When did you take their pacifiers away?

For those of you who used/use pacifiers for your children when did you take them away or plan to take them away? My girls are only 4.5 months old and still love their pacis esp. when they go to sleep. My DH thinks they should be taken away soon but I am not ready to do that. I think a year old is a more appropriate time. I would appreciate your thoughts.

 

one of mine never cared for the paci, but the other one loved it and just gradually grew away from it by about a year old, so we didn't have to take it away. she took herself off of it, but yes, i think 1 yr is more reasonable. your little ones aren't able to self soothe yet.

 

ellie is a year and a half and still has her pacifier. I am not messing with her sleep. It's not affecting her speech and she gets it in her bed and outside. I wouldn't mess up a good thing. :bubble:

 

With my first, after about 1 year, it was for naps and sleeping only. Then later, when she understood rules, the rule was couldn't get out of the crib till she handed it over.

When she was almost 3, we took it and gave it to the Easter Bunny (at the Mall) for all the baby bunnies who needed them. She never looked back.

I say there is no harm in them as long as it's for naps and sleep only. It's comfort...I wouldn't take that away. The issues arises when they are 4 and walking around the mall with them in their mouth.

I plan on letting them have them, if they want them, and using the same rules when they get old enough to understand. If they give them up before than, that is fine too.

 

My son used his for naps and bedtime until age 2.5, when the dentist said it was affecting his bite. I just simply didn't give it to him at the next nap, and he never even asked for it. I guess I was more attached to the paci than he was!

 

my girls are 7months and they use the paci's at nap/bedtime. I don't give it to them outside of there crib. Unless they are having a meltdown! LOL Anyway, they don't seems too attached to it and never use it while they are playing. And at bedtime, they don't even sleep with it the whole night. They basically just use it to self soothe, then spit it out. So I don't think they are too attached. BUT with that being said... I am going to start weening them off at 10months. And by 1yr old... no paci's in the house!!! )

Your husband definitely needs to relax a little bit and realize they need it right now. they are too young. they are not in any danger of getting attached to it at this age. I would see and watch there relationship to it in the next few months. Maybe just limit there usage to only when its time to sleep. Maybe that will be a nice compromise for now.

 

Yup. DH needs to chill. Mine (total addicts) gave them up without a wimper at 3 years plus 1 month.

 

Exactly one week past their second birthday. It was the last of their babyhood, imo. I think 4.5 months-no need to take it away. It's a comfort for them. Some kids have high suckling needs. I personally couldn't see taking it away from my boys when they were infants.

As infants, they weren't HUGE on the pacifiers. They had them for sleeping, and car rides. We had them for trips out for those just in case moments... Then around 14 months or so, they were OBSESSED with them. LOL! They had to have one in each hand before bed, they would bring them downstairs, etc.

Finally a few weeks before their birthday, we told them they weren't babies anymore, and they didn't need their pacifiers. I would mention this throughout the day to them. Not consistently, but they grew to understand. I had a baby, and told them they were going to give the pacifiers to the baby, because she was a baby, and they were big boys. So, I went out to the mall one night, dh told the boys they were giving their pacifiers to their sister... They walked over to the PNP and dropped them in-and never looked back!

 

izzy was almost 3 when we finally got rid of it...after about 18 months, we made it so he could only have it if he was really upset or getting ready to sleep..after 2, it was just when going to sleep...the christmas before his birthday (his birthday is the end of march) he bit through his final one and we didn't buy any more and that was that...up to that point we gradually let him lose or destroy (by biting through) them and we didn't buy ones to replace them...i think they are fine to use, as long as they aren't in the kids' mouths ALL the time until they are 2 or 3 years old...4 1/2 months is too early i think..it'd be like me taking abbey's thumb away right now, and she's 6 months

 

Just read tonight that american academy of pediatrics feel pacifier use is appropriate until about age 3. They also state it is preferable to thumb sucking as it is easier to stop binky use as opposed to thumb sucking. and pacifier babies will eventually go for thumb after you take it away and they cry for a few heart breaking days. I can't imagine doin it as binky is the only thing my son cries for. My opinion is paci until 3 and then we read a little story about why paci has to go away and have a goodbye party. Sucking is a natural need for some infants to soothe-personally, i think it would be cruel to take this away from them anytime before 1.5 yrs. I was a thum sucker and even at age 6 I could barely stop. Since you can say goodbye to binky at 3, I would stick with that. You can't get rid of a thumb like a binky.

 

I was going to post about what a pediatric dentist just told us, he had a lecture for our twins' group and said that as far as the mouth is concerned it will "go back to normal" as if they'd never sucked a paci if they gave it up by 4 yrs old... with that in mind, I am not worried about our 21 month olds... I don't think I want to have a 4 yr old sucking a paci, but I would much rather have a paci kid than a thumb sucking kid!!

ours only get them in their cribs, and when we go to leave the room, I make them put their pacis back in their cribs, and they do... now if I'd let them take them out they'd be sucking on them all day, but they don't fuss and "have" to have them, so I am hoping that giving them up within a year will be plausible.

I LOVE how easily they settle down with the paci... its a personal decision, but since it doesn't cause any long term mouth/palate damage we're taking it for a ride while its still being helpful and helping ours self soothe...

 

All of my boys took pacis, and had them until they were almost 2-2.5 years old.

 

Thanks for your feedback ladies! I will be sharing your viewpoints with my hubby tonight. I am glad to hear that I am not the only one who thinks 4.5 months old is too young to withhold the binky!! Strangely enough, one of the twin books I read while I was pregnant (I believe it was called 'Twin Sense') suggested getting rid of the pacifier at 3 months old. Yikes!!

 

Our 19.5 mo still has hers, I figured I wasn't going to try and take it from her when the babies would have them too. I love the paci-fairyidea from supernanny and think that's what we'll try, same lines as a party which I think is a great way to do it!

I agree that 4 months is too young unless they don't want it. There is no way I could take it away from them that young. Good luck with DH!

 

My girls are 4 1/2 months and we have limited their pacis to daytime use only. I was worried about them getting hooked in order to go to bed at night so at 2 months we stopped giving it to them at bedtime and its been great. No more crying out because they spit it out and have woken up. I do find they want it when they are in their carseats and when they are getting sleepy during the day. Hopefully this will be less and less now that they have found their hands to suck on. I figure the less used the better for when I want to take it away. A friend commented to me that she wished her used a paci because she could have taken it away. Both her kids suck their thumb, that you can't take away.

 

My oldest ds, around 18 months of age, only used it at nap and bedtime. He gave it up without much trouble at age 2.

My oldest dd, was much more addicted. We had her down to nap and bedtime by age 2, but when the twins came at age 2.5 she was completely overwhelmed and went back to having it all the time. At age 3 we finally had her back to nap and bedtime and shortly after she turned 3 she gave it up with some help from us.

The twins will be 1 soon and I have no intention of taking theirs away any time soon. We drive to canada every summer, it'll take us 4 LONG days of driving, I would go insane if they didn't have their suckies to sooth them when they get fussy! They are pretty good about mostly using it at naps, bedtime and when they are tired when we are out and about, but they do still use it during the day if they get hurt, or are tired or teething..etc.