We went to the pediatrician for our 18-month check up on Friday, and he suggested that we get rid of Mayhem's pacifier by age 2. I swear, when the doctor said that- he scrunched up his face in disgust, as though he knew EXACTLY what the doctor was saying. The doctor suggested that I leave the pacifier in the crib, and the first time I tried that- Mayhem looked at me like I was crazy! It will be a process. I know I don't want him going to pre-school with a pacifier, but I wasn't thinking about taking the pacifier away from him at a certain age. J was, and still is, a thumb-sucker- so this is a first for me.
For now, I'm going to try to give him the pacifier only when he goes to bed, then gradually get rid of them. He LOVES his blanket, so hopefully he can get used to just being attached to that. I know he is dealing with some teeth right now, so once that is over I will focus more on the transition.
My husband was happy to hear the pediatrician's suggestion, because he feels that Mayhem will be able to start talking more without the pacifier on his mouth. It is hard to talk without having it fall out!
Have you gone through this process? Do you have any tips to share?
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I "weaned" at 3. And by "wean," I mean we gathered up ALL the pacifiers and put them in a big manilla envelope, and "mailed" them to the "Paci Fairy." I saw this on Supernanny, so I gave it a try. The "story" goes: Paci Fairy collects paci's from older kids and gives them to babies who need them. Gross thought for adults, but works for kids. The first night was rough, but I just reminded her that we mailed them off and they were gone and babies were now using them. After the first night, she was fine. I think it helped that she was 3, not 2, so she understood what was going on, it wasn't just mean mommy taking away all the paci's. :)
ReplyDeleteThat is a great idea! If we pass 2, and he's still using them- I can give that a try :)
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