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Between 2-3, started slow, only in car seat and bed. Then bed, then night not nap. One child we took pacifier away 3 times before she was weaned. The first 2 times as soon as pacifier was gone child started sucking her thumb. Called dentist and he said give back pacifier since thumb was more difficult to stop then try again in 3/4 months. It took 3 tries but she stopped.
We cut the tip off of all the pacis in the house and she was immediately done with it and said “broke” and then she threw them away. Worked like a charm for us
Our dentist told us to stop at 2.5 years old so we did! We packaged all her binkies up and “mailed them off” to our friends baby who was 6 months old at the time and told her she needed them. She did surprisingly well!
6 months because I was afraid of the dental implications, 1 rough night and all was well! I once read a paci is like telling your baby to shut up, that helped lol.
My son was actually 17 months old :) when we did it. We took it away one day and said it got lost somewhere and we couldn't find it, and that was it. It was easier than we thought tbh.
My daughter was a few months past 2. Our dentist and pediatrician both suggested we get her off by 3 at the latest. We targeted that time to be at least 3 months before her baby sister was born to avoid a regression. The timing worked well for us.
We had gotten her down to using the paci only at bedtime by about 18 months. To crack bedtime I bought her a bunch of books about saying goodbye to pacifiers (“pacifiers are not forever” and others). We read those every night for a couple months. Then one night I told her this is your last night with your paci. Tomorrow morning we are going to throw it away. In the morning she excitedly threw out her paci in the trash can.
Now, that night, when she fully realized what she had done she was like a raccoon ready to go dumpster diving. But the tears weren’t too bad. Took her maybe an hour or so of fussing to fall asleep. She was fine the next night. Only asked about it maybe once or twice after that.
Mines 18 months and her peds said the same thing 😭 husband tried cutting the tip of one and giving it to her to make it unappealing, and she held it out to us with the saddest look like "help it's broken!" My heart shattered, i don't wanna take it away 😭😭😭
8 months. She really wasn’t using it much so I just stopped giving it to her. She never got into the habit of walking around with it, more just for sleep so I don’t think it was as difficult.
If cold turkey doesn’t work I know people who had success cutting off the tip of the pacifier
Mine is almost 2. Pediatric dentist said she doesn’t worry about it or push it until they’re 3. She said studies show any effect the pacifier has prior to then generally reverses after quitting pacifier. We’re going to start weaning paci officially at 2.
Our old pediatric dentist said age 4 at the latest; our new one says 3. Both said that with the caveat that it should only be at naptime and bedtime by then. They suggested any damage prior to those ages would gently subside once they were weaned—but they also didn’t see any concerning effects. So we weaned the first kid at 3.5 and will wean our newly 2yo as soon as we are done transitioning to his big bed (happening now).
At 17 months, I would probably just try cold turkey and brace for impact… Alternatively—and as long as your kid isn’t prone to chewing on their binkies—you can prick the ends with a pin. The holes will kill the suction. This worked well for our older kid (we said as you get older, binkies stop working). But our younger kid is a chewer, so I don’t think we can do it that way safely. The holes weaken them structurally and make them easier to bust a big hole in. This age is too young for a pacifier fairy approach, I think.
When they were ready. My oldest first time I tried at 2 no problem, my second had a harder time so starting at two it was in bed only it was gone by the time she was 3
We just did it right at two. Since one, it was only used during sleep. Then we just had him throw it away. He cried for a minute then got over it and went to bed. We’ve had a couple times where he’s cried in the middle of the night but I just go in and lay with him til he falls back asleep.
We started after a year and worked with daycare to make it not a thing he needed anymore during the day. By 18 months I was able to cold turkey taking it away at night.
I don't remember when my oldest stopped the paci. My middle and youngest were both less than a year old when they stopped the paci. My middle sucks his middle as a security thing I guess. We've tried to stop it, but have had no luck.
My son is about to be 4 month and everything I read was 4-6 months… I’m shocked everyone is so much later. He really relies on it while going to sleep and at night. I thought about just not during the day. Not a single other baby at his daycare has one. And I’m worried it’ll make him catch more at daycare while he’s there.
Only used it for bedtime and naps from 18 months and got rid by 2.5. We used the dummy fairy. Bagged up all the dummies put them on the door sent her to bed and in the morning the fairy had taken all the dummies for the babies that needed them and left her a present. She adjusted to not having one really well.
At 3 we had my son go to the toy store and pick so,etching he really wanted, and he “paid” for it by handing the checkout clerk his pacifier. We did prep work with him before and we talked to the clerk before too. It was his choice and it worked great.
