Thursday, 04 November 2010

  • Did Your Child Use a Pacifier?

    No one in our family used pacifiers as a baby so when my little boy needed one, I didn't know what to do.

    I'm not saying using a pacifier is wrong and believe when I say that because I did so much research about it after realizing there's no way I could survive breastfeeding and those first few months of Nathaniel's life if I don't finally give in to using one. I was just worried my little one will be too attached to it and for way past over infancy.

    I already had a plan about how to help Nathaniel stop using his pacifier when the time comes. I read on BabyCenter about several "going away" binkie parties. My favorite is tying the pacifiers to a balloon and telling our child that these are now for the other children to use.

    Thankfully, Nathaniel started refusing the pacifier by himself at seven months old. We went to Indiana for 2 weeks to visit family and friends and I'm guess the change in scenery and routine helped him forget about this little habit.

    Last week, Nathaniel found his oldest pacifier (before we changed to Nuk) and started playing with it. I was worried he will start using the pacifier again but he is content with just playing with it like his other toys.

    Did your child use a pacifier? When did he/she stop using it? What did you do to help him/her?

Related Posts

Comments (37)

  • JenHamrick@xanga

    Much as I wished my son would use one, he didn't. He preferred his finger, which worried us because we had no idea how we would take it away when it was time! But my husband just told him, "Take your finger out of your mouth," and he eventually grew out of it, probably around a year old. We were worried over nothing. Too many four-year-olds with pacifiers on Supernanny, I guess. ;)
  • Brilliant_Innocence@xanga

    Yep. She's 2 and still uses one for nap and sometimes bed time. 

  • SeeBeeWrite@xanga

    Neither of the twins really liked the pacifiers. They prefer to suck on their fists or chew on their blankets. Since they were breastfed they could definitely tell the difference and they always spit the pacifiers out.
  • laurenalissa@xanga

    we  let my baby us a paci but usually only for sleep however he will sometimes find one in with his toys and start sucking on it and protest when its taken away... i am hoping we have him completly off of it by 18 monts or so

  • alextebow@xanga

    I was very hesitant to give my son a pacifier because I distinctly remember my younger brother keeping his until he was preschool aged. Plus I read about some babies developing nipple confusion or suck problems if introduced before a good breastfeeding relationship had started. So, we waited at least until he was 2 months old before giving him one. He is instantly calmed by having something to suck on, so it saved us from a lot of sleepless nights. He just turned one and still uses it occasionally to sleep. We have rules with it though. He doesn't get to use it when he's playing, it's only for sleep. I'm hoping he starts using it less and less in the coming months.
  • happygirl7798@xanga

    I used one with both of my kids.  It was really hard to get rid of it with my first one because I didn't know what I was doing.  It was so much easier with my second baby.  We actually just got rid of the pacifier as he turned 2.  He didn't use it a whole but really liked it for naps and bedtime.  I started over the summer asking for it when he got up in the morning and telling him he didn't need it anymore because he was a big boy.  He would give it to for during the day but wasn't ready at nap time or bedtime.  When he turned two I quit giving it to him at nap time again telling him he didn't need it because he was a big boy.  We did 2 nap times without and he didn't ask for it at bedtime.  It was a little rough the first night but he only cried for 5 minutes and then went to sleep.  After the first successful night of sleep without I gave everyone else the riot act about talking about it or giving him one.  The next week I threw them all away.  I didn't show it to him when I did because I was concerned that he would just get upset at seeing them again.
  • leahKtutu@xanga

    we have paci fights at my house.  My daughter is two and uses hers to nap and sleep. I wish she would have spit it out at 7 months!  Maybe she still has time to "grow out of it"
  • storyofmylife87@xanga

    Just give the paci to him/her when he/she's sleeping. My daughter is 14 months and she's trying to talk, and I really think the paci limits that. There will be fits but you will be able to distract him from it. Do ONLY nights and then slowly wean him from that when he's 2. Good luck!
  • passionateworship@xanga

    My 2nd child did (1st and 3rd dropped it after a couple of weeks)...until he was almost 2. I took it away for nap times, and then for bed times. Just refused to give it to him, just gave him extra snuggles. He was weaned of it in about a week. When I realized it was starting to affect his speech was when I really cracked down on it. My doc said it was ok for him to have until 2.
  • fields_of_sunflowers@xanga

    I was never allowed one. I just sucked my thumb to get me to sleep, and I grew out of that when I started nursery school.
  • RainDropPixie@xanga

    My son used one. At 18 months, I took all of them that I could find, and threw them away. Each time he pulled one up from his secret stash I'd take it, tell him he was a big boy, and throw it away.

