How do you get a three-year-old off a pacifier?

Question

How do you get a three-year-old off a pacifier?

She won't sleep without it and we have tried bribing her but she still won't give in. When we try to put nasty tasting things on it she just washes it off... any idea?

Answer 1

I think she just needs to want to give it up. My cousin got her daughter to ditch the binky when she told her that she couldn't go to school with it. Her daughter wanted to be a BIG girl and go to school, so she threw it in the trash herself and has been fine ever since!

Answer 2

First of all, can you please tell me why this is so critical? Let the child suck her pacifier! She will give it up when she is mentally ready. I have 5 children and have gone through this. I have read studies on this issue. The worst thing that can happen is that it can cause her teeth to be pushed out, at her age the bone is still soft, up until the age of five and can go back into place with no problem. A pacifier does not do the damage that sucking a thumb can do to ones mouth. Also you can never take a thumb away! The dentist would always make rude comments about my children sucking didis (pacifiers), and I would always tell them that it wasn't anything that their daddy's insurance couldn't pay to fix! And that I would rather them have to have braces which is very, very unlikely, than physiological damage done to my child!
A pacifier is no different than a favorite blanket or pillow.
Please take a moment to think about what makes you feel good when you are stressed, really tired, or sick. What helps you, or makes you feel better? Is it a cigarette, beer. A favorite pair of slippers? Your bible? A T-shirt with holes in it. A fleece blanket. What is it? How would you feel, if someone decided one day to just take that away, because, well that's what everyone says we are suppose to do. Think about it! Your child will give it up on their own time. Who cares what other people think! It's how your child is feeling inside that matters! They are only little once! It's only a pacifier!

Answer 3

Our youngest had her pacifier until she was over 5. When she was around 3 years old, we gave up trying to make her give it up and instead we focused on giving it some rules. We began by not allowing her to take it into places we went (restaurants, stores, the library, etc.). It could stay in the car with "kitty" (she had a small stuffed kitty that she carried around constantly). Gradually, "passykitty" were required to stay at home in her bed if we left the house. From there we moved to passy had to stay in the bed, but kitty could come out and play when we were at home. She spent a lot of time disapppearing and we'd find her laying in her bed sucking her passy. The Christmas she was 4, we bought 4 new pacifiers and put them in her stocking. We told her these were the last ones she was going to get new. As they got older and stickier and cracked we were sure she'd give them up on her own, but she kept them. The year she was in kindergarten, we were taking a week long trip for Spring Break, she was 5 going on 6. We told her that kitty could go to Tennessee, but the pacifiers were going to be thrown in the garbage. She was very sad, but it was the end of pacifiers for her. A lot of people will say just throw them away or "give" them to a new baby, or leave them in their Christmas stocking for Santa to take. I know this works for some children, but none worked for her (she was terrified of Santa already). She was born as a total surprise when our other children were 18, 15, and 12. I was 38 and really enjoyed sleeping through the night. The pacifier helped her sleep all night and I was all for that. As older parents with older kids, we knew that having a pacifier was just not a big issue compared to some of the other things we had gone through with our older kids. She was a hold-out on the potty training front, too (but, that's a different story) and refused to use the potty until 2 weeks before she turned 5. She's kept our life interesting for sure. On a funny note, we recently took our couch apart looking for a lost remote and found a long ago lost pacifier in there along with the remote!

Answer 4

hi,
children at this age can be very stuborn. try and work with her not against her. try this, it worked for us. get a small plain box and some craft things (glitter, glue, paint etc...) have a good play together and decorate it. as you do this, talk with her about her pacifier and how she is a big clever girl now..... this box could be a magical box to put it in. a fairy could come along and take it to give to another young little girl that needs it as she is now a big girl. try and be very positive and let her put it in the box. if it works, after a week or so, let her go back to the box and maybe the fairy has put in a present inside it for her as a big thank-you. i know this idea may sound very strange to an adult, but for kids, its magical!!! remember to be possitive about it. i hope this helps. tammy xxx

Answer 5

throw them all away, you will have 2 days of agony and then it will be over, pacifiers are only meant to be used until a child is about 6 months old,

Answer 6

Oh, that's an easy one.... the same as sippie cups... Just take it away and don't give it back. You'll have to deal with some whining for a few days, but there will be no pacifier.

Answer 7

This is easy. Okay as soon as my son came to this world I put a pacifier in his mouth and he kept spitting it out. He never had a pacifier in his life in he's 3 yrs. old now. Get him off of it soon because I heard teeth will not be straight.

Answer 8

I sounds like she does it now because she is getting attention for it, not because she needs it. Just ignore it... pretend it doesn't exist. Explain that it is only for bedtime... and stays in her bedroom.

Another thing I've heard... someone cut the nipple off the pacifier. Whatever you do... do not buy a replacement!!! She'll get over it sooner than you think.

Answer 9

just take the pacifiers away all together, if she doesn't have any.. problem solved. yeah she'll be pissed but cold turkey's the best way

Answer 10

I don't understand how dificult it is to just take it away, in my opinion parents who can't take it away are just being lazy cause they don't want to hear the crying about it, Your her parent just do it!
I have a 3 y/o so I understand, but I took his away on his second birthday and just said your a big boy now and you don't need this only babies use them. That was easy cause we had a new baby so he gave all his soothers to her. (even though I threw them out and gave our daughter new ones)
My sister tried giving them to the soother fairy so taht the fairy could give them to all the babies in the world.
It might be hard at first and alot of crying but it's somethin that needs to be done. I'm in shoke over my sister-in-law whose daughter still uses one and uses a bottle to go to sleep. (she's 3 too)!!!
Best of luck