We just dropped my daughter's paci a couple weeks ago and she's almost 4 😅 she has only been using it at night for quite a while. We had the "paci fairy" come and leave a gift at our front door in exchange for us putting all the pacis in a gift bag the night before
We weaned around 18-20 months. At first removing it during the day. Then removing during naps, then taking it away at night. The night was the hardest one. We did a count down of days and then “mailed it” to the pacifier fairy and he got a toy next morning. There are a few books about it too that we read before hand.
We got our kiddo off their paci at 3yo just prior to mom ending her breastfeeding journey. Kiddo got another 6 months of nursing after we retired the paci.
Our child was really easy to transition out of using theirs, and we only have one child presently so I do not have any tricks other than stand kindly strong in the move to retire.
We just gathered our pacis and said goodbye to them. We didn't cut any of them or have any special ceremony for them but we did have a conversation about why we needed to stop using them for our child's health & wellbeing. I have them in a box in my closet, and our kiddos actually seen his retired paci's since saying goodbye with no negative reaction or trying to get them back. He just sees them in the closet and smiles.
Good Luck <3
Mine weaned herself right before she turned 3. She just told me she didn't need one anymore, and threw them away!
She is still a mouth fidgeter (14) and always will be. But she doesn't have any issues with her teeth being crooked or anything.
Around 15 months I think? I stopped buying them when he’d lose/chew through/get dirty. He would look for them and I count myself lucky he would shrug it off and give up when he couldn’t find them. After I realized he would just “oh well” it, I was a little more inclined to toss them out but by bit.
I cut a very small slit lengthwise rather than cutting the tip. He dropped it around 18 months. I would’ve done sooner but we had a trip planned and I wanted it for the airplane
We finally fully ditched it last weekend! (Second child - 22 mos). Started with taking it away during the day after he turned one. Removed it from naptime in the new year/january. I cut the tips - he had multiple and liked to fiddle with them in the crib but cutting them took away the pleasure of having it in his mouth. Fought that a little the first nap but was fine after a weekend without.
We just had a fam vacay so I told myself he could still have it at nighttime for that, between the late drive, change of sleeping accommodations, etc - but the next weekend, that was it. I stuck to it and just didn’t offer it at pajama time. To our surprise there were no tears, no whining. He was fine and went to sleep as if nothing changed & we haven’t looked back.
Start slow and expect some upset the first time. If babe is really attached, maybe begin to introduce a lovey or two if they don’t already have one (our first child ditched easily cold turkey at age one but had an established lovey at 8 months which helped greatly), and/or cut the tips to make the pacifiers less appealing. I was amazed how easy this was cuz those binks were 2nd baby’s favorite thing. It’s like they never even existed now. GL mama!
My daughter was 4 and she put them under the tree for Santa to take. She was ready. Before that happened she knew not to take them out of her room. She’s 19 now and remembers when she gave them up. She had braces but not bc of the paci.
We took them away cold turkey but then he started sucking his thumb which was waaaay worse. Eventually the only thing that stopped that habit was a nail infection at age 3.
Any professional we talked to about it said it wasn't an issue til closer to 4 years old though.
We told him they only made so many pacifiers, and that some younger kids really needed one, so it was time to donate his collection. It was traumatic but he held it together and we boxed them up and sent them off😂😍
7 months. Luckily my child just lost interests
My mom was a Speech Pathologist and really cautioned against pacifiers and sippy cups- so we planned to ditch sooner than most.
Mine had boobies, I couldn’t get them to take a pacifier.
I’ve heard if you poke holes in it, it loses the appeal.
https://lifehacker.com/to-break-the-pacifier-habit-poke-a-hole-in-it-1840772379
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My son does best with everything cold turkey. All are different though
Just stop giving it to them. Sure it will be a rough week, but they'll move on.
Between 2-3, started slow, only in car seat and bed. Then bed, then night not nap. One child we took pacifier away 3 times before she was weaned. The first 2 times as soon as pacifier was gone child started sucking her thumb. Called dentist and he said give back pacifier since thumb was more difficult to stop then try again in 3/4 months. It took 3 tries but she stopped.
13 months, cold turkey. A couple rough days and then it was completely forgotten.
We cut the tip off of all the pacis in the house and she was immediately done with it and said “broke” and then she threw them away. Worked like a charm for us
Our dentist told us to stop at 2.5 years old so we did! We packaged all her binkies up and “mailed them off” to our friends baby who was 6 months old at the time and told her she needed them. She did surprisingly well!
