I chickened out! (pacis)

Yes, this was the day I was supposed to get rid of the pacis. They only use them to sleep, and we want to stop it. Mostly I'm concerned about their teeth/bites. Anyway, DH is away until tomorrow, and I thought I'd go through Night #1 alone (why should we both suffer).

I didn't. For many reasons, but mostly I think I just chickened out.

So...do I need to do this? Should I just wait until they stop napping entirely? Is it really bad for their teeth???

 

The dentist told me to get rid of them. He could tell that they used them even though they only got them in the crib. He said it was starting to affect their bite (at 2).

I have to tell you though, naptime was bad, but nighttime wasn't a problem when we took ours away. It took about 4 days to adjust and then they were back to "normal".

We "bought" Thomas trains with ours at the local toy store.

Good luck!

 

Funny, I JUST posted about what my pediatric dentist thinks about binkies. He told me (and I am paraphrasing) that they can affect the position of the teeth themselves, but that they cannot affect the skeletal structure of your jaw (like an overbite). So he has no problem with binkies.

Here is one article where he is quoted online from Parenthood. And here is some info from his website.

He basically told me to get rid of them when they are ready, and for my own reasons (sleep issues, security issues, looking silly at 2 with a binky), but not to blame the dentist for calling it quits!!!

 

I am a BIG chicken too Marie! I have been saying for 3 months that we are going to do it and we haven't. I guess I feel bad breaking there little hearts. So for now... the paci's remain for bedtime only!

 

You'll do it when you are ready!! Not sure why you would want to go it alone, but it was a nice thought!! Good luck!!

 

It will get done. Talk about chickens....yep that would be ME! I had only one guy (Ben) who took a "binkie"..but boy was he dependent on it to go to sleep. I assumed it would be "doom and gloom"!

So here's my deal...my mother was the one that ended up pulling the "plug". DH and I went away for a long weekend and the kids stayed with my parents. At Ben's first naptime, my mother told him he was a big boy and she knew he didn't need it. He shook his head "yes" and went to sleep. (It always works so much easier for someone other than mom. ) He was 2yrs 8mons. Like Melissa's kids, bedtime was fine...it was harder for him for a few days at naptime. He had to relearn how to put himself to sleep. But it happened within a few days. Good Luck!

BTW: Ben's teeth had a "Dave Letterman" look to them. In the last 6months (binkie free), they look so much better!

 

Our pedi said not to bother either and that you never see a kindergarden kid with a paci so they do let go of them eventually
arya take a binky for nap and aleena gave up hers when she turned11 month

 

I was very reluctant to give up paci's especially since one of our girls is a thumb sucker. We limited it to only nap and bed time but I knew we had to end it soon. We were told it could affect Tivvy's teeth.

I read all the cute posts of how people got rid of them but we kept putting it off until our move, after Christmas, and then one day Tivvy showed me her headband and said, "Broke". It had broken in two. I decided to use an idea I read here...I cut her paci a little...and told her, "Broke." Amazingly, she smiled and repeated, "Broke." We cut it again after 2 weeks and a third time at which she started holding it to sleep for the most part.

She often says, "All done and where did it go?" So, when she threw it behind her crib one day we said, "Where did it go?" We looked and looked and I showed her it was gone. I said, "Paci All Done!"

That night she told us, "Paci all done!" I waited for the tears but amazingly she was fine and every night she tells us "Paci all done!"

We weren't brave enough to do it cold turkey but this worked well for us.

Sharon

 

quote:
Originally posted by ~* dfaut *~:
You'll do it when you are ready!! Not sure why you would want to go it alone, but it was a nice thought!! Good luck!!


Heh heh! This way I only have to deal with two crying babies, not THREE!

 

Oh good. Here I was thinking I was the only chicken around. DD doesn't care too much about the paci but DS is another matter entirely. Poor DS is seriously addicted and I'm dreading trying to take it away. I've scaled him way back to mostly naptime/bedtime since it was getting to be a habit to have the paci all the time. I think I'll try the gradual method. I resisted buying any more pacifiers the other day figuring when they are gone, they are gone. Not sure where pacifiers go but they always seem to disappear.

 

Do it when your ready Marie. Although it was not as horrible as I thought when we stopped back in January.

Livi had fallen and chipped her front tooth so I took her to the dentist, the dentist took one look at her and said, Get rid of the pacifier. (I hadn't even told her we used them) So that next day we did what Melissao did and traded the binks for a new toy at Target. It was rough for about a week and a half - 2 weeks especially at bedtime. I caved once and gave it back to Livi during a screamfest, and she threw it back at me!! Once it is done, you will be glad the binks are gone and that it's over.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

(BTW) At my mom's house last week the girls were playing in the playroom and all of a sudden I hear Livi telling Ava, "What are you dong, Aya? That's for babies." I go and see and there was Ava sitting in the toy box with a pacifier in her mouth (she must of found one floating around (I know:yuck.) and a big silly grin on her face.. It was hysterical.. Make sure you throw them all out!

 

I was chicken too. I chickened out several times and then decided I'd do it when they turned 3 - no turning back. Well, I was scared scared scared - they were great nappers and great sleepers and I didn't want to jeopardize that. So, a few weeks before their birthday, I took some very shapr scissors and trimmed just a little off the top of each paci. Every couple of days I trimmed a little more. They started using them less and less. I trimmed more, then more, and little by little we threw each bad one away until we were down to 1 each. By their birthday they were ready. No tears, no missed naps.
Good luck!
Janet

 

I'm not brave either. Ryan still uses his to sleep. I will get rid of it when I feel he is ready to deal with the change.

