Some children don’t take to the pacifier. But for those of you that do have “pacified” children, you know that taking it away is and will be no easy feat. I’m here to tell you they will survive and so will you.
Here is a little story about how my son became a big boy.
The Set Up
I was about 37 weeks pregnant and was getting “girly” pink and purple pacifiers. My son, Jack, was very curious about them; I told him they were for his baby sister. He loved the thought of his baby sister. I told him that as soon as she came, he was going to have to be the big brother. He loved the thought of that. I told him that big boys don’t use pacifiers and that he would no longer have one when his sister came. He wasn’t so sure about that.
Big Changes
Around the arrival of our newborn, we bought a house. We decided he should get a new big boy bed for his promotion to big brother. So we told him that when he got in his new bed, there would be no pacifier. We kept reinforcing this concept because we didn’t want it to be a surprise. He knew it was coming; he sucked on that pacifier for dear life, but he was excited.
Bye Bye Paci
Either he had way too much to think about with all the changes, or he really didn’t mind being without his paci, but he handled the whole thing rather well.
Be prepared for more crying and chatter during bedtime, but that’s only natural. Getting rid of the pacifier was the best for his oral health and the safety of his sister’s pacifiers.
The method was simple. Make it something important and life changing. I talked with him about it repeatedly and made sure he was clear on what was going to happen. If this “big boy” method had not worked, my second course of action would have been for him to take his pacifier his pediatric dentist, Dr. Doss. He has a jar in the office where all pacifiers go to rest. He makes the whole experience very fun.
How are you planning on getting rid of the pacifier? If you already have, how did you do it?
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With our daughter, we did the paci fairy. For a couple of weeks we talked about it and then had her decorate a box, stuff it full of all her pacis, and leave it out one night for the paci fairy to take away. We also let her pick out her prize that she wanted the paci fairy to leave in exchange for her pacis. She was thrilled with her present and only cried for her paci for a couple of minutes that first night, then only for a minute the 2nd night, then never again. We were very thankful that it worked! She was about 2 1/2 at the time and I was pregnant with our 2nd child. We wanted the paci gone long before the new baby came. We ended up losing that baby at 25 weeks then getting pregnant again 3 months later, so her new baby brother came along 9 months later than originally anticipated. But that meant she was well established in her new big girl room (probably a month or two before the paci fairy came, if I remember correctly) and with no pacis long before the new baby came.
We simply told our son it was “all gone”- a phrase he understood and said himself I’m the months before he turned 2. I took it away at a nap time, which was a little tough. That night was less difficult and in the following days it didn’t bother him at all, just repeated .all gone. whenever he thought about it/ asked for it.