Annie decided that she loved a paci very early on. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it because it meant that I would always have to remember one more thing every time that we left the house. Zoe sucked her finger which was always convenient for me, the absent-minded mother. But now that Zoe’s dentist said that her mouth is all messed up because of her finger sucking, I began to rethink the paci habit. I started to appreciated it more when we were out in public and Annie became fussy – the paci always saved the day. And when Jen P wrote the post about the benefits of your children not sucking their fingers when it come to spreading germs, it made me think that we did the right thing keeping the paci in the mix.
But now she is almost 17 months and we are going to have to conduct an intervention because she is clearly addicted to the pacifier. We were very good parents from about 9 months to 14 months. The pacifier stayed in the crib, when she woke up from her naps we taught her to take her paci out of her mouth herself and drop it in the crib. We would always cheer, “yeah Annie” and she would giggle and be so proud of herself. We were golden!
And then Christmas happened. We had an eight hour drive to Maryland. We were prepared with a DVD player for the car, food and of course the paci. Annie was so happy in the car as long as she had her paci (mistake number 1). Then we got to my sister’s house. She was out of sorts not being in her normal surroundings, so she got to have her paci out of the crib every once in awhile (mistake number 2). Then her older cousins wanted to be helpful, so anytime she sweaked or started to whine, the pacifer was handed to her (mistake number 3). And then the car ride home, another eight hours of paci (repeat of mistake number 1).
So now it is two months after Christmas and we are still trying to deprogram her. She absolutely loves her pacifier. But I don’t want her walking around with it in her mouth all of the time pointing at things that she wants instead of learning how to communicate. We have gone back to making her drop her pacifer in the crib every morning and after naps. But she is much smarter than she was at nine months. Now when she is sleeping she throws paci’s out of her crib (we keep several in there so that if she wakes up in the middle of night, she can easily find another one and not wake us up). But this is all part of her larger plan. There have been times when I have heard her grunting in her room. I come in and she’s caught under her crib trying to retrieve a paci. Other times if she is oddly quiet, I might find her hiding in a corner somewhere in the house with one paci in her mouth and one in her hand. Other times, she will take the second one and hide it under furniture somewhere in the house so that when I catch her with one in her mouth and make her put it back in her crib,she will run into the family room and find her backup stash when I am not looking. She is one smart cookie.
At the end of the day, I think the whole thing is hysterical, but I am trying to keep things from getting too out of control so that when the time comes to take it away from her for good it won’t be too painful for either of us. I guess in the meantime, I should just document all of this for her baby book so that we can laugh about it later!
Any smarty moms out there dealing with same thing?
19 comments
Please let everyone know how this rehab goes. Our little boy is 7 months old and loves his paci and I know one day we will be faced with this delima! Thanks!
we never let our oldest out of the crib with his pacis. They were his “ticket” to get out of the crib after naps and the night. However, when we decided it was enough with the pacis (his teeth were not looking good) I decided to cut the nipple parts off and told him he could sleep with them in his hands. So he held one in each hand every night and slept great…. for a year like that (2-3yrs old)!! i didn’t care.. they weren’t bothering his mouth, he left them in the crib and he was happy.. and SLEPT! try it, you never know!!
I also tried cutting the paci with my oldest and only paci-addict. She was 3 1/2 and it was gradually getting out of control. We came up w/the brilliant idea that when Santa came on Christmas Eve, he would pick up Ansley’s pacis, give them to the paci-Fairy and she would deliver them to a new baby who needed pacis. This worked well for a day. Then Ansley started to resent Santa and my husband who usually sticks to his guns caved. I said, you know, if we bring the paci back, there is no turning back. And he just nodded his head. So paci resurfaced and Ansley was a junkie for an additional 6 months. Not something I was proud of b/c that thing went everywhere. It got to the point where we cut the paci as a punishment. That didn’t seem to bother her b/c she had 40 stashed throughout our house at any given time. Finally when we got down to the last 3, she got two cut (she was really naughty at that age!), one of her friends was days away from being a big sister. Ansley decided to give her paci to the paci-Fairy one last time and deliver it to Baby James. To this day, she thinks James Harper has her pacis:-)
My son’s pacifier was like crack – even when he was only allowed to have it in his crib, he would go get it and suck on it for a minute to get a fix. I thought we would never get rid of it. But we started losing them or they would get holes in them, and we stopped replacing them. Then he was down to just one, and one day we truly couldn’t find it anywhere. I thought he would never be able to fall asleep, but he did, and he never really asked about it again. I lived in fear that he would find it and regress back to his old ways, but we didn’t find it for months. When we finally did find it (stuck inside of a rainboot), it was no big deal. I let him have it for a few hours and then threw it away the next time he left the house. He never asked about it again.
My daughter is 10 months old and loves the paci too. This has definitely given me something to think about because I let her have the paci in the car as well as in the crib and sometimes when she is just fussy. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
my friends little girl started sucking her thumb after they took the paci away from her! that’s been very difficult to stop! Good luck. My child has never sucked a paci or a thumb, although at times i think it would have made our life easier!
We weaned my daughter by letting have the paci for bed ONLY. After four months, we told her everyday for a week that we were going on Saturday to “exchange” paci, and that only babies had pacis. We took her to Build a Bear, where she picked out any animal she wanted, and the workers helped her put the pacis in each paw (so she could feel them), and stuff the bear she had picked out. That night, she cried for about an hour, but we have never had another problem. Anytime she’d ask for it, we’d simply remind her that big girls do not have pacis, and her bear was holding them for her. That bear’s name is now “Paci”, but I could care less- it worked!!!!
