Weaning from pacifier by having your child "give" to Mickey?

[chloe770]

When DS was 3 we had a trip planned for Disney and he was very excite to go. I told him that Mickey Mouse doesn't really like kids over the age of 3 coming to Disney with there binkies. Well about a week before the trip DS came up to me and gave me his binkie. He said he didn't want it anymore and he wanted to go to Disney. He asked me to write Mickey a letter and tell him that DS no longer used the binkie. I asked DS if he was sure and he said "yes". We emailed Mickey a letter letting him know the good news and DS never asked for that binkie again

That said, at age 2 I don't think my DS was ready to give up the binkie even tho I was ready for him to give it up. For it to work I think it really has to be the childs choice. Good luck

 

[eclairemom]

The Bottle went at Birthday # 1, the Binky went at Birthday #2. She wasn't attached to it because every morning we put it to bed in her crib that is where Binky lived for 6 months approching her second Birthday. I snipped the end off and she put it in her mouth and looked at me and said it's broken. Cut a little more off every few night till there was nothing left to suck on and that was it.

 

[Halbleib1]

My 2.5 year old son was so distracted last year at Disney World that he didnt even ask for it. He did use it on the plane on the way down but than he lost one in the airport and we told him it was gone and we didnt have any more for him. I did have others with me just in case he wouldn't go to sleep but he slept fine without it. He primarily used it only at bedtime here at home. Once we got home I went around collecting any that he still had laying around before he could get to them and we have been binky free ever since. As others have stated I do not think that it would be a good idea to give it to Mickey for reasons stated and also because if your child really wants it back he will cry every time he sees Mickey and will think he can get it back. Either that or Mickey may end up being a reminder of it if he forgets about it and than he may cry for it back. Had my son of asked and or cryed for it we probably would have given it to him because as others have said its not a good time to take away something that is soothing to them and we were going to wait until we got back before trying to get him to give it up. I agree with the above poster that the child has to be ready to give it up for it to work. My son gave up his bottle just before his 2nd birthday all on his own without any prompting from us.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[licountrygirl]

My son was also 2 when we decided enough was enough with the juje (pacifier.) We also had our trip to Disney planned at that time. We told him that we had to get rid of it after we went to see Mickey. It was just so that he had a time frame to work with.

When we got home from our trip, we took it away and I can't honestly tell you that it went great because I really don't remember details - but I do know that it went much much better than we thought. We were actually a little ticked that we didn't do it sooner.

So, maybe do it like that - an after Mickey thing.

 

[Tink561]

Did your kids self wean then, how old were they? He just seems so addicted and not wanting to give it up anytime soon. I asked our pediatrician about getting rid of it at his 2 yr appt and she actually suggested to try on vacation because they are so distracted and busy.

I was also worried about it being stressful but figured I could always try and if I have to give in then oh well, we'll try later.

Thanks for your thoughts though!

None of my sons self weaned. We took it away at 2 and they didn't get it back.

 

[natnelliesmom]

My girls never took a pacifier- but my friend had problems with her 2 y/o not giving hers up. It was a fight all the time. She finally came up with a brilliant idea!!! She poked a big hole in the pacifier! When her DD would suck on it she'd get lots of air in and it was not so much fun to use it anymore. She kept trying for a day- and then threw it away herself because it didn't work anymore.
It worked for her!
-Sarah

 

[hollyd99]

I told my daughter to gather as many as she could find and to leave them for Santa. He would count them and leave that many Barbies for her when he came that night.
And she still loves Santa!!

She never asked for one again. I guess Barbies were more important.

Besides, your child's teeth will be ruined if they're allowed to keep it. Unless you can afford braces later on!

 

[adoptionmomma4]

My daughter was and really still is a binki addict She has been off the binki for about 1.5 months now. She still asks for it EVERYDAY! I tell her binki’s are for babies and she says “big girls love binkis to!”

Before I had kids I swore I would never have a kid who had to take a pacifier out to talk. It is so much easier to parent some else’s child LOL. Anyway- at 3 I decided I had to something about DD’s binki. We tried everything. We gave the thing to Cinderella at MK, we sent it to the babies and bunnies, gave it to grandma for a new necklace, tried trading it for new toys and a Dora bike and even tried to give it to the binki fairy. That freaked DD out. She said “she would leave it on the porch because she “did not want that fairy in her house”. She figured the fairy out and said “the fairy would leave her $2 and she could go to Target and get a new binki!” So I didn’t even bother.

When she was ready she threw her binki away on her own. It happened to be trash day and she watched the trash men take out trash, which included her binki. The first night was horrible. She cried A LOT and kept saying “call the man and get my binki”. I was so sad for her. I really felt bad. I knew I made her this way. I made her unable to soothe herself. I cracked once during a very rough crying spell and gave her one I had stashed. She sucked it for a few minutes and then gave it back. She is now binki free!!! I now have to lay with her every night until she falls asleep. But, that is a whole different issue

Good Luck! It is a hard habit to break.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

My son was almost 4 and still using his pacifier. He was only allowed to have it in his bed and if he came downstairs with it he had to go back up and put it away.

We finally told him he could choose a toy in exchange for his binky but that the binky would never come back. He choose a Thomas train. We had a little ceremony where my husband presented him with the train and he, in turn, tossed the binky in the garbage can. We even took his picture and made a big deal of it. He went looking for his "purple binky" that night but we reminded him that it was gone and now he had the train. We never heard about binky again.

