Pacifier

Hello,

One of my boys is EXTREMELY fond of pacifiers. Just wonder till what age he'll remain so. Also, do I have to do something to encourage him not using pacifiers or this will come naturally?

Thanks.

 

For one of my boys, they gave it up naturally. He still likes to have it sometimes but both boys are only allowed to have it when we are upstairs or it's nap/bed time. I started that rule around 12 months. Jake is still very attached to his (even more so than during the FY) and would suck on it all day if I let him.

 

It did not naturally go away for my girls. Actually they started using it more when they started talking b/c then they would ask for it. I just took it away, cold turkey, 1 month before they turned 2. My pedi says it's fine until they are 2 though so I wouldn't worry about limiting it right now.

 

My DD LOVED her paci! I mean really LOVED it. DS gave it up on his own at about 4 months. My plan had been to let them use one as much as they wanted to until they turned 6 months. So on her 6-month b'day, I took her paci away. I did it then because I knew she was too young to know what was going on and too young to miss it and/or look for it when it was gone. I have read in many places that prolonged paci use is linked to ear infections and I didn't want to fight the ear infection battle if I didn't have to. Also, one of the unexpected benefits was that she became more vocal almost right away. I know they reduce the risk of SIDS and really help calm newborns and young infants and for that I love them! Many parents allow their children to use them for a long time, but this just worked for us and I'm really glad we did it that way. I'll do the exact same thing with our new baby once she's born.

 

My boys all took one, and never gave it up on their own. Around age 2, I took them away.

 

Ditto only mine BOTH gave it up around 4 months so I didn't have to worry about it...neither LOVED it either. If you want to discourage it, just give it to him at certain times (nap, bedtime) and then slowly cut that out as well Good luck! I HATE dummies but know babies need them so I was so glad the boys didn't use them long!

 

One of our boys LOVED it and started causing us issues b/c woudln't quiet down w/o it. Also I have nieces and nephews who still use it and they are in the 3 year age range!! So I didn't want to deal with that, b/c older they get the harder it is to take it away--I have seen that first hand with them! We just cold turkey took it away around 5 months. Had a horrible day, but after that he was fine. We've only given it to him when he was sick or just extremely upset--but very very rarely. Otherwise, we pretty much threw most of them away--so we wouldn't be tempted!!!

My nephew was told it probably contributed to his numerous ear infections also and I have read it's hardest to take away after the 6-9 month age range. So if you're going to do it, nows the time (or so I have read!) I don't think at this age they will give it up naturally-think it's the only way they know how to comfort themselves, so either when they are really young or much much older will they do it on their own.

Good luck!

 

My oldest ds liked it, but didn't love it. At 18 months I limited it to naps/bedtime/vehicle useage, and by age 2 we took it away cold turkey.

My older dd LOVED hers. I tried to limit it to naps/bedtime around 18months - 2 yrs, we tried to take it away completely at 2 yrs, that backfired HUGELY, she refused to settle down for about 4 hrs, no matter how much comforting or lovies or what we tried, when we gave in and gave it back to her she was so traumatized she wouldn't go to sleep with the door closed and light off like she normally did. For months afterward we had to leave her door wide open and the hallway light on. She still won't let us close the door tight but at least she'll let us shut the light off.

When the babies were born at 2.5 yrs she really struggled with it, had major meltdown's and so she went back to having her sucky (paci) all the time.

We finally took it away shortly before she turned 3 and she did much better with it this time.

I have no problem with them having it until about age 2, and hopefully I can take the babies away around then too. Neither one of them is as attached as my oldest dd was so it should go fine

 

At times I think fortunately he has the "clean" pacifier in his mouth, while his brother who dislikes pacifiers want to have a taste of whatever comes within his reach Also my other son sucks his thumb which is not good for his upper gum as told by the pedi. Just searched Google and found that indeed increased use of pacifiers can increase ear infection! Don't know what to do now :lol:

 

I'm glad you asked the question. My older twin seems to want it a lot while her sister doesn't take to it at all. She seems to need it when she is sleepy and fussy. I started using it right out of the NICU because she seemed so comforted by it. But I was wondering if I'm totally unrealistic to assume I'll beable to take it away at 6 months or so. Hoping she will just "grow out of it"!

 

Just wanted to chime in one more time here and tell anyone considering taking the paci away sooner rather than later that for us there was maybe two or three days where I could tell she wanted it, but only when she was sleepy. It wasn't even an issue at night because she was so tired, just nap time. After that, she moved on and it wasn't a big deal. About a month and a half later she was going through the beginning stages of separation anxiety and I thought "maybe I've made a mistake and the paci would help." So out of curiosity I gave it to her and she pulled it out of her mouth and looked at it like "what is this?" and played with it like any other toy. I have a friend who never gives a paci to her newborns and that works for them. But for me, taking it away at 6 months was like the best of both worlds. My newborns received the benefits of it when they couldn't self-soothe and decreased their SIDS risk, but didn't have to go through the meltdowns and anxiety of losing their paci when they were older (neither did Mommy and Daddy)

 

I have to chime in on the ear infection issue.

All my kids had/have paci's as a stated earlier, and none of them have been prone to ear infections. I can count on one hand how many my older two have had together.

My best friend's kids, neither one loved their paci's, and both had major ear infections and tubes put in their ears.

I think you are either prone to ear infections, or not, much like my oldest son is prone to sinus infections because he has small nasal passages. Sucking on a paci for comfort hasn't hindered my kids ears at all!