I have my own pacifier addict, but I have to wonder, what are we really concerned will happen if we just let them give them up when they’re ready?
I know what you mean, I guess my big fear is that she will want to take it to school with her 🙂
My twins had them at daycare and home only at naptime/bedtime. Eventually, daycare weaned them off and one day, cold turkey, we didnt give them to the boys at bedtime. They were a little over 2 years old. Oddly enough, there were no tears, no whines, nothing. Never was it mentioned except when one of my sons saw a plastic paci on my daughter’s doll (it was hanging around her neck) and almost pulled the doll’s head off trying to get to it, until he realized it wasnt real! It was a hilarious scene. Still, he dropped the doll and went about his business, no problem. I was anticipating the worst, and it really wasnt bad. I kept two around just in case of ’emergency’, but those never happened! Thank the Lord!
Anon – I think the problem with giving it up when they are ready is that pacifiers can contribute to speech problems and teeth problems. I don’t have any proof for you, but my doctor told us that!- SBD
We mailed our pacis to "new babies" after several months of bedtime-only rules. It took a few tries before each was willing to put them in th emailbox & walk away, but once they did my husband took them to the office so they weren't available to fall back on. I think that's what made it easier come nap/bedtime…I could just commiserate with them instead of trying to convinvce everyone it would be okay. My oldest sobbed in my arms like a broekn-hearted teenager and then never spoke of it again. My youngest whined a few times and that was it. Not having the back-up available kept us from caving. Oh! And they both had other existing lovies to sleep with – I think that was important, too.
My son was a true "Babi"(his name for pacifiers) addict, they were only allowed in his room since the age of 18 months. At 3 yrs old we brought him to my husbands work(A recycling plant) to throw into the trash in exchange for a cool garbage truck. Come bedtime he cried so hard for it, he threw up so we decided it wasn't worth it and gave in to only at night time. Fast forward 10 months, he was almost 4 yrs old so we tried the "Babi" Fairy. This time we had him put the pacifier in the mailbox BEFORE bed and then when he woke up he would have a huge box of Lincoln Logs. Took him two hours to fall asleep but didn't shed a tear, I was amazed. Its been two months and he its forgotten! My daughter is 19 months and she's and addict too, we hide hers on a high shelf in her room until nap & bed time. Hopefully I can get rid of hers before she's 3 yrs, but I doubt it;-)
I think everyone is missing the window of opportunity here. Not only is it important to leave it in the crib, but our kids gave up the paci when they became interested in food. Just a thought…
Let me introduce you to the “Paci Fairy” who visited our house and fairied all the pacis away to a little baby named Sydney who lives halfway around the world (get it?) and was sad because she didn’t have any pacis. My daughter was seriously addicted to her “Ci-Ci” and while she was already in a big girl bed at 2 1/2 and only allowed the Ci-Ci at bedtime she wanted the Ci-Ci any time she was injusticed and it was a must in the car. I anticipated addiction withdrawal the likes of Train Spotting, but it actually went quite well. We talked about the Paci Fairy A LOT before she exchanged the Ci-Cis for a bag of fun, and I guess since my daughter did not think we were in possession of the Pacis she just got over it. We didn’t even have issues with her taking her little brother’s “Ba-Ba”s. Now THAT kid is seriously hooked- it may not be as easy with him! Good Luck!!
We had also gotten our daughter to understand that the paci was only for bedtime and naps and at 2 1/2 we cut the end off and told her that it was broken. She was so sad because she thought SHE had broken it, but because she thought that, she seemed to completely understand. She looked at it funny for a couple of minutes, then back at us and said, “Mommy, I broke my paci.” And I said, “Yes, sweetie, but that’s OK. Big girls don’t need them anyway.” She handed it right back to me and never asked for it again. Her baby brother was even using one, but she didn’t want his either! Good luck!!!
I guess I was lucky with both of my boys! (I have a nearly 3 yr. old and a 17 month old!) Neither of them were “suckers”… paci or fingers! I just “put up with” the crying when it happened so I would not have to ever have the “paci removal” problems down the line!! I never gave one to either of my kids! Thank goodness I didn’t have to deal with “paci rehab!!!” Sorry to all the Moms who do have to struggle with this issue! I feel extremely fortunate!!
Hello! I’m new here. My little girl just turned 2 so my husband and I have decided that it is time to get her off her paci. It is going ok…..Its been hard though. She moved to a toddler bed, is potty training, and getting off the paci. I’m starting that is too much for a little girl! (and me!)
OK, here’s our story. Let me begin by saying, our daughter(now 5) and our son(2) are totally on the opposite ends of the spectrum with everything!!! When our daughter turned 2, it was time to come up with a plan. My husband and I somehow convinced Karlyn to round up all of her pacis and put them into a bag. We explained to her that the “paci fairy would come and take her pacis and deliver them to all the new babies that were born that didn’t have their own pacis, and that in return she would leave something that Karlyn would love. This all being said in tune with” now that you’re such a big girl and not a baby anymore”. We then tied the bag up in a tree in our back yard, walked up the street to the park, and what do you know happened 30 minutes later when we got home? The paci fairy (dad had left 10 minutes before us) had left Karlyn a huge stuffed NEMO in a big gift bag up in the tree. She was thrilled and every time she fussed for the paci(mostly at night) she had NEMO there to hold on to. Fussing, thank God, was minimal. We expected so much worse. Cold turkey was the way to go. We plan on using the same tactic with our son, but since he’s an addict, we’re waiting until he’s 2 and a half. His birthday is Sunday, only six more months, wish us luck!!!!