Start at 1, and be done by 1.5
6 months because I was afraid of the dental implications, 1 rough night and all was well! I once read a paci is like telling your baby to shut up, that helped lol.
Mine is almost 2 and we haven’t been told to stop but so far we’ve stopped during the day but she uses it to fall asleep.
My son was actually 17 months old :) when we did it. We took it away one day and said it got lost somewhere and we couldn't find it, and that was it. It was easier than we thought tbh.
My daughter was a few months past 2. Our dentist and pediatrician both suggested we get her off by 3 at the latest. We targeted that time to be at least 3 months before her baby sister was born to avoid a regression. The timing worked well for us. We had gotten her down to using the paci only at bedtime by about 18 months. To crack bedtime I bought her a bunch of books about saying goodbye to pacifiers (“pacifiers are not forever” and others). We read those every night for a couple months. Then one night I told her this is your last night with your paci. Tomorrow morning we are going to throw it away. In the morning she excitedly threw out her paci in the trash can. Now, that night, when she fully realized what she had done she was like a raccoon ready to go dumpster diving. But the tears weren’t too bad. Took her maybe an hour or so of fussing to fall asleep. She was fine the next night. Only asked about it maybe once or twice after that.
Mines 18 months and her peds said the same thing 😭 husband tried cutting the tip of one and giving it to her to make it unappealing, and she held it out to us with the saddest look like "help it's broken!" My heart shattered, i don't wanna take it away 😭😭😭
18 months! Cold turkey. He was fine within a week and it’s been smooth sailing since.
Mine was 4. She’s now a freshman in college. Didn’t damage her too much.
8 months. She really wasn’t using it much so I just stopped giving it to her. She never got into the habit of walking around with it, more just for sleep so I don’t think it was as difficult. If cold turkey doesn’t work I know people who had success cutting off the tip of the pacifier
Mine is almost 2. Pediatric dentist said she doesn’t worry about it or push it until they’re 3. She said studies show any effect the pacifier has prior to then generally reverses after quitting pacifier. We’re going to start weaning paci officially at 2.
May I ask at what age you went to the pediatric dentist?
Around 18 or 19 months
Ok thx
Our old pediatric dentist said age 4 at the latest; our new one says 3. Both said that with the caveat that it should only be at naptime and bedtime by then. They suggested any damage prior to those ages would gently subside once they were weaned—but they also didn’t see any concerning effects. So we weaned the first kid at 3.5 and will wean our newly 2yo as soon as we are done transitioning to his big bed (happening now). At 17 months, I would probably just try cold turkey and brace for impact… Alternatively—and as long as your kid isn’t prone to chewing on their binkies—you can prick the ends with a pin. The holes will kill the suction. This worked well for our older kid (we said as you get older, binkies stop working). But our younger kid is a chewer, so I don’t think we can do it that way safely. The holes weaken them structurally and make them easier to bust a big hole in. This age is too young for a pacifier fairy approach, I think.
one child was 3.5y, the other 3. The dentist wasn’t concerned at all.
At around 2. She was chewing through some of hers so we just cut the tips of each and let her have them. Lost interest almost immediately
Right it two. Just cut the tip of the pacifier and she tried it at night and it didn’t work and she never asked for it again.
When they were ready. My oldest first time I tried at 2 no problem, my second had a harder time so starting at two it was in bed only it was gone by the time she was 3
We just did it right at two. Since one, it was only used during sleep. Then we just had him throw it away. He cried for a minute then got over it and went to bed. We’ve had a couple times where he’s cried in the middle of the night but I just go in and lay with him til he falls back asleep.
We started after a year and worked with daycare to make it not a thing he needed anymore during the day. By 18 months I was able to cold turkey taking it away at night.
I don't remember when my oldest stopped the paci. My middle and youngest were both less than a year old when they stopped the paci. My middle sucks his middle as a security thing I guess. We've tried to stop it, but have had no luck.
Exactly at 2 years old and cold turkey
My son is about to be 4 month and everything I read was 4-6 months… I’m shocked everyone is so much later. He really relies on it while going to sleep and at night. I thought about just not during the day. Not a single other baby at his daycare has one. And I’m worried it’ll make him catch more at daycare while he’s there.
Only used it for bedtime and naps from 18 months and got rid by 2.5. We used the dummy fairy. Bagged up all the dummies put them on the door sent her to bed and in the morning the fairy had taken all the dummies for the babies that needed them and left her a present. She adjusted to not having one really well.
