Pacifier and night diapers -- how old is too old?

[DiscoveringMe]

DD(6.5) has Aspergers and still sleeps with a pacifier and night diaper. I think the pacifier is simply a habit that she is unwilling to give up, not something that provides her comfort any longer (there is just comfort in the routine). I don't know about the night diaper. She has woken up dry on occasion, but its pretty rare, even if we cut off liquids early the night before.

Now that her 7th birthday is just a few months away, I would love for her to give up both. Whenever I've mentioned giving up the pacifier, I'm met with very strong resistance. I've considered taking her to a dentist that will tell her it's bad for her teeth (she has several adult teeth coming in now) and she needs to give it up. But most of what I've read says not to push special needs kids, especially with diapers.

What do you think? Anyone have experience with this? What worked for you?

[Linda on the move]

I let my DD trade her pacifier for a toy of her choosing at Toys R Us. The first 2 days were hell, then she was fine.

I don't know what to tell you about the night time diapers, other than to try pullups rather than diapers! I can't remember how old my DD was before she was dry at night, but it was old. We tried zillions of things, and none of them worked, and then eventually she was ready on her own.

[askew]

On another SN board I am on the parents swear buy the alarm thing that beeps if they start to go at night. Their kids were day trained at 3ish but not night trained for years after. They say the alarm was one week, and then the kids got the signals to get up when they have to pee at night. No problems after. Just a thought. 

[lauren]

I thought the alarm thing was a miracle. My son used it for two weeks and was dry thereafter forever. I never did understand how that happened so fast, but it did.

I wonder if there is another thing your child could use that would be more age appropriate? Have you looked in sensory catalogs? I know there are a lot products for oral needs but we haven't used them.

[MommyKelly]

My dd ( HF autism)  turned 6 in Sept and still uses pull ups at night and a pacifer. We tried all the other sensory stuff but no luck. Honestly whatever gets her to sleep I am okay with so we are just letting her be.

My ds (HF autism)  will be 11 in May and still uses pull ups at night because his sleep meds knock him out and he wont wake up to go the bathroom. We tried to ween him off the sleep meds because he asked, but then he was only sleeping about 2 maybe 3 hours a night. That was making for a very crabby kid :(

[DiscoveringMe]

Thank you for the input! I think I'll tackle the pacifier first before moving on to the night diaper. Good to know the alarm works so well! Now to fine one...