Breaking the Pacifier Habit

We've had 2 really rough nights as we try to break our 2 year old's pacifier habit. I hope it gets better tonight! He's gone all day without asking for it....*crossing fingers*
Anyone gone through this? How long did it take your little one to be completely over the pacifier habit?

at 2.5 yo we were at the beach the pacifier got sand on it, he tried to put it in his mouth and never touched it again, obviously i don't recommend this as a method. Is there anything your DS would could use for comfort like a teddy bear, to distract him from the comfort he got from his pacifier?

We quit the paci's around 2.5 years. With the first, we took her to Build a Bear and put all the pacis in the bear with the stuffing. It worked.

I had images of ripping open a teddy bear at 2am to get them out but it was fine.

DD2 traded hers in for something -- a stuffed animal shark, I think. She wasn't as attached. Or at least not as persistent about it.

Both of them asked for the pacifier a few times months later but it wasn't too big a deal.

Good luck!

[DCJenn]

Fortunately and unfortunately we never had to deal with it but now it means that I'm constantly reminding him to get his hands out of his mouth. or out of his pants. or both. I feel sorry for whomever his future life partner may be. I'm trying!! They can't pin it on me.

I have a friend who made a big deal of giving the pacifiers away to other kids who didn't have them (really, it was good will or something). They wrapped them up in a pretty box and she got to give it to the donations guy.

Jenn

We quit the paci's around 2.5 years. With the first, we took her to Build a Bear and put all the pacis in the bear with the stuffing. It worked.

That is such a clever idea! I love it. I think my little guy would really love saying all the time about how his paci's were in the teddy bear.

A week. We would "look for it" briefly but could never find it.

I can totally handle a week!

He does have his "Black Bear" who comforts him.....but he wants all his comforts at night including the paci.

DH is saying right now that he doesn't think the last two nights have been that bad. Hmmm, can you tell who's been getting up every couple hours with the little guy. Grrrr....aparently he hasn't noticed the chaos in the wee hours.

I do really hope and think that tonight might be a little better. If not, guess I'll just have an extra big cup of coffee tomorrow morning!

The paci bear made a few trips to preschool for sharing. You can still feel them in there.

[diggitydot]

One tip handed down to us from a family friend was this: Since kids use pacifiers to suck for comfort, remove that ability to suck. Cut off the end so that they don't get the same sensation as they would if it were whole. (They're sucking air through the vent holes instead of creating a mini-vacuum in their mouth with the sucking motion.)

This little trick worked wonders for our son who had a death grip on those stupid things! He kept telling us that they were broken...so we threw them away.

Thanks for all the great responses! Here we go with Night #3 without the paci's.

One tip handed down to us from a family friend was this: Since kids use pacifiers to suck for comfort, remove that ability to suck. Cut off the end so that they don't get the same sensation as they would if it were whole. (They're sucking air through the vent holes instead of creating a mini-vacuum in their mouth with the sucking motion.)

I did something similar with both daughters. I cut the entire rubber piece off of every paci and told them that the pacis were broken. It absolutely worked for us. There was just nothing to suck. I let the girls throw them away.

[PrincessFiona]

We did a pacifier fairy thing...I cut all of the nipples off of the pacis and they were replaced by a coveted toy from the toy store.....by the....um....pacifier fairy....

The pacifiers never bothered me. I just told both boys (the girls were thumb suckers) that when they were ready to give them up we would take the pacifiers to the toy store and they could buy a new toy with them. It worked wonders because the decision to give them up was theirs, I was not involved. The were both a little over three when they decided to give up the paci.

The paci didn't bother me either until recently. It was causing him to get these little zits around his mouth where the paci was rubbing and it seemed to be getting worse each day. So that's why DH and I made the decision for him that it was time to quit the pacifier.
Now his skin looks better and we survived another night without the paci. (There were some tears again in the wee hours.)

It's been 1 full week without the paci! It seems the habit has been broken!
I'm planning to take him later this week to stuff a Build-A-Bear with the paci's inside it as a reward for being such a "big boy." Thanks for all the ideas and support!

[houseelf]

My kids are incredibly orally fixated. DS (7) chewed on his sleeves in kindergarten when he got tired or nervous. I took his away after he turned four.

DD will turn three in a month and if she is without her pacifier, she substitues her thumb or shoves her blanket in her mouth. I guess that I see the pacifier as the least evil?

Kelly

[GrayMatterWife]

We quit the paci's around 2.5 years. With the first, we took her to Build a Bear and put all the pacis in the bear with the stuffing. It worked.

That is such a clever idea! I love it. I think my little guy would really love saying all the time about how his paci's were in the teddy bear.

That IS a great idea!

My kid was kind of weird...he never used a pacifier beyond about three months. Just never took to them... But then, he's not a super-orally fixated kid, anyway. Doesn't really stick stuff in his mouth (legos, etc.). Of course, that goes for food, too, so mealtime is a pain...