    My mom always harped on me about how "cruel" it was (she made me throw mine away).  You know what, it took less than 2 weeks. At the end of two weeks he didn't care anymore, and it was under a month when he stopped stealing other kids binkies...and in return giving them back to them. 
  • Clumsy_Alice@xanga

    My son used it for maybe a week, other then that, it's a toy. He'll chew on them, but never suck. I give them to him all the time as toys. Not once have I seen him suck on it. He's now 13 months old. 
  • LadyGwenivere@xanga

    ug I hate the look of kids walking around with a suckie in their mouths.. especially 3 year olds. Our monkey would never take one. Our 8 month old is teething and he will chew on it, but thats about it.
    I helped raise my friend's daughter for the first 3 years of her life, and she used a suckie. When she turned 2 it was time for it to go, so we took her for her "Big Girl Day". We all went to Build A Bear, she picked out a teddy, put her suckie in it, and did the stuffing and then it got closed up. Its how the bear got her name Sue (she called her paci a 'sue-sue'). It worked. She did not even fuss for it when nap time came.
    She is now 13 and still has that bear.

  • Lydia_Lynne@xanga

    No, my daughter rarely used a binky.  I wasn't keen on them in the first place because there was no way in hell I was going to get up in the middle of the night to put it back in her mouth if it popped out.  She wasn't really a binky-baby to begin with.  Now they are just chew toys for her because she's teething...she prefers to chew on the Soothies brand.  She does however suck her thumb...big time.  She does it to help herself fall asleep but otherwise she does it to help ease her teething pain.
  • averyswife@xanga

    My daughter used one until she was 2.  It was kind of hard to take it away, but she got over it pretty quickly.  My middle son never took one but my youngest (4 months) takes one.
  • spicycajun@xanga

    My oldest kept hers like a security blanket.. but when we moved back home she lost it on the plane and never asked for it.. so I just didn't buy any more.  it was that easy!


    My boys didn't want one, either of them.  My youngest even refuses teething rings, which i REALLY wish he would use now that he has both top and bottom teeth and likes to grind them together.
  • etoile_violette@xanga

    Well I don't have any kids yet, so I'll speak on my mom's behalf: I still had a pacifier until I was eight :X (but not in public of course)! I don't know, they were just my security blankets... I'm actually surprised my mom let me keep that habit for so long, I mean I was in elementary school! But it was harmless, for me at least; it didn't cause any psychological issues and people always compliment my teeth/smile, so it didn't even jack up my teeth.
  • missymoo630@xanga

    My baby uses pacifier only when she's screaming in a resturant or help her go to sleep.  She spits it right out after a few minutes of sucking and then falls asleep.  I hope she won't be too attached to it and it doesn't look like she is.  HOWEVER, now she is attached to her thumb, you can wean a pacifier much easier than a thumb.  I am not too worried though 'cause my mother in law told me all three of her kids were thumb suckers and they weaned it when the time came.


    My friend's baby weaned pacifier (she CONSTANTLY had it attached to her) at 2 when it fell into the toilet, she never touched another one ever again. 

  • mommashannon@xanga

    I have twins and yes they used them. Olivia quit on her own at 5 months after having the flu. Alex I had to wean off at a year. It only took a day and he was fine
  • Fairywife@xanga
    Both mine used one... but I didn't really like either one using one. My oldest stopped using hers at 9 months. My 8 month old stopped using his at like....3 months. Both suck their fingers. My 2 year old only sucks hers briefly when she's tired. She's more attached to her soft blankets than her sucking. My son only sucks his fingers when he's tired or getting hungry. But, he's a baby so I'd expect no less.
  • mevlink@xanga

    I think pacifiers have kind of received a bad rap lately, probably because we see so many kids who are obviously too old still running around with them in their mouths. The fact is that some babies just need something to suck on, just like some people constantly need to chew something like gum. And there's nothing wrong with that! I'm thankful that my oldest (now 20 months) never really took to a binkie even though we did offer. Instead she discovered her two middle fingers and still sucks them to this day when she's tired. But I won't be upset or disappointed if one of my other kids is a binkie baby. I think limiting it is definitely the key though. Once my kiddos can walk, no more binkie except perhaps at bedtime/naptime. And once they hit 2 years old, if not sooner, we will definitely begin weaning them from it.
  • xaannnniieex@xanga

    My mom always said that a pacifier will make the baby's lips big and fat, because of the sucking motion done by the lips. lol.

  • the_rocking_of_socks@xanga

    My boy used a pacifier from the day he was born up until he was 8 months old.  He just suddenly didn't want it anymore.
  • raspberryjade@xanga

    your baby is ADORABLE, first off!!!

    secondly, I don't think there's anything wrong with them.. though me or my sisters never really used them haha
  • splinter1591@xanga

    i didn't have one

    but i sucked my thumb till like 3rd gradeit was a huge issue

  • Sign in to Comment

  • Give eProps (?)

About the Author

Tags

Who recommended?

Who gave the eProps?

2 eProps from: