How to stop the pacifier? - How did ya'll do it?

tryan21 wrote: I need some ideas on how to get Kayla to give up her pacifier. She just turned 1 on Sept. 15.

I just absolutley hate the thing! I find us being a victim to that darn thing. She loves to play the drop and mommy picks it up game. She will NOT sleep without it. I look back at the early days when we were trying to get her to take it and I'm like "why did we ever do that to ourselves?"

I'm just wondering if anybody has any suggestions. I'm wanting to do it in the least dramatic way as possible, but I'm not sure if that's even possible.

boyohboyohboy replied: my oldest was the only one who used it, but he was almost 22 months when he stopped, and he was old enough to talk and understand us, so we talked to him about giving it to babies, since he was a big boy, and put all of them in a paper bag and gave them to the babies, and he never asked for it again.
it was really easy with him. but i dont know if your dgt is old enough for that.

my middle son never took it.

PrairieMom replied: We did it cold turkey. One day I just threw them all away. It was rough for the first few days, then she forgot about it.

My3LilMonkeys replied: I let Brooke give it up on her own, but I was lucky - she tired of it before she was a year old. Madison never used one - she's been a thumb sucker since day 1.

Brias3 replied: All three of mine were HOOKED on the pacifier. I did it as a gradual process. First step was to not have the pacifier outside the house (car trips, going somewhere, etc.), second step was to only have it at bedtime and the third step was pretty much cold turkey. That week following was a bit rough but to be honest, they all seemed to catch on pretty quickly and I never remember any major troubles/outbursts over the issue- I remember Ryan kind of sitting up in his crib that night like he remembered the pacifier all of a sudden, then looked around his crib and just kind of laid down with a sigh, like "Oh yea, its gone....."

MoonMama replied: I have no advice as Braedin gave up his on his own by 6 months, but wanted to say good luck and offer some hugs. I never wanted to give my son one but we did at his peds advice because he had a lazy suck. It worked though.

amynicole21 replied: Sophia threw one of hers out the week Nora was born Talk about bad timing. But since she threw one away, we told her they were all gone and rode it out. It was chaos and terror for the first week or so (she was 2 1/2), especially with a brand new baby already making our schedule interesting

Now Nora, 2 1/2, is a total binkie addict and we're starting the process of weaning her from it. I really don't know how to do it more gently.

5littleladies replied: We were trying to do it gradually-No paci except at naptimes, bedtimes, etc., but that wasn't working because she was always finding them in places that she had hidden them. Little stinker! Fortunately, she lost all of them this past week or so, so she is going cold turkey. She still asks for them at bedtime but she is doing surprisingly well.

One way I've heard of, but didn't get the chance to try, is to cut the ends off the pacifiers. They don't like the lack of suction, or how it feels or something and will usually stop asking.

Good luck!

Boo&BugsMom replied:
Throw it/them away (so you don't have a chance of giving in), let her cry, and she will soon figure out she wont be getting it back.

Tanner was very attached to his. Shortly after he turned a year we just took it away and never looked back. I just suggest to throw them away because many times us parents just want to give in and not stick it out. Give it about 3-4 days and she'll figure it out and be fine. Yes it's stressful, but keep your eye on the prize and it is well worth the shorter more dramatic approach than the long drawn out approach, IMO.

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied:
Same here. Wil had a paci until he was a little past two years old. It had started to run our home, because god forbid I left home without it. DH and I would seriously drive ALLLLL the way back home if we did. So that was where I said enough is enough. Plus, my son started showing signs of bad breath and speech issues, so I was concerned that the paci was causing this. Cold turkey was the only way I knew to go. I told Wil that we had to give the pacis to other kids and threw them ALL out. You can't leave a few lying around because if you're anything like me, I would give in. The first few nights were really rough, but he learned to forget. Make sure you reward her for the times she doesn't ask for it. GL!

Boo&BugsMom replied: Tanner used to lose it in the middle of the night, then cry for us to come and find it. He was around 1 at the time. He would lose it I swear about a dozen times a night. One night after getting up about every hour I said forget it and threw them away. It was a tough couple days, but he eventually got over it, a lot faster than I thought too.

lisar replied: I did it cold turkey with both of mine. Took it and never gave it back.

My2Beauties replied: Hanna took one until she was 10 months old and it drove me absolutely crazy. She'd scream every time it fell out of her mouth at night, 5-6 times a night, I was up giving her the paci. I just took it from her at 10 months old and we had one rough night and that was it. Aubrey is already starting to become a paci addict, she woke up 4 times last night because of it. So...at 6 months we're taking it away! Cold Turkey is the best way to go I'm telling you. The sooner the better, the longer you wait the longer and harder it is to get them to forget about it.

tryan21 replied: Thank you all for your advice! I'm thinking cold turkey is the way to go.

