Pacifier issues

[Littleape]

I have 18 month old twins who absolutely will not sleep without their pacifiers. I have finally managed to get rid of them for the day time but I have to give them back for nap and bedtime. I know that some kids have them much longer but I am trying to break the habit now. My husband says just let them cry and they will eventually get used to it and go to sleep but he is not here at nighttime; he works 2nd-3rd shift so it is just me. Any tips?

[ra11en]

When I finally decided my little one had to give up her binky at 13 months, it helped to take it away when I got her out of the crib the morning I wanted to break the habit. I was prepared for a real battle, and I wanted to start the battle during nap time, not bed time. She didn't get much sleep during that first day, and it took about 1.5 hours to get her down for that first nap, but by that night she had already adapted enough to sleep without it. I also let her keep a sippy cup of water in the crib with her from that day on, and that has also helped.

It wasn't fun! But, we were adamant about it being time to break the habit, and we didn't once give it back to her even when it got super hard. I remember sitting on the stairs listening to her cry in her crib that first naptime - ROUGH. After 2 days, she never asked for it again, so we got pretty lucky.

Good luck!!!!!!

[Littleape]

how did you get your daughter to sleep? we just got the girls to fall asleep without being held about 3 months ago. We lay them on the couch so they can still see us, cover them up and play some soft music. After they are asleep then we take them to the crib and lay them down. We tried one night to get them asleep in the crib and that didn't go too well. With 2 of them they just sat up and played together for hours. I am just afraid I will have to rock them to sleep if I don't give pacifiers then that will undo the progress we have already made on the sleep issue. Which is more important? the pacifiers or falling asleep on their own?

[myboysmom]

I think that letting them fall asleep on their own is more important than the pacifiers, definitely. I do have a question, do they share a crib or have their own? And do they crawl out of their crib on their own? If they don't crawl out by themselves, then let them play for a night or two (if you're willing to deal with next day, that is ;)) But, really, they're only 18 months. The pacifier at bedtime isn't that bad at that age. I know with my kids, sometimes they seem so mature for their age, I forget that they're just 4, or just 2. Let them be kids, b/c before you know it, you're debating about their preschools and kindergartens, and they don't want you to rock them to sleep, or hold their hand when you walk, or kiss their owies..... Okay, so I'm a little sentimental. I'm 5 months pregnant, what do you expect? :)

[Littleape]

they do share a crib but they have not climbed out on their own yet. I thought the same way you do that I was more concerned with the sleep issue than with the pacifiers. I do notice though since they don't have the pacifiers in the daytime, they are talking constantly now which is very good. They seem to be developing faster since the pacifiers have been prohibited in the daytime. I have been trying to lay them down without the pacifiers for about 5 mins for naptime while I pickup all the toys and then I give them to them. Don't know if that will help at all but figured wouldn't hurt, right? My husband thinks it is simple just do it all at one time and they will be fine but he also works at night so he doesn't see how it is to try and do all this by myself.

[mom1931]

Atleast that worked in our case. My son was on pacifiers till he was a year old. We just stopped giving it to him one day. He did cry for a few days and after that he totally forgot abt it.

We used to keep him distracted by doing things like giving him bath just before bed time ... patting on his back / rock him to sleep...or putting him in a bouncer/swing till he dozed off. It took some time and patience but it worked out eventually!!

[littleboyblue]

My son is nine months old and has never liked a pacifier, which I'm thankful for because I get so annoyed seeing two year olds take their pacifier out of their mouth to talk.
But I wonder, have you tried putting a drop of thumb sucking/nail biting deterrent on their pacifier? Then it wouldn't be you being the mean mommy that takes it away, they wouldn't want it because it tastes bad.
I bite my nails and keep the deterrent on my nails to keep me from it.
I got mine at wal-mart, the brand is Hoof and it is called Kick the Habit, Stop the bite. I think just a drop would do it.

[ShutterbugMommie]

Here is Idea I have seen work:

Have you tried swapping the pacifier for something else? My friend just broke her 14 month old from the pacifier by offering her a stuffed toy and/or special blanket to sleep with. She went out and bought them then told her daughter they were a special toy or blanket for sleeping only and she could only have then if she gave mommy her pacifier. It seemed to work, she wanted the pink blanket and the puppy toy more than she wanted the pacifier. The first night was a little rough but after that, her daughter was fine. Now she has to have her puppy and blanket to sleep, but it got rid of the pacifier.

All you would be doing is replacing the item they use to feel secure. I would say its worth a shot if you really want the pacifire gone.

[newmommy1211]

I don't know if you are familiar with the show "SuperNanny" but there was a similar situation. What she did was she got a big envelope that had "Paci Fairy" labeled on it. She told the child that the Paci Fairy was looking for big boys and girls to send their pacis to other little babies and if he could be a big boy and give his to all the little babies that needed them instead. They made a big production out of him putting all his pacis in the envelope and they put it outside on the porch. When morning came, the "Paci Fairy" had left the little boy an envelope, full of fairy dust (confetti). It was a pretty cute idea and it did work. I think it had to do with the child giving it up voluntarily instead of being forced to give it up.

[ra11en]

We have a really good bedtime routine that we've always done since she started sleeping in her crib alone at 8 weeks. Now at almost 18 months, she understands the routine and it really triggers sleepiness in her when we go through saying night night to the fishies, her toys, the dogs, giving night night kisses to daddy or mommy, brushing teeth, and reading a story for 10 minutes. We do this routine before naps and at bedtime, and now she'll even do the sign language for sleep while we're going through the routine.

Our decision not to wait for her to get older and give it up voluntarily was purely personal. While I don't think there is anything wrong with an older child having a pacifier, I don't believe it is necessary in most cases. Our daughter's pacifier was becoming more of a hassle in different ways than a comfort to her so we knew it was time to fix the problem by getting rid of it.

She isn't always asleep when I put her to bed, and it took time to teach her how to fall asleep on her own. She has never slept or even been allowed to fall asleep somewhere other than her crib once she outgrew her swing unless she was ill. We've had our battles, and she has had nights of crying for long periods of time, but her father and I never wavered. Now days, she usually falls alseep within a few minutes of me putting her in the crib but that took time for her to learn. When she's been sick, we have to go through the battle of getting her to fall asleep alone and stay asleep for days after she is well again. We never back down though, and I strongly believe its better for her and for us for her to sleep well on her own.

As for playing when you put them to bed, I say let them play but stick to your guns. No taking them out when they decide not to play but fuss instead. My little one sometimes talks to herself and rolls around in her crib for a good 40 minutes after I lay her down. Sometimes she falls asleep while we're reading her story and stays asleep when I put her in her crib. It is different every night, but we stick to our guns. 7:30 is bedtime, period. :) Consistency is the key, and it takes time for little ones to adapt but they do adapt amazingly well. Good luck!

[twiceblessed]

uggg, I think that pacifiers are one of the worst inventions ever made. Neither one of my girls ever used one and with all the stories that I hear about how hard it is to get them away from them I am doubly glad that we never put one in their mouths. That being said the only advice I can give you is what my friend did to break her girls of the habit. She started cutting off the nipples of all the pacifiers a little bit at a time. She said that after about a week they were totally weened from them.

Good luck

[bebe4ma]

My son is only 8 months so he isn't ready to give up his paci just yet, but a friend brought her daughter to a build a bear store, told her what a big girl she was and their daughter put all her paci's in the bear. Just thought it was a cute way to do it and she loves to sleep with it.