When to ween off the pacifire (HELP!!)?

Question

My son is 13 months old and can not live without his pacifire. When he was first born, we had (and the doctor) decided it would be best to have one because the doc said it reduces SIDS. I though we would take it away after about 9 months...yeah right! We have tried to hide it, keep it away , and throw them away. He just screams until he gets one. I just don't know how and what to do to get him off of them. What did you do?

Answer 1

Dont take it from him right now. He isnt ready. As he grows older and has a sippy cup and eats at the table and does more toddler things then he will ditch that paci. My 17th month still uses hers and I dont care. She will ditch it soon enough. I have never had a problem with any of my kids not giving up their paci by the time they reached 2.

Answer 2

one way to ween from the bottle is to put the formula in a sippy. after a couple days start diluting the formula with homo milk. He needs the fat in the milk to assist in brain function development. Keep diluting the formula until after about a week or two he is on full milk. He should be able to digest the cow's milk. Watch for abdominal pain usually he will cry as he will be in discomfort and loose stools. If this happens a milk allergy may be the cause. But if you are only doing this before bed, use only water. The sugar in milk and juice will cause tooth and mouth disease if you leave it over night over an extended time. I trust you are ensuring the mouth and teeth are being brushed regularly. If not start now. His oral health is at stake. By taking him off the formula, you are preparing him for solid food. Once on solid food he can be removed from formula. This may take some time until he gets to eating solid food i.e. baby food, pablum etc. and not just liquids

Answer 3

We cutt the binkie part....in half and then gave it back to our son. By the time that he figrued it out that it wasn't the same he no longer wanted it. For them it's a huge security thing. I would replace the pacifire with a special blanket. Sure he will be upset because he no longer has one. But give it 2-3 days and he will get over it. That's not to say those three days will be easy. Do it over a long weekend and he will get back to his old self eventually.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Answer 4

At this age it is okay to still have the pacifier. My daughter is 16 months old and still uses her pacifier. Usually she just takes it at bedtime, but she also will want it during the day if she is having teething pains - her canines are coming in, and that can be a brutal pain. Give it a few more months, and gradually restrict the use of the pacifier. Don't just take it away all at once.

Answer 5

man these are hard times I know. My sister had to deal with this- my three never liked pacifiers but my daughter sucked her lip which is worse cuz how can u take her lip away from her? u cant!

Anyway- just start off a morning with it not there.... give ur son lots of attention and love and he might scream.. but in three days he will forget all about the pacifier


thats the quick route ....


if you just cant stand the crying... then this can go on for a year or three.... you will have to get different things to tied him over but ultimately the pacifier will come in to play each night...

I would go the quick route and just take a few days off of work... throw em all away and be patient


The only reason he cant live without it is because he knows you have it still.. Realisticly.. there is no life source needed in it.. its just a comfort object... like lets say ur favorite pair of shoes.. will u die without them? no.. but u will wear em if they are there....

Answer 6

Honestly, I think it's kinda mean to take a baby's paci away from him at 2 or 3 months old! I can't believe some moms actually did that. And then let him cry it out! How did they know he wasn't hungry or scared? I'd say anywhere from 15 to 18 months old is a good time to start weaning. My first actually never took a paci, he sucked him thumb. Still does, and he's 27 months old! But I can't take his thumb away from him and throw it in the trash! So, I let him suck it. It's a comfort thing, I guess. He never got attached to a lovey, he's just always had his thumb. My second is using a paci, but doesn't need it constantly, yet. Pretty much just at bedtimes. She's only 7 months old, though, and I have no plans to wean in the near future. I agree with one person, though... you really don't see school-aged children walking around with their 'binkies' at school! so don't worry about it just yet. Your baby will learn when to let go of things. Also, just because you let him have his paci doesn't mean he's going to learn bad behaviors like always getting his way. Don't make it a fight. Period. Also, pick your battles. There are always worse things to worry about with his behavior! That's the biggest thing I've learned from parenting!

Answer 7

I took my son off his paci at 2 1/2 months because I was tired of getting up in the night to give it back 6 times a night. I made him cry it out. He was weaned in a week.

However, with a child the age of your son, you might try the gradual withdrawal way--
first limit the paci to only in private--it stays in the house/car and NEVER goes outside of it. then after he's used to that, limit it to just the house--he leaves it behind always. It never leaves the house. Then limit it to bedtimes after he used to that. EVentually he'll be down to only sleep times; you can let him still have it but it always stays in the crib. At that point you'll have to decide whether to let him have it for a couple more years as long as he's in bed, or whether to take the final step and take it away at bedtime.

Answer 8

I was lucky, my kids just stopped using them at about 3-4 months. You have to just throw it away and let him scream. He's not in pain and he's not scared. At some point, he'll stop screaming and the soother will be a memory, not a present reality. Most importantly, don't give in, or he'll know that he can get his way by having temper tantrums.

Answer 9

I think 13 months is too young to rid the "suckie" completely. Here is what we did:
- kept it out of sight until bedtime or if there was some major trama.
- if he was playing he could NOT have that suckie no matter what
- we realized this was how he calmed himself down, so when he got too hyper & it was time to wind down before bed out came the suckie & it was cuddle time
- absolutely NO talking with that thing in his mouth. If he had something to say he had to remove the suckie before speaking
- started leaving the suckie at home when we went out, if he got upset he had to learn to calm himself down or how to control himself
- we planned to get rid of it when he was 2.5 but then he got pretty sick & couldn't put him through any more stress
- a couple of months before his 3rd b-day the suckie fairy came in the night & rid the house of all suckie items. He was old enough to understand this concept. Yes he was mad but he accepted this story and it kept him from getting angry at us.

Now 4 months later he is still suckie free and has NOT started to suck him thumb. The first week was pretty hard because he had no way to calm himself down and would be up until 10:00 crying for suckie and finding every other excuse to not go to bed. So we cut out his afternoon naps & he is right back on schedule again. Now before bed, after story time he lies down to have his back rubbed...we just lightly run our fingers over his back & it relaxes him and he is out within minutes.

So find what works for your child and remember this...no kid ever went to school with a suckie or without being potty trained.

Answer 10

I never had to break my son- one day he threw it down and that was it, he never wanted it again. But, I agree with the other person, your son isn't ready yet- it is a security issue. Just try to gradually reduce the amount of time he can have it. Redirect his attention to something else every time he asks for it. It is going to take alot of patience!!