How do I get my 19 month daughter off the pacifier?

Question

My daughter is 19 months old and still takes the paci at night and at nap time, but I want to get her completely off. The problem is I also have a 2 month old and she is constantly stealing his pacifiers and running off with them. I think she has secret hiding places for them. help. What do I do?

Answer 1

Its hard to get some kids off the pacifier but maybe you can just go ahead and let the little one get off the pacifier now and you want have to face that problem later with him.

Answer 2

If you daughter knows what the trash can is for you can try this. When my son was 18 months old we told him the pacifier was old and needed to be thrown away. We let him throw the pacifier in the trash and he watched my husband tie up the trash bag. We walked the trash bag outside and we said bye bye. He teared up a little but told him he was a big boy like brother now. He did not cry for it anymore. We also did this with the bottle. This might be harder since you have a baby there. Maybe work the idea that she is the "Big Sister" and she does not need the pacifier anymore. Good Luck!!

Answer 3

I know that having a baby with a pacifier is kinda hard, but I think that at 19 months she should me old enough to understand its for the baby. You just need to make sure that she knows which are her pacifiers and which are the babies, then make a big deal out of her giving up the pacifiers and let her know they are for babies and she is a big girl. Also, be firm! Dont let her get away with one just because she is throwing a fit or crying. If you give in, you will have a harder time getting rid of them later.

Answer 4

I have 2 kids. Daughter is 4 1/2 and son is 20 months. I did not like watching other toddlers running around with pacifiers in their mouths, take them out to talk to people, then put them back in. I just stopped giving them to each child when they hit 12-15 months (judgement call for each). They never really missed them. Even now my 20 month son will find an old one laying around (most likely his sisters dolly one) and put it in his mouth. I just ask for it and he gives it up.

So I would just try putting your daughter to bed without the paci. What is the worst thing that will happen? A little crying?

Answer 5

Just went through this myself! My daughter was 22 months when my last daughter was born. She had only been using her "mimi" at nap and bedtime since she was 7 months old. I attempted to put her to bed without it a few times when she turned 2, but it was a disaster. After talking with my dentist and pediatrician, as well as doing some research, I decided that I would not push the issue until she turned 3. I did take it off of the clip so that if she spit it out while sleeping she would not automatically be able to put it back in. This way she got used to sleeping for several hours without it. A couple weeks before she turned 3 I started preparing her that she was going to be a big girl soon and would not need her "mimi." She had her 3-year check-up, and I had the doctor reinforce this. When we got home we put her pacifiers in an envelope and addressed it to the "mimi" princess. The story is that the mimi princess lives way up high in the sky in a big castle in the clouds. When little girls get too big for their mimi's they put them in the mailbox to send to their special mimi princess. She will fly down and take the mimi's up to her castle, leaving a special present for the big girl (stuffed zebra in my daughter's case). My daughter enjoyed the process, especially when she opened the mailbox to find the zebra (now called her mimi zebra). She did look twice to make sure the mimi's were really gone. It took her a few hours to get to sleep the first couple of nights, but she didn't really cry and actually slept better once she got to sleep. This will most likely not work until your daughter is a little older and has the cognitive ability to process the story. But since her sister is using them, you may want to give it some extra time anyway. My daughter loves her little sister, but it was a big adjustment for her and I didn't want to make too many changes at once. Also, if she really needs the oral motor comfort, she may replace the pacifier with her thumb- which is much harder to stop! Good luck with whatever you decide!

Answer 6

That is a tough one, especially since your lil one is currently using a paci! I was told by my son's Pediatrician not to worry about taking him off the paci until he was 2...after 2 it becomes especially hard. It would be pretty difficult to just take it away from her since she still has access to her siblings pacis and at her age she may not comprehend why her sibling can have one and hers is being taken away. Is it possible for the lil one to use a different kind/style paci than your daughter so she won't want it? Or is she like my son was and like all pacis? I sympathize with you, but don't stress too much...she is still young.

Answer 7

I used to work at a nursery and one lady litterally cut the pacifier in half and every so often she'd snip a tiny bit off to wean the child off of the pacy. Maybe you should try this with both your children. I've often heard that using a pacifier too long will make the child have buckteeth.

Answer 8

u should do what was done to me and as i did to my child.Either throw the pacifier away while she watches or make a game out of it.Use the same theory as the toothfairy.You put the pacifier under the tree out in the yard and the next day a small gift appears in its place.good luck.

Answer 9

I tried cutting the pacifier down. It didn't work for us. I wound up going to the all night pharmacy and buying a new one. Leading up to my daughter's 3rd birthday I told her that when she turned 3 the 'suckie fairy' would come and take away her 'suckies' and leave a present instead. This worked really well for us. She only asked for it once.

She didn't get buck teeth either.

Answer 10

there is nothing wrong with your child to have the pacifer she only has it for naps and at night which is her secerity. and right now would not be a good time to take it anyway as she will take the babies and will do it just to get your attention. when my son was about two we were going for a ride one afternoon and he said puppy have my sucker so i said put it ouyside for the puppey so i opened the window and he threw it out. he asked for it a couple times and i reminded him what he did and that was the end of it from dulla mae