For the most part she only gets it at naps and bedtime. I started that around six months. But I also give it to her in the car and that started because she was one of those rare babies that hated the car. So that became the only way to soothe her. Now if she gets in the car without it she will start to cry. I think the car is the place I have the biggest problem with it. She loves to throw it ,and yes, even throw it at us in the front seat! And it's the most annoying thing because she will start crying if we don't pick it back up right away. So me and hubby find ourselves digging around the back seat while driving. Which obviously isn't safe!

And then there's the melt down in public places when we grab it faster than lightning and pop it in her mouth! But that's just the thing, those types of events are happening more and more and it just seems like she always has that thing in her mouth. So that's why I'm like enough is enough! It's going to go bye-bye.

I'll let you guys know what happens.

Boo&BugsMom replied: Good luck! You can do it. Just stay firm and keep you eye on the prize. Keep us posted!

DVFlyer replied: We quit cold turkey and told the kids we were "sending the pacifiers to little babies who didn't have them". We put them in an envelope, addressed them and I took them to work to "mail them".

Calimama replied:
That's cute!!

Hillbilly Housewife replied: Gentle Shmentle.

Our first had it for a few months, but never really took to it well... our middle daughter had it, wouldn't give it up... when she got teeth, she bit threw it and we made her throw it out. End of story. I wasn't about to let her run me.

Our youngest never took to one to begin with.

The daycare kids I watch are now almost 14 months old... and they still have the paci at home. Not here. You put your foot down, say No, suck it up for a couple days...they'll forget about it.

Bamamom replied: Just playing devil's advocate here:

My ped recommends allowing your child to have a paci up to age 2 if they want one. He said some babies just have a powerful need to suck up until that age - if you take the paci away they may go to the thumb which is much harder to break them of. Couple of horror stories he told to make his point -

13 year old boy in therapy because he was caught sucking his thumb at football camp.

10 year old girl needed stiches because she cut her thumb on the mouth guard that was supposed to keep her from sucking her thumb at night.


Tripp gets his paci at naptime and night only. Katie Grace just isn't a need to suck baby and has never wanted a paci. Tripp will be 2 in January so our current plan is to have him leave his pacifiers out of Santa to take to babies that need them since he is such a big boy.

Boo&BugsMom replied:
I really don't think that would be the "sole" reason for these children doing this at this age, IMO. I would think there are other reasons for this that he isn't explaining, things that he can't due to confidentiality reasons. Those are extreme, and not really common. My boy's ped would strongly disagree with yours, but that just shows you how different ever ped is. I can see your point though.

I have a 4 year old cousin who is an avid thumb sucker. He is allowed though, and is never told to take it out of his mouth.

If you do continue to give it, I agree, only at naptimes and bedtime. They pose a safety hazzard if allowed to walk around with it. I can tell you a couple horror stories as well.

My2Beauties replied:
My ped absolutely thinks it's a comfort thing at that age, babies lose their need to suck after about 6 or so months, according to many things I've read and my ped as well. After that the paci seriously just becomes a habit and a comfort. I'd rather them be comforted by a special blanket or stuffed animal to be honest. Pacifires can cause severe dental issues as well as thumb sucking. Luckily once I took the paci from Hanna she never sucked her thumb, it was just a habit she had with the paci. Aubrey on the other hand loves to stick her hands in her mouth and even at 5 months we tell her to get her fingers out of her mouth and gently pull them away, my sitter does this as well. She is so bad about it, she gags herself with them So you just have to be firm, thumb sucking may be harder but you have to fight one battle at a time. Most children that suck on the paci will not prefer to suck their thumb because of the difference in texture, taste etc... I think the scenarios you stated below are a little to the extreme cases and a result of parents never telling them to stop.

tryan21 replied: Here I am about two weeks in and I can now say it's getting easier. The first week was not very fun She would just sit there and cry and ask for it for about 1-2 hours straight for the first couple of days. Then finally, thank god, that stopped! She refused to sleep without it (during the day, by the time bedtime came around she was so tired it didn't matter). We went from two wonderful naps a day to none . That was hard, but now she will take one with lots of coaxing. Still not two, but better than none. All I can say is that I'm glad I threw them away because I would have gave in by now.

Boo&BugsMom replied:
The nap thing is pretty typical. A lot of kids are over their two nap schedule by the time they are a year old from my experiences. Sounds like you're making strides! Way to go! And kudos on throwing them away.

momtoMegan&Alyxandria replied: Meg is 8 and still sucks her thumb at bedtime and when she is sick. She is told all the time to stop, but then she just hides her face so she can still suck it. I have even gone so far as to put that stop thumb sucking stuff on her thumb and she sucked it anyway. But it is really her sucking it. I have noticed that it is just the thumb in her mouth. When she falls asleep it falls out and she is done. And I also I very clearly remember my cousin sucking her thumb when she was 13. Again it was just the thumb in her mouth. When she was on her down time just sitting watching tv or resting her thumb was in her mouth.

I have always said if your baby wants to suck on something when they are tiny to push the paci and discourage the thumb. It is so much easier to throw a paci away then to cut off a kids thumb. Meg thinks she needs hers so I let her keep them.