Pacifier Causing Open Bite

You are strong and you can handle whatever it takes to wean her. We as moms think that it will be so difficult and we have so much anxiety for the next faze. I know you can do it. I thought it was going to be the hardest thing ever....but I took it away at 3 too. My daughter did not have any bad teeth issues from it so I really don't know if that can happen. Our dental office is awesome. Affilated Children Dental on 67th ave and Union Hills. if you need a good pediatric-dentist. It is hard to let go of the stages our kids face and it will be hard, but maybe for a week. Cutting it is a great idea. Having a ceremony where you take it to a moving river somewhere and say goodbye. But you have to be ready to let it go and stick with the plan. Maybe trade it in for a new bed-set for the girl who grew up. That was how we handled it... If you want this princess bed, you have to let go of being a little girl with binki and be a big girl. Good luck.

Hi MM, I have 2 kids, daughter is 8.5 and son is 5.5. my daughter NEVER had a pacifier or sucked her thumb or anything of the sort. My son however, had his "suckie" (pacifier) until his 5th bday when he told me about 3 months earlier that he was going to throw it away on his bday, which he did and he had it constantly and could not be without it, so that was a big deal. so we just kept reminding him that he said he was going to do that and he was a big boy and sure enough he did! YAHOO! ok, issue about teeth. my daughter, who didn't have anything in her mouth, has her front teeth growing in VERY crooked, like sideways almost! and my son, he has the gap and a little lisp and who knows how his teeth are going to grow in! my point being, I see 2 sets of braces in the future so if it's from a "suckie" or not, it's just a fact. So in summary, keep reminding her she is a big girl and she will need to throw away her pacifier on her bday, you may be surprised, we will probably do it. and only that first night he cried and said he missed it, i just said it was too late, it's gone and he doesn't need it. and he doesn't. and if she needs braces, well, lots of kids do whether they had pacifiers or not. just try to get her to get rid of it at 3, you don't want 2 more years like i had! hope this helps and good luck!

My closest friend back home was in the same boat, only her daughter literally always had the pacifier, it wasn't just nap time. Her teeth grew in around the pacifier, it was very noticeable! I did ask my Ped and I was told that after 18 months they should only have it at bedtime. I'm not sure about how the pacifier will affect her permanent teeth, hopefully someone will have a better answer to that, but as far as your daughter goes I do have a little advice. My daughter, now 2, was seriously attached to her pacifier as well, she had colic and reflux and it just soothed her. I originally planned to take it away after her first birthday, but when it came around it was obvious that she was nowhere near ready. I let it go and at about 18 months she started to want it less and less. She had pretty much weaned herself when my mom got very sick and we had to come to AZ to visit her in the hospital. All the new people, places, and my emotional state made her very uneasy and we once again became VERY dependent on her paci. So, I gave her a couple months to recover, and I started to ease her off of it. She didn't like it at all! I accidentally left it at home when I went to my Grandma's for a weekend, and we had quite a rough weekend, but guess what, after that, no pacifier! She didn't need it and she learned how to soothe herself, of course I showered her with extra TLC, but for the most part she was just too busy to miss it. Maybe you should consider trying to wean her. I know it's hard, but maybe YOU've become too dependent on the pacifier to soothe her. I can imagine it's hard having a new baby at home, but why chance making her teeth worse? How much more will her braces hurt when she's being treated for an overbite on top of her crossbite? I know it was easy for me to stick a pacifier in Emma's mouth when she got upset, because I could just finish what I was doing, but that doesn't mean it was the right thing to do. As a mom you know what's best for her, but I just thought I'd give you a few things to think about. I wish you the best.

Hello MM my name is L. W and I work at a pediatric dental office. It is time to take her off that is true however if you fight them it wont happen. When we are at work we use
" A Very Special Prize" thing if your child will give it to the "Paci Fairy". Most of the time it works. If not all you can do is work with them. Cut the tip to where it has just a small hole at the tip when she sucks on it, it will not feel the same. When she comes to you look at it closely and act like nothing. Wait about 2weeks then cut a bit more. When she comes to you maybe say "I think its broken". If you have more than 1 in the house as soon as she hits the next paci cut a small part off again. Until shes done with all of them. As for the shape of her jaw, sorry to say it will only get worse. However most of our children that still have baby teeth that used the paci so much once there adult teeth came in they were fine. If they are not fine then orthodontics here you come. Its not worth loosing sleep or having your child upset with you. Make a chart for one month bargin with your child and put a sticker on every day your child does not use a paci. Promise her a very big specail prize in the end whatever she wants. In the office we always say " THE PACI IS BETTER THAN A THUMB CUZ YOU CAN GET RID OF IT!" So just be glad you did the right thing by giving a paci and not the thumb instead. Next time you make a dentis appointment I would go to one the deals with kids only. They are trained for children and know the tricks of the trade;-)

Here's my take: let her have the pacifier, but maybe restrict it to nap times and maybe when she is super upset.

