Took the Pacifiers Away

They are having a hell of a time falling asleep. They were such good sleepers before yesterday (when I took them away) and now it takes them up to an hour to fall asleep. The reason I took them away is because I knew they were associating them with sleep since they only got them during naps and bedtime. Taking them away seems to keep them up longer and they're just really cranky.

Is this something that will pass or am I being a horrible mom by taking their security away? I feel like they don't really know how to self-soothe if they have the paci's and it could be part of the problem why they aren't falling asleep right away.

IDK...I feel terrible as I sit here listening to them cry, but I really felt it was time they learn to fall asleep on their own. UGH

 

You're not a terrible mom! :hug: You've got more courage than me, though! Mine are almost 2 and still using a pacifier for naps and bedtime! :laughing:

They'll catch on! I read an article in Parents magazine that said it was ideal to wean babies of their pacifiers before they turned 1 b/c they had shorter memories of the pacifiers and they would "get over it" quicker than older toddlers.

 

i like the idea of not being attached to a pacifier... but I liked them being able to settle down so quickly with the pacifiers so we still have them at almost 20 months... I also liked the idea that they might not want to suck their thumbs... and I can throw a pacifier out unlike a thumb. but I haven't done any research on it.

my pedi suggested getting rid of the pacifiers by 9 months. good luck to you!

 

I'm sorry I'm no help, I don't take mine away from my kids until they are older and can learn to fall asleep without them I know a lot of people don't agree with that though so I understand trying to take them away earlier!

I follow my kids cues. By 18 months my oldest ds only had it at nap and bedtime, and by 2 yrs old I took it away and he was fine.

My oldest dd was more attached to hers, we had her down to nap/bedtime by age 2 but when the twins came at age 2.5 she really struggled. She's always been more shy/nervous and in new situations or around new people her "coping" mechanism was her paci. Without it she would completely melt down. Once things settled down at home we got her back to nap/bedtime use again, and by age 3 we took it away completely.

So far the twins mostly use it nap/bedtime but if they are fussy/tired/teething..etc I let them take them in the living room with us, and I keep some in the diaper bag for when we are out and about. I don't mind them using them until they are 2-3 yrs old

Like the pp though, I'd rather take suckies away than try to deal with taking a thumb away!

I'm sure if you just keep up with it for a few days, they will do fine! Do they have lovey's or special blankies? Do you use lullabies? My kids have lovey's/blankies and lullabies playing and it really helps them settle down quicker!

 

My twins are 3 yrs 1 month. It has been a seemless transition. My twins have not asked/had a "B" for 3 weeks. This went the same as my older daughter who decided herself to give them up at 3 years 6 months.

There are lots of people who think I'm rediculous for waiting till they are older, but with 3 out of 4 total binky addicts, I have never had a single kid cry at bedtime

for a binky....

 

I hate pacis and I'm so glad we didn't have this issue but anyways, do they have a lovey? The boys stopped using them at 4 months and we gave them those little animal head blankies and now they LOVE those They chew on them and everything!

 

I don't think there's a problem with them having pacifiers, especially if it's only for sleeping.

 

They don't have loveys, but they have blankets that they cuddle with and they can't really sleep without. I had to break down and give them their pacis last night...they were up for 2 hours just whimpering. I can't deny them good sleep! However, I am going to give them binkys that they don't particularly care for and see if that makes a difference. They either use those or nothing at all.

 

A midwife I know told me that it would take two days to break the paci habit, and then they would have forgotten all about them. We took my boy's pacis away on Monday and now we have no problems. Nap times were hard for those two days (but then nap times have always been hard - my babies don't like to sleep during the day) but they have been great at night, sleeping from 7 to 7 with a feed at 4. I LOVE not having to get up to replace pacis in the night!

Good luck!

 

We've stopped giving it to them at sleeptimes jusy recently and its working well. I wanted to stop the association. I still use the paci during the day if they are fussy and have no other answers. I feel they are still pretty little at this point and do want to just suck sometimes. But hope it wont be too bad taking it completely away in a few months,

 

I tried waiting it out a few days and it didn't work. They are too attached to their paci's. I don't know what I will do...I guess try again in a bit, but I don't know how much difference it is going to make.

 

You have more courage than me! I don't like them but E just has them for sleep times. A weaned from hers at about 2.5 years old. :hug: Stay strong!

 

My daycare provider gave me a tip when I wanted to wean my 1st son...she said to snip a little bit of the end off every night or other night until there is nothing left. It worked! It just kept getting shorter and shorter until he couldn't suck on it anymore. He would just hold it at night for a while but after that it was no problem tossing it.

 

good luck with what you decide. though if you decide to keep giving them the pacis I don't think its a bad thing... like several other moms said at an older age they didn't have huge issues with them giving them up... that's what I'm hoping for since I don't want to give them up now...

 

I took DD's paci away on her 6 month birthday (DS stopped taking his on his own a couple months earlier) and it took her a couple of days to learn to self-soothe but she did and yours will too. Just hang in there...it gets better and I'm really glad I took it away even though she loved it, it was the best thing for her. I think in most cases the longer you wait the harder it is for them to adjust so keep telling yourself it's easier to do this now than 6 months down the road.

 

I know lots of people who have done this, or recommended doing this. But my concern was that they would chew a bit of it off at night and swallow/choke on it. But my kids have always chewed on their suckies as well as just sucking on them. So I could never bring myself to cut them like that!