How I Got Rid of My Toddler’s Pacifier

I hated my toddler’s pacifier, so it had to go!  Do you want to know how to get rid of your toddler’s pacifier?  Pacifier weaning didn’t work for us, but this is what did …

From the moment hubby stuck a pacifier in our baby’s mouth I was devastated, but it was the one thing we could almost certainly rely on to keep her quiet (you remember, she’s the fussiest baby on the planet).

I’ve been excited, and beyond nervous, about doing away with the paci.  She’s almost two, and I want to be able to take loads of pictures of her without that hideous thing hiding her awesome smile!  So, I’ll be documenting our “death to paci” journey and posting when it’s over.

I did not speak with her about

Day 1 (June 15): A half-day – extenuating circumstances made me wait until a little after lunch to swap out her good paci for one that I snipped the end off of.  The first hour was nearly impossible, and I was trying so very hard not to break under the pressure (knowing I had a good spare made listening to the crying very hard to handle).  I pulled out a supply of snacks for the little one which satisfied her until I needed to turn on some Signing Time to distract her.  The moment that clipped pacifier was in her hand, she knew something was wrong with it.  She kept signing for “help” and began saying “uh oh” when she could catch her breath enough to speak.  She’d hand it to me, crying, saying uh oh, and was expecting me to fix her pacifier… I would hold it and act as though I couldn’t understand what was wrong with it, suck on it, and she’d take it back, even more pissed.

We had a few issues during the day and many times I just had to walk away from it.  Not long after dinner, she was asking for bed (nap was early due to the circumstances previously mentioned) and she wasn’t making much fuss about the pacifier by now.  Against the recommendations, I allowed her to continue hanging on to the cut pacifier as she was allowed to do all day.  As tired as she was, she still found the energy to scream for nearly 40 minutes before finally accepting defeat and falling asleep.

Day 2 (June 16): Baby girl woke once about an hour from falling asleep the night before and was easily soothed.  I lucked out as she never woke up again (that I heard).  When it was finally time to get up this morning, she was in her room playing and babbling … pacifier in hand, but not upset.  The first half of the day she asked for her paci maybe three times. When I told her where she left it, she’d go in the dining room, look at it, say uh oh, and walk out back to her play.  At some point, I realized the pacifier wasn’t where I thought it was, but even I couldn’t find it for a while.  I was stunned that it had actually gone missing and she wasn’t that concerned.  Nap and bedtime were fairly easy, with a scream or two before sleeping through the night … surprisingly simple.

Day 3 (June 17): I decided this was a wonderful day to celebrate such huge success and spent the day at the zoo with baby girl and a friend and her two young boys.  She handed off the pacifier when we got there at opening, and never asked for it again.  Aside from some meltdowns waiting for the train to move, she did an amazing job.  Those meltdowns made me wish I had brought an in-tact pacifier, but I was so glad I didn’t have one when she got over things and quieted sooner than expected.  She even passed out on the trip home after only a couple of minutes of screaming – and I think most of that was from being over-tired since we’d missed her real nap time.  Another night of easy sleep!

Day 4 (June 18): I had clipped the pacifier a little closer just to be sure she wasn’t still getting some satisfaction from it.  While she had a little extra trouble sleeping for her nap today, she still didn’t give me any trouble with the pacifier the entire day.  I think she only asked for it twice, more to walk with it like a security item.

End Results: While I know it’s a “no-no” to give a baby a clipped pacifier, I chose to do it anyway to give my daughter the comfort of still having her pacifier.  We didn’t have nearly the fights or trouble as expected with weaning from the pacifier, though she still likes to have it in hand for nap and bedtime.  She runs around all day without it and seems to be generally happier … it’s as though she is finding other things to make her happy, so she’s not so focused on the paci making her happy.

In some ways, I wished we had followed the suggestions of talking to her prior to taking away the pacifier, but she had already begun hiding them knowing I kept taking them from her before.  I think talking about it may have made her hide them for good until she needed it.

I was nervous to take it away, but the strength and courage to do it paid off.  I, in no way, would believe the experience would be so easy for everyone.  If you are going into this phase, my advice is to plan according to the needs and personalities of you and your family.