Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Help a Mom out!

When Ava had her 15 month check up a couple of weeks ago, one of the questions we had was when to take away the pacifier. He pretty much said get rid of it. He said that they recommend taking them away at a year old (nice to know three months later)(which makes me wonder why that wasn’t mentioned at her 1 year appointment, but whatever).

She had a bad habit of going and getting them out of her bag whenever she wanted one so we decided to stop that and put them all  away. However, we decided that she’s still pretty young so we’re still letting her have them at nap times and bed times or when her incessant whining when she’s tired, hungry or cranky gets on our nerves. She’s learned very well because if it’s still in her mouth when we get her from her crib, she either spits it our or takes it out and throws it down. We also keep it on standby just in case we need it in church. She’s actually done pretty well and hasn’t gotten too loud, thankfully!

That being said, for all you experienced parents (or even the nonexperienced ones) out there, when did you take it away from your child for good? Or if you haven’t taken it away, when do you plan to? Or did your kid just never take one – sometimes I wish she hadn’t but I think it’s a double edged sword! Anyway, obviously every child is different but it’d be nice to hear some different thoughts. Ava’s only really had an attachment to her blanket and pacifier but it’s not the blanket she wants when she needs to be soothed – she wants that binky!

STOP! Please don’t take it away!IMG_0591

So, thoughts? Suggestions?

Hope you’re staying warm!!! They say it’s going to be colder here in the next couple of days than it has been in the last 20 years!! Yikes!!

7 comments:

  1. I love that picture - cracks me up!!! I just love your blog too - I feel like I know Ava (and you) a little better from keeping up with you. You have me addicted now because she is so darn cute I look to see what she is up to now! :)

    I can't really help you with the pacifier thing - neither of my boys ever took one. I really didn't want them to because I was nursing them but I did try with Nathan one time. He was a baby in church and he didn't want it but it at least kept him quiet for one single Mass while I put it in his mouth and he spit it out - over and over and over again. My brother and his wife pretty much used a paci as a drool plug for their daughter. Jim's niece was older than Ava when they took the paci away from her - she "paid" for a Build A Bear with a sack full of pacifiers they had gathered up all over the house. Of course, she always had 3 at one time - one in her mouth, one in a hand and the last one she rubbed against her nose and face to go to sleep. See - it could be worse!! :)

    I heard somewhere they are supposed to be weaned from a paci by 6 months at the latest, but I can't remember where I heard that. Like you said, it seems like your doctor would have mentioned it before now!! Good grief! I have heard if you cut the tip off they won't want it and will spit it out. Maybe have a fit too, but I guess it is the price you pay.

    Good Luck!!!!
    :) Sheri Fuhrman

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  2. i'm NO help in this area, friend. my sugar plum spit out her beebee when she was about 4 months old. but now she sucks her thumb when she's really tired. never during the day ... just when she's going to sleep. and of course, we don't get more than 5 feet away from taggie at any point in time. loves to our friend though. she's SO SO SO cute - even with her binky!

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  3. First of all, you can do this!!! It isn't fun for a little while but you CAN do this. We took Scarlett's paci away about a month and a half ago. She was 9 months or so. She had started spitting it out during the night and then she would throw it out of her crib and cry until we came in there, um no thanks. Anyway, we did the gradual weaning. I started just by giving it to her at naptime and bedtime but that was it. Then after two days of that, I took it away for her morning nap and gave it to her for afternoon nap and night. Then after two or three days of that, I just gave it to her for bedtime. She fussed each time I took it away but not bad, which this may be horrible, but Scarlett is a horrible napper so I put a few toys in her crib to amuse her until she falls asleep (if she does) so she would chew on those at first. I also, sort of tricked her. She would only suck on the newborn pacificers in the first place, so I went and bought the 6-12 months ones that were bigger so she would calm down when I gave it to her but she would end up spitting it out herself since it wasn't her normal pacifier. By the time I took it away at night, I think we had two kind of rough nights and that was it, she was over it. And I mean, we have had much worse nights when she has been teething. Good luck!! I hope it goes smoothly for you!!

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  4. Oh this is a tough one! Ava never took a paci, and was only attatched to her bottle! At one year we cut her offcold turkey, and she really did fine((I know I got lucky)). So with no personal experience in the paci dept. I have heard of parents having the "binky fairy" come on a specific day to pick up all the pacies and leave something new in it's place...
    Good luck friend!

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is a tough one. My little boy will be 3 at the end of March and we just got rid of the paci (he called it his baby) last Wednesday. He had it all of the time until he was about 20 months old and then we changed babysitters and she wouldn't let him have it during the day. So then instead of me just quitting it I continued to let him have it at night and at naptime on the days I was home. So while I was off for Christmas break I decided it was time to get rid of it so I gathered them all up, hid them in a drawer and told him that he was a big boy now and that the binky fairy had taken all of his "babies" and given them to little babies in the hospital that didn't have one. There is a website with a video from the "binky fairy" on it that I showed him and he said okay and that was the end of that. He hasn't asked for it since. I couldn't believe it was so easy because he would just beg for it when it was bedtime. The website is www.nomorebinky.com. Good luck and I hope it goes well for you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello Sarah!

    OK...I am going to tell you what my sister did with my nephews...she cut a small hole in the part they suck on and told them they were broken (and they throw them away...which is always fun, right?)...she did this on each one until there were no more left.

    I am not sure what age she started this...but it worked with both of her little ones.

    Hope this helps! I know you have a tough job ahead of you!

    Good luck...praying for you on an easy transition!

    Lisa :)

    P.S.

    Did you get your TOM shoes?

    ReplyDelete
  7. It seems like K & W both gave their's up around 24 months. They were pretty much just sleeping with them by then. Before that, I tried to wean them a little at a time by just making sure they didn't have them as much during the day. We did the snip-the-binky thing like someone mentioned above with K. We just snipped a little more each day until it was gone. That didn't seem to work as well with W. I think we just talked him into giving a binky at a time away to "little babies who needed them." I've also heard of someone taking the child and the binky to Build A Bear and putting the binky inside the bear (like someone else mentioned above). Then the child just hauled the bear around instead of having the binky in her mouth! I thought that was a good idea! Anyway, I think it's perfectly fine for Ava to still have her binky. I'm sure you'll be able to gradually wean her from it.

    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete

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