Help! My two year old is addicted to her pacifier. She uses it for nap, bedtime and sometimes in the car. But she asks for it all the time when we are at home. This morning she had such a meltdown and was begging for it to the point of a screaming kicking tantrum. I'm having a baby in January, so I hesitated braking her of the pacifier habit since they will be back in our house when the baby is here. But now I'm wondering if we should just rip of the band-aid? It's turned into such a battle with her that I am just ready to be done with them...but I don't know if I have the energy. Help!! For those of you that have battled the pacifier addiction what helped?
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No input other than commiseration.
DD is 2 and we are expecting LO#2 in March. My plan is to break her by December so the new one (and potential binky) are not so close to the goal break-up time.
My ped said just take it away and it will be fine within a week - he did say to expect a week of fussy-ness over it.
I have seen a few books on Amazon to help her through the transition. DD only uses it at night but I think it is a critical part of her good sleeping. I have to move her to a toddler bed also in this time - so I am debating removing the binky before, after or at the same time as the toddler bed transition! Ugh!!!
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I'm doing it in stages. Car/Daycare Wo (her wubbanub) is "growing up" when she turns two next week (aka I'm cutting off the paci part). We will still keep home Wo with the nipple for a few weeks/months and then he will "grow up" too. She'll get to keep the animal part, so I *think* it won't be that bad.
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we were lucky because we moved around the time i wanted to get rid of it, so i just had to say that we couldn't bring it to the new house. For the first 2 nights, he asked and cried for a minute or two for it, then moved on and he has never mentioned it since!
However, even if you are not changing environments, i think making up an excuse as to why you don't have them anymore and make it seem out of your control might work. My sister got rid of the pacifier by telling her son that their cat ate it! And it worked! He asked the cat for it a couple of times, but otherwise accepted it and let it go. So you never know what will work. And my nephew was someone who had it often, not just for sleeping.
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My friend suggested Bye, Bye Binky...you basically poke holes in all of them, then cut them down slowly over a week. When your child seems confused by why the pacifier isn't working, you tell them it is broken. My only concern is to how to accomplish this at daycare too? I guess I could send her in with a "new" one everyday.
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Our situation was slightly different as DS was using it for the same times you listed, but didn't ask for it at other times. He would occasionally find one in the house and try to use it.
After his 2 year appointment, we did as our ped suggested and just took it away. It was a rough few nights, but not terrible. I was really nervous and DS totally impressed me. Turns out I might have been relying on the pacifier more than he was.
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@brady80: I had an addict on my hands. Man it was a nightmare! We cut it cold turkey and it really wasn't that bad! I encourage you to just do it. I cut the end off and she discovered it was broken and threw it away herself. She asked for it for a week and then never did again.
Her baby brother still uses one and it has been a non issue. She will even find his for him and put it in his mouth if he's crying.
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@yellowbird: this makes me feel better! Now that my daughter is more verbal she begs for it all the time. My husband tries to reason with her and explain when she can have it but it makes it worse. I think we just need to break them and be done. She's in a whiny stage anyway, and I can't stand the constant whining for her pacifier!!
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We cut the tip off at 2.5 after the dentist told us it was affecting his teeth. The actual getting rid of the pacifier was not that bad, but it definitely affected his sleep! He started waking up earlier, and taking much longer to go to sleep.
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We snipped the tip, worked like a charm. LO was just past 2.5.
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My 2 year old uses it at the same times as yours but doesn't ask for it often. Occasionally she wants it during the day and we'll tell her she can have it in the crib. So we'll put her in the crib and she can have it if she stays in there, but if she wants to come out, she needs to give it back to us. Usually she calms down within like 5 seconds and hands it back immediately and then she won't ask for it anymore. Just an option to try if you don't feel like you are ready to totally give it up.
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We did it on her terms, but did it like this and she was just over 2 years old. Last September, we started telling here that she would be giving her Nuki to Santa at Christmas and he would bring her toys. She was (and still is) a creature of habit, so we talked about this weekly up until Christmas. It got to the point where she would repeat it when we asked her what she would be doing at Christmas "Give my nuki to Santa and he will give to other babies and bring me presents."
Well, Christmas came and she gave her daycare nuki to the Santa that visited there. She wrapped it all up and personally handed it to him. Then, on Xmas eve, she wrapped up her last nuki and put it out with the cookies and milk. We took picture of it and she had no tears (tantrums were a daily occurrence up until then). She only asked about it once afterwards - a true miracle.
I'm so glad that we did it on her terms and she was the one who 'gave it away'. good luck!! it's always so hard knowing what to do.
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I talked to our dentist about it and he isn't worried yet. So, I'm going to listen to him because I like sleep. haha
However, we have started to limit it to bedtime and naps! Which has made a huge difference.
Since he's so possessive of it, I usually leave the duties to him and ask him to put it in his crib or leave it on the ledge when he goes off to daycare. He seems to be fine doing those things as long as he's in control.
Good luck!
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We are in the same boat. I could have written your question.
I did notice she's starting to chew holes in them ... I was going to throw them out, but then I realize she's "breaking" them on her own. I think we'll cut holes on a Friday, talk to her about them really being broken, and see if we can convince her to throw them away on her own. Hopefully by Monday, the worst of it is over, and she'll go without it at school too.
Good luck!!!
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We cut the tips off and he said they were broken. It was pretty bad for a few nights. Well, really a week. We also gave the broken binkies to the binky fairy and got a present. He liked that but still wanted me to go to the store and buy new binkies. It was a rough week but he is totally over it now (I guess it is about a month later now).
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@travellingbee: that's a good idea to break them and give them away. we talked today about giving them away now that she is a big girl and about to be a big sister, she seemed into it at first but then said she's a baby and still needs them!
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@brady80: yeah he did that too. I'm not gonna say it was easy but he did get over it.
mine is VERY strong willed too.
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Friends of mine collected all the pacis and took them to the hospital "for the new babies". They also looked in the nursery window at the newborns. Worked for them, but it wouldn't work for everyone! I think whatever you do you're in for a rough week... But stick it out and it'll get better!
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I talked for a few months about how they are "for babies" but didn't push too hard. I bought a different brand for baby2. One day about 2-3weeks after his baby sister came home he told me they were for her and he just dropped them on his own at 21 mo! I quickly hid all of his and it wasn't a big deal at all! I was so relieved.
He loves to go get them for baby 2 and will occasionally sample then but never for very long. I was so worried but it hasn't been an issue still having some in the house.
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I accidentally left Wo at school yesterday. It wasn't pretty. This morning was marginally better because I played KidsCamp for her, but I think I'm going to roll with it. H's teacher told me that she has been playing with them at nap and not really using it to sleep, so I think it is a good time for Wo to grow up.
mine is VERY strong willed too.
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