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Do you have a success story for weaning your baby off the pacifier?

My daughter is turning one and I am getting suggestions that I should start weaning her off the pacifier. Right now we only give it to her at nap time and bed time and if she doesn't get it, she cries. Any success stories would be really appreciated.

Public Comments

1. I know if you go to Nanny911.com you can find ways to do this, but when I watched one show they took the child off it cold turkey and let the child cry it out. It was hell for the parents for the first night or two with the child crying and all, but then the child just settled right down without it. There will be NO easy way to do this, but maybe try naptime without it, and then once they are used to that, take it away at bedtime as well. Just be sure to replace it with something else, like a new stuffed animal. It is never a good idea to take something away from a child without giving them a replacement.
2. my kids were only using it at bed time....so I actually threw out all the pacifiers one day and told them they were big kids now and it was tough for about a week they would wake up wanting it but once the first week was over it was like magic and they were fine.
3. She's young enough that she'll forget them in no time.... I removed my kids paci's when they were 16 mos... I just started throwing them away, and if my kids found one they knew to bring it to me, and we'd throw them in the trash and say "Bye-Bye Ninny!" With my daughter, we just eventually lost them, and I stopped buying them. They did really good!
4. When my son was 10 months old, I simply stopped giving him the pacifer. He adjusted to not using a pacifier w/o any trouble at all. I will add that he was a very easy going/mild baby.
5. I disagree with people who are saying you need to get rid of it. I don't think children who can walk should be using them all day, but if a child needs them for comfort to sleep, so be it. If you couldn't sleep, would you deny yourself some warm milk, soft sheets, a relaxing scent for your bath, or even medicine? To me, the paci is the same thing. If they are using one, they will STILL suck on something if you try to take it away. The paci is better than a hand or a toy that haven't been clean since whenever. I don't buy into the "it will hurt their teeth" myth. I used a paci until I was 5 and my teeth are nearly perfect. Keep in mind, that was over 30 years ago and pacis were NOT like the good ones we have today. On the other hand, my hus NEVER took a paci and neither did his bro or his 2 sis, but they ALL have terrible teeth. My son didn't ever take a paci, but if he did, I'd let him have it until he was ready to give it up on his own. That said, just don't encourage it. Let it be up to her to find it when she wants it. Good luck and best wishes.
6. This one is famous, but I don't know if it works. Cut the nipple of the pacifier about 1/8 inch. Continue every 2-3 days to cut another 1/8 inch. Eventually, once there isn't enough there to get a hold of, they'll stop wanting it. This one is the one that worked for me, we moved. The movers packed all my son's binkis. He asked for one (18 months old) and I pointed to all the boxes and said, "in one of those boxes, do you wanna look?" He said, "no, maybe later." But later, we were on a plane headed to the states. He never brought it up. Around two months later, when the boxes arrived, the binki nipples were not looking to good. He found one and said, "yucky!" But he never used one after that day of packing. Maybe get your daughter to put them all in a "special" box and tell her that is where they need to go when she's finished. Make it a point to make her go all the way to her room to put them in the box every time she wants to put it down. Even for mealtime. Eventually, she might just start leaving them there and forget all about them.
7. i told my daughter jazzy that if you use pacifiers after youre 1 that cookie monster would come and eat you. she doesnt use them anymore
8. hi i have two boys who i weaned of the dummy by snipping the end of it after a few days they both threw it away , it worked for me i read it in a mag...good luck its worth a try
9. One yrs old is too early. People now a days want to rush everything. Telling parents to give 6 month olds cup to drink from and other ridiculous things. I am sure you will know when she is getting too old for a pacifier when the time comes. And when the time comes either throw them all out or just cut off the tips of the nipples.
10. I started weaning my now 2 yr old off the pacifier at 18 months. What I did was cut the tip off one of her pacifiers and gave it to her at nap and bed time. Once she realized it wasn't working and she would hand it to me saying "broke" I quit giving it to her. It took a week or so to get her completly off of it and was a fight getting her to bed but it was worth it. The only down side is she has started to suck her fingers instead. She also has a favorite pillow case she calles her banket.