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What have you done to help your child move past the pacifier? (I always called it a wawa as a kid. Jodi never really got into them.)

i'm anxious to see everyone's response to this as my dd is 14 months old and she refuses to go anywhere without one. i dont mind letting her use it to go to sleep, but i dont want her to use it all day long. has anyone ever heard of cutting a hole in the nipple and then they dont want it anymore?

YeeeaaahhH!!!! I desperately need help here! I have considered myself to be a fairly strict mom as far as getting my daughter off the bottle, potty trained, etc. But, I just cannot take the "paci" away. My daughter is 30 months and still using it. The paci never leaves the house (as I am embarassed for her to have it in public). Up until she turned 1 and a half or 2 she only used it when she went to sleep, but as time goes by, I notice her asking for it more frequently, like right when we walk in the door!

Baylee's Mom:

That is too funny that you ask about cutting a hole in the nipple. Over the past 6 months my daughter's molars have ben coming in. I guess from sucking on a pacifier, holes have started to form on the sides of them. A few months ago she would pick it up, put it in her mouth, and spit it back out asking for "A New One." Now, she just will find one, look at it, and put it back if it has a hole.

So, it does work, but I need to be ready to not have a back-up one for her with no wholes!

I've never heard of cutting off the nipple, but I'd be afraid that if they had teeth, that the cut rubber or silicon would fray and they would end up swallowing or choking on small pieces of the pacifier.

When it was time for Christopher to give up his binkys, we had the binky fairy come (kind of like the tooth fairy). We told him that the binky fairy collected binkys to give to other baby boys and girls when older boys and girls didn't need them anymore. In return, the binky fairy would leave a gift for "donating" the binkys. But - he had to be absolutely certain that he would not ask for them back, because the binky fairy couldn't return them. He thought about this for a couple of days and then all of the sudden was ready to give them up. The "binky fairy" thought it was going to take a while for Christopher to give up his pacifier, so I had to make a quick stop to Walmart after he went to bed. The "binky fairy" gave him a 3 pack of playdough and it was a success.

I know - its a bit of a bribe, but it worked for us. He never asked for the binky again.