I would suggest trying an exchange approach. Have him trade his pacifier for something he really likes. Then toss all of them so he won't find them and you won't be tempted to give him one when the going gets tough!

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

I would not do it while on vacation. Like the PP said you may end up at walgreensat 2 am just to get some sleep. My DD just turned 3 and gave up her paci on her own. She only ever used it for bed time and nap time.

 

[mjkacmom]

All of my kids sent their binkies to Mickey, and the next day, he left them a gift. However, my kids were 3 - 4 years old (they only were allowed in their rooms - never elsewhere), and understood, and we had no problems.

 

[mjkacmom]

Did your kids self wean then, how old were they? He just seems so addicted and not wanting to give it up anytime soon. I asked our pediatrician about getting rid of it at his 2 yr appt and she actually suggested to try on vacation because they are so distracted and busy.

I was also worried about it being stressful but figured I could always try and if I have to give in then oh well, we'll try later.

Thanks for your thoughts though!

If you are going to do it, do it. If you give in, it will be that much harder the next time to try. Don't do it on vacation, where sleep isn't so great anyway. I had a system with my babies - I'd get them "hooked" on the binkie, and then, gradually, they'd only get them for sleep. By 6 months, they loved naptime and bedtime, because they got binkies! They weren't allowed out of the bedroom. This way, they got to keep them longer, because they never had them in public, and it was easier to reason with them when it was time.

 

[sage10]

We got rid of our paci slowly. I started making him leave it on the dresser. If he was out of bed, it had to be out of his mouth. This took some time to get use to, but if he really wanted the paci, he could go sit on his bed to have it. This would give him a paci fix and then he would want to come back out into the living room. After a short time of doing this, he just started forgetting about it. Then mommy would move it out of site, so he couldn't see it right before bed. This really did work well.

Although I have heard others say they mailed their paci's to friends that were having a baby, or they hung it in a paci tree for a paci fairy to come and get. Once the paci fairy picked it up, they left a special toy for the child to play with and replace the paci. Whatever works!!

My 3 year old was really the only one of my 3 kids who wanted a paci. Good luck on getting rid of it.

I too wouldn't have Mickey take it just in case he associated Mickey with stealing his paci.

 

[BABY_EINSTEIN'S_MOM]

My oldest ds was 2 years old and still totally addicted to his paci..me even having a few lined up in his crib in case he lost his and woke up crying! Anyway, I read alot on ways to get him off the paci...we chose to do the "clipping" method..LOL
We took his paci and clipped a bit off of the end so that it was "broken". Of course then he didn't really want to use it and after one night of crying that was the end of it!! It was one sad night for me and him, but obviously children cannot take a paci forever!

 

[4winks]

We didn't intentionally wean ds at WDW. The 1st night in the park he set his binkie & blankie down on a bench (we didn't realize) and left them. We too only did the binkie in bed or the car but since it was late we let him have it at the park for the trip back to the hotel. We get to our room and it isn't anywhere to be found. We had an extra blankie but not an extra binkie. Since ds was way too old to have the binkie in the 1st place we didn't get a new one. It was a very bad decision. Ds was crankie and unhappy for a lot of our trip. We have lots of pictures of a very grumpy boy!

 

[jenb1023]

We used our trip to Disney to get rid of "BeBe" (her pacifier) but in a different way. We had slowly cut back usage until she could only have it when sleeping or when hurt or very upset. She was not allowed to just walk around with it. Then we were planning our first trip to Disney at age 3 1/2 and told her that big girls go to Disneyworld and that bebes are for little girls and that if she wanted to go to Disney she had to stop using her bebe. Then we just took them one day and threw them all out and it was actually easier than I thought it would be. She was ready although I know she missed it (and probably still does when she is very upset). We tried cutting a slit in them as well but she still tried to use them so that didn't really work for us.

I agree with the other - don't take it at Disney. If you want it gone, you can use Disney as a tool but I would slowly cut back on usage and stop it altogether at least a few weeks before you go. You really don't want to give it back once you take it if at all possible.

 

[MaryJPixie]

My DD3 is addicted to the paci!!!!! She doesn't need it at school etc....but she wants it to sleep at bedtime....we will be traveling to WDW next month and hopefully after that we will work on "sending it to the babies".....

 

[SaraMc]

We are totally in the same boat. DS2 is using his suess( pacifier) for sleeping at home and naps at home on the weekends. Daycare he totally doesnt have one.
Some mornings he's a right crank pot if we take suess once he's awake. We totally were going to wean him off of it before Disney. Then we thought he would give it to Mickey.
We are going to do it after Mickey. It might be a few nights of tears but its time.

 

[EthansMom]

I haven't read all of the posts, but I agree that vacation may be too stressful to wean from the pacifier.

Here's how I weaned DS from his pacifier. First, I stopped taking the pacifier with us when we went out (running errands, etc...). After a few weeks of only using the pacifier at home, I started just giving DS a pacifier only at bed time. After 3 or 4 weeks of just using the pacifier at night, one night I told DS that he was a big boy and he didn't need a pacifier anymore. He did cry himself to sleep that night but was fine, thereafter.

 

[MaryJPixie]

It's nice to know that I am not the only one out there!!! Thanks everyone