How to Wean a Toddler Off The Pacifier
You meant to take that pacifier away by the first birthday but you just didn't have the heart to do it. Now your 2.5 year old is nearly potty trained - but still sucking on that pacifier! It may seem impossible but you can get your child to forget that precious paci in a matter of days!
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Things You'll Need
- A stubborn child who still uses a pacifier
- the pacifier
- a pair of scissors
Instructions
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Determine that your child is ready to give up the pacifier. Personally, I don't take them away from my kids until they get all of their teeth in, including the two year old molars. I think the pacifier is a great comfort during teething and won't deprive my kids of having it. Also, don't take it away during an emotional time - a new daycare, a new sibling, a new pet or a new house is not the time to take away a comfort object like a pacifier.
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Build up to getting rid of the pacifier for a few weeks. Talk about how "big kids don't use pacifiers." I began referring to the pacifier as a "stinky thing" to make it sound more negative.
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Pick a day. Determine that no matter how much you don't want to do it, that is the day when the pacifier weaning will begin.
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Here's the trick: break out a pair of scissors and cut the nipple almost completely off of the pacifier. Just leave a little nub, enough that your child can only keep the pacifier in his mouth if he holds it there with his teeth. Make sure you do this to all of the pacifiers (although I did keep one uncut to save as a memory of babyhood). Don't let the child see you cut them, though. That would confuse him.
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Give the pacifier back to your child. Explain that it "broke" and it can't be fixed. Let your child use the pacifier at all the usual times he would have used it before - whether that be just in bed or all day.
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Wait. Most kids get frustrated trying to keep the broken pacifier in their mouths after two or three days and quit using it all on their own - without tears! This means your child decides all on his own that he's not using it anymore and you are not the mean parent for taking it away! It's wonderful!
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Tips & Warnings
Make sure there are no jagged edges on the nipple after it's cut that your child could choke on. Try to get a nice smooth cut with very sharp scissors - kitchen scissors work great.
At first the child might ask for a new pacifier or one that's not broken but be firm and tell him that is all he has and you can't get him a new one.
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Comments
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Eden drops his pacifier as soon as he falls asleep, its during the day that he keeps asking for it ( outside of gan ) he cries if I dont give it to him....sigh
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BTW, one of the variations I've seen says to cut only a tiny little bit from the tip, and then cut a little more every day until you reach the point this article describes. I think the idea is that the child doesn't notice the gradual difference so much.
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I've read about variations on this method in a few places, so apparently it works. In the meantime, I've started just taking it out of Michael's mouth once he's asleep. I leave it on his pillow, just out of arm's reach, so that if he wakes up looking for it in the middle of the night he can find it easily.
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Think this would work?
