Any tips on encouriging my 2.5 year old to ditch the paci?

[Tulpen88]

DS is a bonafide paci addict, and I'm beginning to think that he'll never give it up on his own. He has 1 paci left and he knows it's the only one, so he keeps an eye on it and likes to know where it is at all times. He goes to daycare during the day and there are no pacis allowed in his classroom, so he goes all day without it. However, the moment we get in the car, he asks for it. If it's at home, he's usually okay with waiting until we get home, but sometimes he gets upset that I don't have it with me.

I am pretty laid back about most parenting things, but for some reason the paci bugs me. It's hard for me to understand DS when he has it in his mouth, and he will rarely take it out to talk, even if I tell him I can't understand him. He also still wakes up in the middle of the night unable to find his paci (if it falls off the bed especially, but sometimes it's right next to him). The waking doesn't bother me too much though, but the fact that he doesn't talk as much when he has the paci and he's so hard to understand with the paci both annoy me. And I'll confess that having other parents make comments about him "still" using a paci bothers me a little too.

DH and I have talked to DS about saying goodbye to the paci, but if we ask him if he's ready he says no. I've tried silly conversations like asking him if his friends use pacis (he says no) and then if he uses a paci (and he says yes). I've tried talking about being a big boy vs a baby, and he says he's a baby. Whenever we have those conversations, I try to keep it light and silly because as much as I am ready to ditch the paci, I don't want to manipulate him to do it.

Any thoughts on books we could read, videos we could watch, or anything else we could do to gently encourage DS to give up his pacifier? Or do I need to just adjust my attitude and accept that the paci is here for awhile? And if so, when does it really need to go?

[oaktreemama]

Your son and mine could be twins when it comes to this!! Like yours, my son goes the whole day w/o it at daycare, but if I do not bring it in the car he gets very upset. He has two right now that he alternates depending on mood I guess.

I must admit it bugs me as and normally societal expectations about being a big boy vs being a baby don't bug me. He still nurses but not at night and I do wonder if his obssession is merely to get himself used to no longer nursing to sleep etc.

That said I have started to put some gentle limits on it. I no longer bring it in the car when I pick him up. He can't bring it to relatives houses anymore nor when we do fun activities.

I do try and remember many adults have props and habits that help them feel secure and that a need not met now will pop up later.

So I am hopeful that helping him learnt o do more and more things without his binkie will allow him to kick the habit on his own.

[Ava's Mama]

My sil is a dental hygienist. She got
Her son to literally throw his paci in the trash in a week by poking holes
In it with a needle!! Good Luck!

[pbjmama]

Some kids need to suck. So if you are nursing, be prepared for alot more nursing. Or taking up thumb sucking, blanket sucking, etc. On the flip side, some kids give it up easily. I worked several times to get my ds to give up his paci and wasn't until he was 4 that he was ready. I weaned him at 3.5 and he upped his paci time for a short while. By that time I did have alot of limits (only night time in bed) but he still needed it. He has no mouth or teeth problems related to extended paci.

[JudiAU]

We placed some simple limits on them around 2 and they've stuck pretty easily. DS is now 3 and he still uses them once a day, in bed, and I am fine with it.

Common limits are only at home or in the car; certain places or times (in bed, preparing for nap or night time, if you want to use it at other times it is in bed/lights dimmed) etc.

I do think some kids have a need to suck for a long time but I think limits are fine.

At first we limited to at home/car. Then to bed then to nap/bedtime. Occasional "illicit use" (mostly with a sneaky smile) just results in plucking out the pacifier, putting it in the kitchen, and saying "it isn't time right now. You can have at your nap if you want it."

[mommy_to_2angels]

Cut a hole in it. It won't have the same appeal. That's the only thing that worked with my daughter. We were down to one and we cut it. She tried it, it didn't work the same and she threw it. I had her throw it in the garbage on her own. She never gave me another problem. Bottles were harder for her to give up.

Fortunately my son has no addictions at this point. Lmao

[3xMama]

We had my daughter give up her paci when she was almost three, so I know what you mean about letting it go on! We did restrict it, though. It was only for while she was in bed and she did not use it at daycare. We talked about how babies use pacis and eventually, we "mailed" all of her pacis to the little babies. Basically, I just stuck them all in a manila envelope with some writing on it and dropped it in the mail box at the post office. I'm sure the postal workers wondered, lol, but it worked! She never even asked for a paci again. She was pretty addicted to it, as well.

[sophiesgrandma]

My sister-in-law told her boys that at the 3rd birthday they would throw out the pacis. They had lots of time to think about it and prepare for it and lots of time to talk about it. She did get them special birthday gifts that only big boys have. There were a few cranky moments but for the most part, with lots of prep. it went smoothly.

[butterfly_mommy]

Yep I have a paci addict here! DS was born with a very high need to suck and I had over supply and over-active let-down all this resulted in me offering him a at 4 weeks after much crying on both our parts it was love at first suck.

2.75 years later and I am so ready for him to be done with the "succi" At 2 we put on some limits he can only use it in the car and in his bed. He is really good at abiding by this and he will go and lie on his bed for a min or so if he wants to suck on it. He does sneak it sometimes but I just remind him that he needs to go be on his bed if he is using his "succi" and he will go and usually just toss it into the bed.

The other day I mentioned to him that when he turns 3 he may want to trade his succi in for a "Thomas Train" (his other obsession He was slightly interested so I will talk it up some more.

[catters]

DS (3) is a paci addict as well. It's now just for night, once again, (it became a daytime thing when he weaned at 15 months when I was pregnant). I didn't make an issue out of it becoming more of a regular thing. Now that he's in preschool, there's no "night night" - his word for it, btw - at all during the day and it stays on his dresser all day and he gets it at night. I did have to enforce that slightly. I'd say, "well, night night is for bedtime, so if you want it, you can have it in bed". That cramped his style fast, so it hasn't been too hard. But he was a voracious paci user all through 16 months to almost three! DD, on the other hand, will probably never wean. While she never took any sort of paci or bottle, she LOVES to nurse.

Oh, and ETA, we tried the hole cutting thing, "losing them", nothing worked. He'll chomp on a paci nub for all it's worth, and when we tried to just go cold turkey, it was a nightmare. Totally traumatic and not worth it. A "spare" was "discovered" and peace reclaimed the kingdom. Yikes... I have a feeling he won't be using it much longer though. Going strictly to night time use has made it less of an issue for him.

[quietmim]

DD is 17 months and uses the paci during naps, when she is very tired, or at bedtime. Mostly because of opinions that others have, I have been wondering if it is time to get rid of it. This thread is helping me to be more comfortable with the idea of her keeping it. She is already weaned, sadly, and I hadn't come across the idea before that she still may need to suck.


Thanks.

[Tulpen88]

Thanks for all the comments! We used to have DS restricted to only using the paci for naps and bedtime, but at some point he started using it more (maybe when he was sick or something) and we are back to him wanting it all the time at home. I think we need to start setting those limits again. I'm okay with him using it at night for awhile. Our main beef with him using it during the day is that it's SO hard to understand him when he talks.