Should we ditch the na-na (paci)?

One of my dds loves her paci and she calls it her "na-na." She always wants her na-na. Sometimes it's a problem because I forget the na-na when we go out and then she cries the whole way in the car. So now I have the question ... should I stock up on na-nas and stash them in every corner of the house, my diaper bag and the car ... or should I break her of it cold turkey? I don't know which way to go. It seems so mean to take her na-na away, but then again, I may go crazy because I never seem to have the na-na when I need it.

 

This is such a personal question, I really think it's just whatever works for you. Would you rather have her screaming or not? From what I've read, most kids will give them up when they are ready, and realize big kids don't use paci's. (Mine dropped them on their own long before I was ready for them to!).

A pediatric dentist told our MOM's group "we all need comfort items...adults have alcohol, kids have blankies, bears, or binkies" I tend to agree with him!

 

Ah- this is a tough one!! I just went thru this with my newly turnrd 4 year old. He only used it for bed time- that's it. Their was NO signs of his giving it up- NONE!!! So I decided to cut it cold turkey. We gave it to Panelope princess- decorated a envelope and put it in the mail box for her to give to all the new babies. The next am Panelope princess left a big boy treat for him in the mailbox in the same envelope!!! Thank you supernanny!! First night was bad secoind was worse (cried himself to sleep in my arms) Finally he asked a few time for one of the twins and that was it!!!! Now it has been a month or so and he found one under his bed and said mommy look we need to send this to penelpoe for the new babies!!

Now for my twins they are almost 2. I'm not going to sweat it. My neighbor is a dentist and he said it's not a issue at all!! A thumb is soooo much worse and you can't take that away!!! If I would have know that I would not have taken DS away. I actually talked to him after we put the paci's in the mailbox. No going back after that!. I mean literally after we closed the door on the mailbox Mr. Dentist says hi- I tell him the story...

Prehaps you could limit the use of the paci's to bedtime only? Then you won't be without one all the time? That is why my twins call them night, night's. They sometimes cry when I take them away in the am. However it works nicely because they go to sleep easy- bacuse they can have their night night's!!

Good luck on your decision. The only bedtime rule works out beautiful for us

 

Although none of my kids used a paci, I don't see any reason to give it up unless it is interferring with her speech or it is making your life miserable. However, if an opportune time comes up where it is accidentally lost and she does well without it, it may be time to conveniently not find it. But, if she is so attached to it that she throws absolute fits to have it, she may not be ready to give it up yet and why hurry, they grow up so fast anyway!

 

Personally, I wouldn't take it away. I have been through the taking them everywhere/ losing them /leaving them behind, and it's not a fun time during those incidents. But, the amount of comfort is does bring is well worth the inconvience, IMO.

 

If it's not causing a problem then i would say it's probably worth investing in a bunch and stashing them. They make these little paci-holders, like a tiny purse, that usually have a strap w/velcro that you can put on a diaper bag strap. My girls gave theirs up by themselves pretty young (and have recently started grabbing the miscellaneous ones we have lying around as teething aids), but i was constantly checking ot make sure we didn't leave the house with extras.

They also make those clip-on tethers that attach to clothes; those were a HUGE help, and kept them from being dropped!

 

That's really a personal choice that you and daddy have to make. It will be a major transition period if she is very addicted to it. What I did was to confine them to the bed only so she could have them for naps and bedtime only because that was when she MOST depended on them. She adapted a lot quicker than I thought she would. Every morning I would pick her up out of her crib and say, "Say bye bye to bo bo. Bobo going sleepies now." and she would drop it in and we would go about our day. When she would ask for it, I would say, "Bobo sleeping." She asked only a few times for a couple of days and then she knew that when she went for naps and bedtime that that was her time with bobo. We still to this day do that ritual. It's great. Once I didn't have to worry about having them packed in the diaper bag and in the car and all that, it was so much easier. Once in a while when she gets really really sick with a high fever and is very lethargic, I will let her have the bobo downstairs but after she is better, we go right back to the bobo in the bed only rule and she adjusts right back. I just want to add that when I did finally take it away from her during the day (around 16 months or so), she started to talk SO much more. I think the paci was hindering her from speaking a lot and obviously when she did talk, I couldn't understand her that well with that thing in her mouth. Also, I was so sick and tired of seeing her with it in every single picture that I took of her and her sister. I once read somewhere that many people use them because it's so much easier to just "plug them up" and not listen to the whining and crying than to deal with the issue at hand. That really made me re-think the reason we were giving it to her. I started to realize that I want her to use the paci only for when she really needs to sooth herself and that's pretty much for when she is going to sleep. HTH

 

Thanks for all of your input.

Well, I went to Walmart and stocked up on more pacis today. I think we're sticking with them for now. They give her so much comfort. It doesn't seem fair to take them away. You all made me feel better about that decision.

I tried to do the "pacis for nite nite only" rule, and keep the pacis in her crib. However, whenever my dd would go to the crib and cry for her na-na, her twin sister, who is a little monkey, would climb up into the crib and get her na-na for her. :laughing: So that didn't work, but I'm not going to worry about it for now.