Pacifier weaning...HELP!?

Question

My daughter is almost eight months old. She has been hooked on her paci since day one. It has not been an issue until now. She is completely dependent on it to sleep and now all of the sudden when she loses it while she is sleeping she wakes up very upset then crawls around her crib looking for it... and this happens 4 or 5 times a night. (I just recently got her a tag blanket which I wanted to hopefully replace the paci but now they just seem to go hand in hand.) I want her (and my husband and I) to be able to get a good nights rest but that is not what is happening. I am so torn on whether or not to wean her off of it now. I have read books that say kick the paci habit between 4 and 6 months and on line mostly says they're fine until 18 to 24 months. I'm just so lost... And, if I do wean her now, how?!?!? Please help!!!

Answer 1

I need help with this one too!

Answer 2

My has been Paci free for 4 weeks 3nights and 4 days...I just got up one morning took it and put it away and never gave it back to him..I knew after he was bottle broke i wanted the paci outta here..It was crazy for the first week but it has gotten alot better..he no longer wakes up in the middle of the night crying because he has lost it and i am no longer constantly looking for the darn thing..Its not going to be easy....If you want it gone you just have to take it...At least thats what i did..I dont know if thats the right way but it worked out for us....Good luck....

Answer 3

It is much easier to wean a child when they are 18 months than 8 months. At 18 they can kind of reason with you, understand what is going on, make bargains in exchange for the paci, where now at 8 months all your daughter knows is that she wants that paci, and if she can't have it she is sad.

Edit: And no, in 2-3 nights a 8 month old baby will not forget what a paci is.

Answer 4

my son just turned 1 this past sunday and i let him keep his for a few days and was going to only give it to him at night . he was crawling around and put his binkie in the dogs cage and the dog started chewing on it so they are gone for good. i bought an extra pack just in case for last night. but did not need them. just wait until 1 and hopefully she loses it herself and then she wont cry for it.  

Answer 5

Cut the end off of it, they might  fuss for alittle or they might be so disgusted with it and just chuck it. That's what my friends baby did.

Answer 6

I'd try to kick it around a year to a year and a half.  My niece used a pacifier until about 18 months and she did just fine.  We got rid of her binky mostly just by telling her that Santa Claus was taking them for other babies that needed them more than she did.  We had a tiny tree and decorated it with her binkies.  And Santa took them and she was fine after.

Answer 7

So long as it's limited to bed times, I don't see what the issue is with letting them continue to use the pacifier WAY beyond 18-24 months.  I would much rather a toddler that uses a pacifier at bed time than a toddler that goes around sucking his thumb all the time.

I grew up with a baby sister that sucked her thumb until she went to 1st grade.  I've also had friends who had children that either always had a thumb (and in some cases multiple fingers) in their mouths.  I've also seen kids walking around with part of their shirts in there mouth.  Since you can't take fingers and all clothing away from them, I would much rather allow a child use a pacifier in bed for an extended as a release for that natural sucking desire many kids have than these other bad habits.

In the case of our oldest, we waited until he was about 4yo and basically bribed him to quit using pacifiers.  He had gotten an interest in glow sticks, so we made an agreement to buy him a huge box of them if he would ditch the pacifier.  Just so that he would know that the pacifiers were going away permenently in this deal, HE had to take the sissors and cut the pacifier and toss it in the trash himself.  After that, we never had an issue with the pacifier again.

For your situation, I suggest one of two things...

#1. Ditch the pacifiers now - just go cold turkey.  Regardless of what reason or excuse you come up with, you can likely expect several sleepless nights while your daughter gets used to not having the pacifiers.  

#2. Get a whole bunch of extra pacifiers and put them all in her crib.  That way if she loses one, she should be able to quickly find one of the others and not disturbe you.

Answer 8

BOOKS I HATE THOSE d**n BOOKS. You know your child and really it shouldnt hurt her to wait until 18 months to wean her, as long as she;s eating food. by 18 months you will be able to reason with her then.  

Answer 9

just take it away there will be a little crying for the first night. or a lot of crying but im betting the seocond or third night she wont even remember it and she will sleep through the night  thats what i did

Answer 10

To wean my sister off of the bottle my mom put some bitter (bitter gourd) juice on the nipple a couple of times.