Around 2.
2,5 and it was so horrible that we weaned my other at 12 months.
At 3 we had my son go to the toy store and pick so,etching he really wanted, and he “paid” for it by handing the checkout clerk his pacifier. We did prep work with him before and we talked to the clerk before too. It was his choice and it worked great.
We just dropped my daughter's paci a couple weeks ago and she's almost 4 😅 she has only been using it at night for quite a while. We had the "paci fairy" come and leave a gift at our front door in exchange for us putting all the pacis in a gift bag the night before
We weaned around 18-20 months. At first removing it during the day. Then removing during naps, then taking it away at night. The night was the hardest one. We did a count down of days and then “mailed it” to the pacifier fairy and he got a toy next morning. There are a few books about it too that we read before hand.
By 12 months.
We got our kiddo off their paci at 3yo just prior to mom ending her breastfeeding journey. Kiddo got another 6 months of nursing after we retired the paci. Our child was really easy to transition out of using theirs, and we only have one child presently so I do not have any tricks other than stand kindly strong in the move to retire. We just gathered our pacis and said goodbye to them. We didn't cut any of them or have any special ceremony for them but we did have a conversation about why we needed to stop using them for our child's health & wellbeing. I have them in a box in my closet, and our kiddos actually seen his retired paci's since saying goodbye with no negative reaction or trying to get them back. He just sees them in the closet and smiles. Good Luck <3
I was so scared to take it away and then it ended up being fine. I would just to cold turkey. I’m considering doing it for my 7 month old soon
20 months cold turkey
Mine weaned herself right before she turned 3. She just told me she didn't need one anymore, and threw them away! She is still a mouth fidgeter (14) and always will be. But she doesn't have any issues with her teeth being crooked or anything.
Around 15 months I think? I stopped buying them when he’d lose/chew through/get dirty. He would look for them and I count myself lucky he would shrug it off and give up when he couldn’t find them. After I realized he would just “oh well” it, I was a little more inclined to toss them out but by bit.
3.5 and tbh his teeth straightened out in like 2 weeks. It was cold turkey-he bit through the last one we had and that was that.
Bub is 18 months old. Will start to wear later in the year... maybe while I'm off work during Christmas
I cut a very small slit lengthwise rather than cutting the tip. He dropped it around 18 months. I would’ve done sooner but we had a trip planned and I wanted it for the airplane
Did cutting it work? What happened exactly! How much did you cut?
We finally fully ditched it last weekend! (Second child - 22 mos). Started with taking it away during the day after he turned one. Removed it from naptime in the new year/january. I cut the tips - he had multiple and liked to fiddle with them in the crib but cutting them took away the pleasure of having it in his mouth. Fought that a little the first nap but was fine after a weekend without. We just had a fam vacay so I told myself he could still have it at nighttime for that, between the late drive, change of sleeping accommodations, etc - but the next weekend, that was it. I stuck to it and just didn’t offer it at pajama time. To our surprise there were no tears, no whining. He was fine and went to sleep as if nothing changed & we haven’t looked back. Start slow and expect some upset the first time. If babe is really attached, maybe begin to introduce a lovey or two if they don’t already have one (our first child ditched easily cold turkey at age one but had an established lovey at 8 months which helped greatly), and/or cut the tips to make the pacifiers less appealing. I was amazed how easy this was cuz those binks were 2nd baby’s favorite thing. It’s like they never even existed now. GL mama!
Thx❤️ the paci is the only thing she’s ever liked. A great sleeper, great temperament, etc. but the paci is the one crutch hehe
My daughter was 4 and she put them under the tree for Santa to take. She was ready. Before that happened she knew not to take them out of her room. She’s 19 now and remembers when she gave them up. She had braces but not bc of the paci.
Never gave it to either of my kids.
We took them away cold turkey but then he started sucking his thumb which was waaaay worse. Eventually the only thing that stopped that habit was a nail infection at age 3. Any professional we talked to about it said it wasn't an issue til closer to 4 years old though.
We told him they only made so many pacifiers, and that some younger kids really needed one, so it was time to donate his collection. It was traumatic but he held it together and we boxed them up and sent them off😂😍
7 months. Luckily my child just lost interests My mom was a Speech Pathologist and really cautioned against pacifiers and sippy cups- so we planned to ditch sooner than most.
Mine had boobies, I couldn’t get them to take a pacifier. I’ve heard if you poke holes in it, it loses the appeal. https://lifehacker.com/to-break-the-pacifier-habit-poke-a-hole-in-it-1840772379