 

I did it, but it broke my heart. We've been paci free for 2 months now. I had to hide them from myself, the girls didn't really seem to care that much. I told them that they gave them to the babies, so every time we see a baby in public, tv, book, etc, I tell them that's one of the babies they gave their paci too. They still say baby paci, when they see a baby also.

Good luck!

 

I chickened out the first time too. I got rid of them at a little past 3 years old. Unfortunately, that was the end of regular naps for us....

It was probably tougher on me then on them. The pacifiers made them "babies" in my mind and getting rid of them meant they were growing up and that made me happy but also a little sad...I found an old pacifier in one of my drawers over the weekend and got a little weepy....I say let them keep them for a while and work up to it...


Good luck and keep us posted!

LIsa

 

We got rid of pacis this weekend and it was really not that bad. DH & I had been discussing it and for over a week, we told the girls that big girls do not use pacis. We were planning on just cutting back to naps/bedtime on Saturday, but Friday night, we were discussing it and decided that it would probably be harder on them to cut it back instead of just getting rid of them altogether. I almost chickened out and DH said we needed to do it. I told him I was not ready, but when I got up Saturday morning, it seemed like the right time. So I took them and told both girls that they are big girls and do not need binkies. Grace took hers out of her mouth and gave it to me. Elizabeth threw hers on the floor. I went around the house and gathered them up from all the secret hiding places. They girls did not see me doing this. They asked for them several times, but we kept telling them they were big girls now. At nap time, they cried and asked for the binkie, but were asleep in less than 5 minutes. While they were sleeping, I went to Target and bought them a stuffed Pablo from The Backyardigans -- their favorite. When I got home, I asked them if they took a nap without binkies and they nodded. I said that since they were big girls, they got a Pablo doll. They LOVE the Pablos and when they ask for a binkie and I tell them we do not use them anymore, they ask for Pablo. They did not cry at all at bedtime and slept all night like normal. Nap was definitely the hardest part but even that was not bad. So, after weeks of agonizing, getting rid of the pacis was (almost) easy for us. Good luck to you! It will be fine once you do it, but you have to wait until you and your DCs are all ready.

 

Chicken here too!! And I keep telling myself to work on limiting Archer's use of them to bed and nap, but it is so darn hard to listen to his pathetic whining for "BB". ugh. I need to get tougher. And they are sleeping so well it really is hard to bring myself to rock the boat. I do tend toward the cold turkey method in most things. Perhaps this summer. I keep leaving everything to this summer. Potty training. Binky removal. Boy - it's going to be a busy summer!

 

jflkjlskjfljf

 

Another little chicken here too... Tyler has always been the only one to ever use a pacifier. For quite a while he has only used it for nap and bedtime. For a few weeks now I've been making a comment here and there to the effect that those are for little babies...hoping he'd just magically drop it and never look back. No such luck. My biggest reason that I haven't really pushed it that hard is the fact that he has been bothered a lot lately with the molars coming in. I try not to give Motrin unless I can tell he really needs it. I just feel bad thinking I'd take away this little bit of comfort for him. (not that it necessarily helps the teething pain...more the comfort factor.) But these teeth seem like they are taking their sweet time. I keep telling myself I'll get tougher as soon as the teeth don't bother him as much. I wonder if I'm lying to myself??

I just need to "do it", don't I?

Amy

 

My doctor said they aren't much of a concern before age 5. However, when I got to a point I felt I wanted them gone (they were begging for them during non-sleep times) because they were more of a pain than they were worth I just broke them and they let them go without much of an issue. One boy held his in his hand when he went to sleep the first couple night and one put it in his mouth but didn't really suck it. After a couple of nights Michael threw his in the trash, Matthew continued to put his in his mouth at night but lost it one night at his grandmas.

The first night was hard after that they whined a little before bed about thier poor broke paci but slept without much of a problem.

I have found that the nervousness of all the transitions has been worse than the transition itself. After 3 days of anything my boys have pretty much adjusted. I was scared to death about the pacies because my boys were addicted, they wanted to come in from outside in the summer to get their paci hit. Like I said they were more of a pain than they were worth so I knew they had to go but I was scared to death.

 

We just quit cold turkey a couple days ago. Carly is the only baby using a paci, but she is really spoiled with it. We always made sure she had five in with her for naps and bedtime. We broke her of the paci in the daytime a couple months ago. She used to hold all five pacis at once (one was in her mouth, of course) and roll them on her face, her dolls face. It was a ritual. I cringed at the thought of ever taking them away.

The other night (after a very tiring day and no nap) she decided she didn't want her dinner and threw the plate (pasta with red sauce) at the wall. You can imagine the scene. I put her in the usual time out, but I was so mad that I told her no more pacis. That night I really went through with it. I wanted to give in, but my husband held me back. She was so tired, that she only asked for pacis once and then past out. The next night I told her she is a big girl now and no longer needs them and it worked. Some naps are easier than others. Like today, she really needed a paci, it took her 30 minutes of wimpering before she fell asleep, but I couldn't cave now. We've come so far in a couple days.

I think when you're ready, just take the plunge. You might be pleasantly surprised with how well everyone does!

Sandy