Pacifier - Woodridge,IL

Cut the tip! Oh if it only for napping and bedtime. Don't sweat it. Let her have it. Sleep is more important in my book. She won't go to school with it.
Let her enjoy.

cut a hole in it. deflated, they are no fun

Here's the deal... The pacifier is a soother. It's the way they soothe themselves. So, if YOU want to take away your daughter's source of comfort you need to teach her another way to self-soothe.

That can be anything, but make sure it's something that YOU will allow for a while. This is why kids carry around blankets or stuffed animals.... they are just comfort items that are age-appropriate.

I transitioned my daughter to a teddy bear and she self-soothed by patting the bears back, hugging the bear, and laying "very still and quiet with eyes closed to help bear fall asleep"

You can't just take away your daughter's source of comfort without replacing it. That's cruel and I've never understood parents who do this.

I also don't advocate for taking away something your child loves to "give to another child".... in whatever form (babies need them / pacifier fairy / whatever) That indicates to your child that the needs of another child are more important to you than your own child's needs. I guess that can work for some kids, but I've never understood this line of reasoning.

If you don't want your kid to have a pacifier.... then OWN YOUR DECISION. You simply say "no more pacifiers. pacifiers are gone... instead (xyz... 1,2,3... pat your bears back... find your blanket.... whatever), but no more pacifiers".

The pacifier is only used for naps and at bed.

Don't buy any more of them. When they get lost and the last one is gone they are gone. There will be a few nights of crying but they will get over it.

I saw a kid this weekend in public (girl) about 3 with one in her mouth. That's a bit old for one.

My son took one but when it died nipple fell off. I was done with them. My daughter was a thumb sucker for a bit and then that ended. I think she sucked her thumb intra uterine.

It can be done you just have to make the decision and stick with it.

the other S.

My DD turned 2 in June and uses hers for sleeping only. Is she using it all the time? If it's only for sleeping I don't think I would worry about it. My daughter's usually falls out while she sleeps anyway.

If she is using it all the time, maybe start only allowing it for bedtime and naps.

One thing that can help, is to cut a slit up the bottom of it, from just above the base to almost the tip and let her have it. It won't be comfortable for her to suck on, so she will spit it out. She might try for a while, but should eventually give up. Hope that helps!

I've heard of some people clipping the tip off and every day clipping a little more off until there is nothing left. I never used this idea, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

try cutting the tip off

Since it is only used at bed at naps I would not worry or force it right away. My son had his until he was three and the last year he only had it at those times as well. I slowly cut out the nap or if it did not fall out I would pull it out once he was asleep. Then after a few months he just started to forget about it at bedtime since it wasnt a big deal for a nap.
If you value your sleep I would not just throw them all away and do cold turkey. It can make yours nights horrible and working in a daycare with two year olds I have seen many become more attached if they find one or you give in and give it back.

We're going through that now with our daughter and I know it's going to be harder than with our son. He was 18 months and we were visiting family for a week and on day one, the pacifier was lost so it was a cold-turkey method that went better than I thought. For our daughter she only gets it at naps and bedtime. When she would wake up, I took it from her and put on a shelf. Now, when she gets up she takes it out of her mouth and hands it to me.

There's a book called "No More Pacifier for Piggy" by Bernette Ford. That might make the process fun for your child. I've been using the "No More Diapers for Ducky" book for potty training my son and it's helping him.

Good Luck!

My son LOVED his binky.
I tried the "its broken" or "we lost it" or "its all gone" route. Tried the cutting a hole in it too.
But he'd just tell us "the store has more...." or when we were at the store, he'd go to the aisle with the Binkies and say "LOOK Mommy, here's more!"

But what worked was: we talked to him and told him how Santa needs it, for the other kids. And that we'd go and find and gather up all his Binkies and "mail" it to Santa. He can help the other kids.
And then with him, we went and gathered up all the tons of Binkies we had. And "mailed" it to Santa.
And that worked with my son.
He only had about 2 days of adjusting. He didn't fuss about it, just said "I miss my binky.... " and how he felt "sad." But it was okay. And anyway, he had a Lovey that he slept with. And he still slept fine.
My son was close to 3, when we got rid of it.
And he was an avid Binky user.

My daughter also recently got rid of the paci around age 2.5. She was only using it for naps and bedtime, and didn't really suck it so much as just want it in her mouth. We thought it would be awful but it really was not bad at all. We talked to her about the "paci fairy" and how she was going to be 3 and a big girl soon. Did that for about a week. Told her the paci fairy needed all the pacis for the other litlle kids and would leave her a surprise in exchange. Then one day before nap, we told her the paci fairy was coming today. She fell asleep and we snuck in a stuffed unicorn. She woke up really excited about the toy. She actually never even asked for a paci again although there were a couple nights where she kicked the unicorn around a little. I think she was a bit mad at him being in her bed instead of the paci! Now she sees other little kids with pacis and talks about how she had one "when she was a baby". Good luck with the transition!