I have two friends weaning their kiddos from pacifiers now so I thought this was an appropriate place to start!
I've had successes and a big fat failure with pacifier weaning! My way isn't the only way, but it worked for us.
My oldest was about 3 when I decided it was time to get rid of her pacifier (bah bah in our house). I took her to the store after Christmas told her to pick out anything she wanted and she could have it when she threw her bah bah in the trash. We went home and she refused to throw her bah bah away. So up on the counter the toy went unopened. She later announces she will throw it out for a toy someone bought her for Christmas (I had never taken out if the box) All future bribes always began with gifts we had on hand to save a few $. So the pacifier went in the trash and out came the present! I made her put the pacifier in the trash and tell it bye bye so she knew it was gone. If you have several I suggest getting them all together and have them throw them all out on their own or cull through them weeks ahead and get down to only one or two! If you are like us you will find some that were missing. I tried to keep her from seeing them and threw them away promptly.
Child 2=hard headed! I decided to go cold turkey with him too! Daddy was away on a fishing trip so I told him that daddy took his bahbah to the fish! 7 days later full of nauseated screams...no naps and a frazzled mommy a bahbah reappeared! Phew! My sanity and child were left intact!
(I am known for not changing my mind! My oldest once asked me, "Mom why don't you ever changed your mind?". I may be nothing more but consistent I am. )
Ok so the bahbah came back and naps were back and happy baby and mommy resurfaced! At this point, we only allowed the paci at sleeping ... Fast forward about 6 months to when he was almost 3.... I decided again it was time for the paci to go away and away for good! I took it away cold turkey and we've never looked back! I took them and trashed them and just told him we didn't use a Bahbah anymore.
For us cold turkey works! It really works if child and mommy are ready! However, I've found that it can work too if only mommy/daddy is ready! Consistency is a must! Patience is a plus and success comes when you put them together! With any parenting struggles I have had I've found coming up with a plan, executing that plan, being consistent and sympathetic with your child Success can be achieved fairly quickly!
Both of my children when ready gave the pacifier up without even as much as asking for it once the initial 48 hours were up. I just pick a reminder phrase and stick with it. "Remember you threw your bahbah away?" or "you've gotten so big you can ride your bike and don't need it any more."
Find something and stick with it! Share your paci weaning triumphs or struggles in the comments!
Other weaning ideas I've heard are:
•Snip the end a little each week till the nipple part is gone
•Only allow at car rides, nap, and bedtimes then stop allowing it at one of those times for a week or two and then takin away the next and finishing up with not allowing at bed
•Taking pacifier to a friends baby cause the "new" baby needs them
•Paci fairy comes and takes them and leaves a prize
