them up and get rewarded.

 

[LaraK]

Our pediatrician wanted dd to give up the "Dido" (don't ask, dd made up that name....still makes my mom giggle whenever she hears it) when she was 2...unfortunately, at that point she was moving to a "big girl bed" and getting a brother (they are 2 years and 5 days apart)....so, we waited until her 3rd birthday and told her the "Dido Fairy" was going to come and get her Didos to give to a baby because when you are 3 you're a big girl and don't need them anymore. The Dido Fairy left twenty bucks under her pillow and she bought a Barbie with it....she was sad for a few days, but had the Barbie to take to bed with her. Sooooo, we're waiting for DS to turn three so we can do the same thing.

In terms of flaming you, forget it, I remember how much it hurt when they wanted to satisfy their sucking reflex on you every 20 minutes....they can get the pacifier! (must be that "bad mommy" in me again )

 

[pbharris4]

(please take this in the spirit in which it was intended )

"BEAT US ALL"?!?!? ha! my DD potty trained herself at 21 months!! and, honey, my twins never even saw a bottle after 14 months!

(okay, so Mommy was a little tired of washing bottles but they are not emotionally scarred, I swear! )

It was taken in good spirit! What I meant was I think my DD has been binkie addicted the longest on every one who posted.

 

[wrldpossibility]

Thanks everyone! Good advice...and good to hear I'm not alone! My other kids didn't attach to the paci, so I don't have a frame of reference for how long is too long. I think we'll try the cutting the tips off approach. I don't think he'd "get" a "binkie fairy" idea. Now the big question: do we tackle this before our WDW trip in 13 days?? I'd love it if he slept better, but I want as much as possible to be "normal routine" for him while traveling. We're used to how he sleeps, so it's managable. But it will be harder to deal with in a hotel room than at home. Is 13 days enough, or do we wait until after Christmas, when we're at home?

 

[ilovejack02]

Hi!!


Well, I didn't want to go thru all that again with my 2nd child, DS....so we kind of did it "cold turkey". I took all the pacifiers & snipped off the tips with scissors. DS thought they were broken & that was it. I remember he tried them, realized they didn't work, & that was it. No real tears that I recall....but I think he was about 3yo.

I had a friend do that too and it worked like a charm.

 

[ilovejack02]

Thanks everyone! Good advice...and good to hear I'm not alone! My other kids didn't attach to the paci, so I don't have a frame of reference for how long is too long. I think we'll try the cutting the tips off approach. I don't think he'd "get" a "binkie fairy" idea. Now the big question: do we tackle this before our WDW trip in 13 days?? I'd love it if he slept better, but I want as much as possible to be "normal routine" for him while traveling. We're used to how he sleeps, so it's managable. But it will be harder to deal with in a hotel room than at home. Is 13 days enough, or do we wait until after Christmas, when we're at home?

If it were me id wait.

 

[PA Princess]

I personally would wait until after the trip. Being away from the familiar and normal routines can be stressful enough for little ones, so I would hate to be taking away a comfort object so close to a planned time of travel.

 

[wrldpossibility]

My thought was to wait too, but I didn't want to say so, so I could see what the general opinion was. I'm a little worried he'll wake others at night in Disney, but we have two rooms, so we'll do ok. Afterward, bye bye paci!

 

[lynetteSC]

ds (2 last may) gave up his about 2 months ago - we were out in public and the nipple literally split in half - he then told me it was broke ... he carried the carcass around for about a week (i cut the nipple off that nite) and still asks about it once in a blue moon, but that is what ended it for him

our ped said worry at 3 - pick your battles at 2

 

[dismom9761]

My DR. suggested I take my DD2's paci away as soon as she turned 2 yrs old.We had a trip to WDW planned when she was 2 1/2 and I decided to wait until after that.About two days after we got back I took it away "cold turkey".She didn't do too badly...except now she is sleeping in my bed. One bad habit for another.

Just the other day (she is 2 yrs 8 mths)she was telling me what she wants from Santa.Her list is:Thomas Train,blue car,baby doll, and a RED PACI.

 

[connorsmom911]

We did the whole "soother fairy" thing at about 2.5 years...had Connor gather them all up and put them in a bag and leave it on the coffee table. Next morning there was a present waiting for him. Worked pretty good, he asked for them (he always had to sleep with 3...one in the mouth and spares in each hand!!) for the first couple nights and then gave up.

Our only problem was when we'd clean up the house and stumble across another one! I swear, I was finding soothers for about a year after the soother fairy had supposedly taken them all...toybox, purse, diaper bag, car, junk drawer...

Now, if I could just get the almost 4 yr old potty trained...but that's a whole other ballgame!!!

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I wouldn't worry about the pacifier. When he is ready to give it up he will. I'm sure none of your friends use one to fall aleep at night. I was a big pacifier kid. So much so that I actually remember using one. As far as waking up- put a bunch of them in the bed so he can find one easily.This time goes by very quickly- before you know it it will be over. Personally I wouldn't rush it. JMHO.


I just wanted to add that I don't think a Ped always has the best advice. You know what's best for your child.