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We weaned A around 18 months I think. We will do the same for E.

We only allow them at bedtime and for naps (never out of the crib) and I'm waiting until we transition to a floor bed in a month (18 months) to take them away. I totally think they cause problems and problems are even more common when kids are allowed to have them during the day. They also prevent kiddos from attempting to talk because they have to remove them to speak.

@Mrs. Lion: I agree that in my experience the kids who are allowed to have them all day rather than just at nap/bed time seem to have the lisp or other speech issues. Same with finger sucking I think.

My good friends are dealing with speech issues in their almost 6 year old - she was allowed a paci until 3.5 and she did have it during the day for a while and then just at bedtime. Their 4 year old twin girls are finger suckers and it has also affected their speech bc they suck their fingers all day.

My other friend had a paci baby and weaned at 2.5 and her LO's speech isn't affected. But her LO was only allowed to have them at bedtime. My LO was a thumb suckers since birth and we limited to nap/bed time by reminding her to take her finger out of her mouth. Her dentist and pediatrician says it has not affected her teeth or speech but we decided to wean her off her thumb at 2.5 - we did mittens and bandaids. Took a little less than a month and now she doesn't suck her thumb - so glad it was relatively quick and painless!

I was just thinking about this topic. I'm currently visiting my BIL's family and their 3.5 yo still has a paci, and they let him have it during the daytime (which is when I've seen it). I'm wondering about his speech, although, I can't tell if he has an impediment or if it is just his age. That said, I would never say anything to them, not my place.

I was lucky in that my LOs self weaned. LO1 gave up by 5 months and LO2 by 3 months.

26 months

LO lost interest at about 8 months!

@sandy: I wish my parents had done that. I sucked my thumb until I was like 7...so embarrassing! I don't have any speech impediments but I have a really bad overbite.

She still used it at 23 months for bed. She talks up a storm, so it hasn't affected anything here - but she doesn't get it while awake either.

Fwiw, I barely used one and had terrible teeth. I read somewhere pacifiers don't influence adult teeth unless used when adult teeth come in at 6+ years.

Our DD is 28 months old and we just weaned her off of it. It hasn't affected her speech.

Sadie is 18m and takes her paci for naps and sleep. She is fine to leave it in the crib, so I have no plans to wean her from it right now. She would be fine without it, but she still likes it and it hasn't created any issues thus far. Maybe at 2?

I sucked my right middle and ring finger until right before I started kindergarten. I have no speech issues and never needed braces. And I sucked them all the time.

E refused to touch one until he was 6 months old or so, and at 2 has only used them for naps/bed for the past year. We're planning on weaning him in the next few weeks, but I'm so scared to do it because he loves his "sassy" so much.

She lost interest on her own around 6-8 months

We just took the paci away from our 27 month old. He has only ever been allowed to have it while he slept though. He is very articulate for his age, I think those problems are more likely to appear in children who are allowed the paci all the time

LO will be 1 next month. She started taking a paci around 2 months. She is very very vocal. Both in the good way & in the "I feel like ypu never stop screaming at me!" Kind of way. She gets it during the day if she is being particularly fussy for reasons unknown. She often takes it out to talk & already has a few words....I'm not looking forward to the day when we wean.

About a year?

In the Dental field we tell parents you have until the age of 3.
At that point the palate and the teeth have a higher risk of long term damage. It has to do with the pressure from sucking placed in the now hard palate kinda warping it. Same with the dentition. The teeth slowly get pushed outward. Because of this there is potential for speech impediments or shifting of the teeth.This also can cause a malocclusion of the jaw. (refers to the alignment of the teeth within the maxillary (upper) and the mandible (lower jaw) to each other.
That being said......my lo now 10 months has a soother and I will continue to use it for now. I will be removing it before 2.
Hopefully
really not even wanting to think about when that will have to happen.

@sandy: Hey lady! no surgery yet. The date is set for Oct 10th. I'm nervous, but I know it will be all good. I plan on posting about it post op. I've even gone as far as thinking about posting a you tube video. There just doesn't seem to be enough good info out there.

Yes you are right! Speech impediments that we are concerned with are like pronunciation/lisps. Some letters/vowels not coming out properly.
My sister was a thumb sucker until like 7. She pushed all her upper teeth outward and caused her palate to reshape into a "V". It also affected her lower jaw. Her ortho was going to have to break her jaw in multiple places to fix everything. It would of cause her so many problems since she was just a kid and her jaw needed to still grow. Having it broken so young could of harmed that. She never got it done. She now as an adult suffers from self esteem issues and never smiles for photos. She's the reason I went into Dental.

We weaned at 11 months. But probably starting around 6 months (or so), we only let him have it for naps and bedtime, and our daycare just stopped giving it to him and he didn't seem to care, so by 11 months, I felt comfortable taking it away from him and he never seemed to notice the difference.