I was a thumb sucker until I was 9 - never had braced, didn't need 'em. My Mom sucked her thumb until she was 12 - never had braces - didn't need 'em. I know that people will tell you horror stories over the pacifier and thumb, but they aren't the rule. My brother and sister BOTH had braced and neither of them sucked their thumb - they did use a pacifier for a while (brother was the very devil to get rid of it!)

If you're already aware that braces are in her future, I don't think it makes much of a difference, and actually it's more of an oddity if you DON'T have braces.

If you can see how soothing it is to her, why would you choose to take that away from her? My 2 year old sucks her thumb. I have no plans to stop that. When she gets ready to stop, she will.

I agree with the other mom who said we sometimes get caught up in what people will think of us. And, sometimes, I think we make choices based on that worry. Think of your daughter first - let her keep the pacifier under certain circumstances. She'll be fine.

Just to let you know I was a thumb sucker since birth and to answer your question YES!! It messed up my teeth. I had an overbite then my teeth came out, and when they came back in they came back in all bucktooth becuase of it.I had some surgey done which fixed it, but it was becuase of the thumbsucking. No one else in my family has messed up teeth and goes down to extended family too.

My mom was a thumbsucker to, but my grandma monitored her closely and wasn't sucking passed 12 months. As for me my mom tried, but it didn't work and I sucked only at night until I was 7!! I'm not saying that your child will suck that long but who knows, it could be. You'd be better off trying now, to teach her how to selfsooth, instead of having a paci crutch. It may save you money and hardache to her for having to wear braces, go into surgey, maintance, and feeling self consious with other children becuase she has to wear braces or something. I had many friends in grade school, high school, and college that hated wearing them. Just something to think about.. I hope this helps.

SAHM of a 3 1/2 year old and a 10 month old.

PS my 3 year was a paci baby, but after a year it was gone, all I did was cut it in half and gave it to him and told him it was broken. My 10 month old is a hardcore thumbsucker, after 12 months I'm gonna have my work cut out for me!! WINK!

My oldest son used to suck his thumb and his babysitter thought she was doing me a favor by getting him on a pacifier (ugh). Anyway--he had it til he was about 2-2 1/2. I DID take it away (we had a ceremony etc--tied it to Mylar balloons). But if I had it to do all over again--I wouldn't have taken it away. Honestly, braces are not the worst thing in the world. My daughter was a thumb sucker and I just let her suck her thumb til she didn't need it anymore. Yes, she had braces--but I also think she's my most secure kid. I think we as moms worry too much about what other people think. I wish I had listened to my own gut in my early years of parenting. It's very freeing to be able to say "This is what I think/want and that is what I'm doing" and then go with it. When people hassle you about it--tell them you are the mother and you will decide. I told my daughter's dentist (and we loved him) that I'd rather pay for braces than therapy. He got the hint! :) Good luck.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about what others "think" but I do believe it's reasonable to use the paci (we call them "dummies") for nap/sleep only. Both my kids used dummies, but only for sleep... when they woke up, we said "put your dummy away" and they had a little pocket or bucket by the crib where they lived. That was that. The dummies never left the room. It worked well for us. My daughter gave it up when she turned 3. We hung them in a gift bag from a tree and the Dummy Fairy left her a Fairy Barbie.

My son will be three next month and we'll try to stop the dummy use then. Neither have teeth problems, but I think that is more about limiting the use to sleep only. And really, they suck while falling asleep, but they don't continue to suck all night. My brother's kids all had dummies until at least 4, 24 hours a day. It definitely affected their bites and also their speech. 3 of 4 are in speech therapy. The theory is that they talk less and don't really learn to make the proper sounds when there's a dummy in their mouth. At the very least, have your child remove the paci to speak to you.

Even though it's very tempting to let her use the paci when she's upset, I think you'll have an easier time in the long run if you make the dummies live in the bedroom and stick to it. At this age, she is old enough to begin learning coping skills to help calm herself when she's crying rather than just sucking. "Take a deep breath and use your words" should be the goal at this age. See if you can make it a sleeping thing and stick to it. I wouldn't try to get rid of it completely until she can go without it during the day. That would be my first goal. Then, after she can do that for a few weeks, you can move to eliminating it. Good luck.

My daughter will be three in August and she still uses her "paci". We have tried to limit it to naps and bedtime, but she also uses it for comfort. We were really trying to get her to give it up by her third birthday but I'm not sure we will be successful. I agree with one of the gals that said that they will give it up when they are ready. Anyway, we just went to the Dentist to talk to him about that very thing. He said that in her case at least, her teeth would be just fine as long as she got rid of it before her adult teeth came in. She has the same problem you described about your daughter. I think some of us are destined to have good or bad teeth regardless of whether we used a pacifier or sucked or thumb or whatever. Anyway, I think we are going to hold off unless it is her decision. Especially at this age, they want everything to be THEIR decision.