Need help with taking a child off the pacifier?

Question

Is there anyone who had advice for taking a child off their pacifier? I really don't need theories but if you tried something that worked and you'd like to share, i'd appreciate it a lot.

My child will not sleep without his pacifier and he wakes up in the middle of the night crying for it. I tried letting him cry and find it himself but that doesn't seem to work.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

I took all the pacifiers out of the house. When my daughter asked where her pacifier was, I told her that pacifiers are for babies and since she wasn't a baby anymore, I gave all of her pacifiers to some babies to help them go to sleep. It worked.

I know someone that had her kid put the pacifiers in a envelope addressed to Santa so that he could use them to make a babydoll for her for Christmas. Also worked.

Answer 2

My mom runs a daycare and people have the exact same problem all the time. People have said that one of the best and most effective ways is to take all the pacifiers in the house and cut off the nipples. This way the child still has it for security purposes. Pretty soon they get tired off it and will give it up and want of get rid of them because without the nipple they are no longer satisfying. As for the crying you have to just let them do it. After a while they will get tired from all the crying and stop. Believe me I know it's torture! Especially when you are trying to sleep. Good luck!

Answer 3

How old is he? What worked for us was when a friend had a baby when my daughter was 2. We explained that pacifiers are for babies and that she was a big girl now and the new baby needed her pacifier. She got to get a new gift bag and put all of her pacifiers in the bag and give the bag to the new baby. The first night was hard (some crying and "I want to be the baby still!" ) but she was proud of what she accomplished and we just kept reminding her how big she is and let her get a big-girl toy to replace the baby pacifiers that she gave away.

Answer 4

We are in the process of weaning our 3yo daughter off her pacifier. We made up a sticker chart where everyday she goes without her "binky" she gets to pick out a sticker to put on her chart. She still gets it at nap and bed times, but as soon as she doesn't want it during the day, we'll start the sleep time weaning the same way. I know I don't do well stopping habits cold turkey and I don't think kids do either. I try to take it slow and steady and as long as we don't make a backwards move, it's a step in the right direction. Good luck and best wishes.

Answer 5

my son was the same way he is now 25. i took away the pacifier because he was getting to be 2 and 1/2 and i was worried about his teeth well that didn't work because then he started sucking his thumb and you cant take that away i still see him suck his thumb when he is really tired. so i would say wait to take it away esp if he only uses it at night and then when he is ready have him throw them away because he thinks he is ready then you wont have a 25 year old who sucks his thumb. he is a great person and has a little girl of his own who doesn't suck her thumb or take a pacifier. and he is a great daddy but i even tried that nasty stuff you put on the thumb to make them not suck their thumb and he would suck it off and spit it out till the stuff was gone then suck his thumb again. i would go in after he was asleep and pull his thumb out of his mouth and his head would follow his thumb you couldn't get it out of his mouth so i gave up on that battle.

good luck

Answer 6

I have 5 boys and my youngest was the hardest to break. One day he threw it in the trash (for the 1,110,000 time) and this time I didnt get it out. I instead took out the trash and put it at the road. When the garbage truck came by we waved goodbye to the passy and celebrated. I made it seem like that was the most important thing in the world. We called family and friends on the phone and told them what a big boy Jacob was and he felt really special. That night he cried a little for it but when I sat down at his bed I said 'remember how special and wonderful it was when you had your exciting day? Remember what paw paw said about his little man being sooooo big?' He stopped crying and started telling me about his day and I told him the next morning we would go to town and get a surprise. After that it was gravy! YOU have to be the strong one. Not only will it damage his teeth when they start coming in you dont want him to start kindergarten with it..lol Remember, BE STRONG....not mean! You can do it!

Answer 7

If it were around Christmas you could hang them on the tree and tell him that Santa needs them for some other babies.The next morning before he wakes up take them down. I read this in a magazine and it worked well for their child. I hope this advice might be helpful, but I'm sure that you don't want to wait until Christmas. lol

Answer 8

My child slept with it everynight until he was 2 and a half.
That evening grandma was here. We told him that there is a baby where Grandma lives that needs some pacis. He handed his pacis to her and that was it. It was surprisingly too easy. I think it was harder on us then it was on him. Kids at this age can surprise us- they are much more resilient then we give them credit for. I do have to say, ever since we did take his paci away, he has wanted the bathroom light next to his room on- i guess for comfort. Just take it away and dont look back. I am not sure how old he is, but rather then taking it away, give a reason for taking it away.
Good luck!

Answer 9

hey girl
what my mom did was told us she left it at grannies house ( obvisiously she had one on her just in case) and she said we screamed all the way home and then we were fine after that we didnt want it after that car ride
so maybe if your goin for a couple hour drive ever say u leave it somewhere and mayb ur child will be just like my sis and i and scream a little and then not care anymore

supernanny show ahd something about a binky fairy maybe u could get a copy of that show and try that my one friend said it worked but her kid was 2 and a half

best of luck

Answer 10

Let him have the pacifier till the nub part falls off and if he still doesn't want to give it up just let him have it as a security item. My bro was 10 before he gave up the nubless pacifiers.