When & how did you get rid of your child's nuk?

[sweetpeamom25]

Our DD is almost 2 ½ and she still has her pacifier for naps and bedtime. She never has it any other time. But, come nap or bedtime, she reeeeeally wants that pacifier. If she loses it during the night she’ll wake up crying and ask for it, so we’ll have to go in there and find it for her, then she easily goes back to sleep. So like most kids who have one, she’s very dependent on it. I’m due in August with #2 so we’d like to work on getting rid of her nuk before then. I’m anticipating some nights of her crying herself to sleep, etc. so we’d like to do that when we’re not trying to get a newborn to sleep as well.

Any suggestions on how to get rid of a nuk? What age were you able to pry it from your child’s hand? Any tricks? I know we could go cold turkey and just take it away and let her cry it out, but that would be especially hard on her and us. I was hoping to try a different method first, I just don't know what...

[dara1012]

We clipped the nipple end of the pacifier off. I had heard about this technique where you clip it shorter each day until it is gone, but DH misunderstood me and cut it all off and handed it to DS at bedtime (he was just over 2) and DS said "broken fa-fur" (he called his pacifier a "fa-fur") and that was the end of it. We did the transition right before he went to a new daycare so he was never at the new daycare with a pacifier.

My SIL and brother did the same thing for my niece. She held her pacifier for about two weeks in her hand after it was "broken".

I have also heard about people collecting all of them and wrapping them up to give to a new baby cousin or other new baby....not sure that would work with a sibling though, because they are still around the house, but that might work.

[lilmermaid]

Both of my DDs were about 2 yrs old.

DD1 I was able to snip the end a liitle bit every 2-3 days until it was gone.

DD2 we did the nuk fairy. We set out a bowl with all the nuks for the fairy to take them all to the new babies at the hospital. The fairy left a present!

DD3 is going to be 2 in August and I can tell she's going to be a tough one to break!

Expect 2-4 rough nights! Also make sure there aren't any lost nuks around or you'll have to start all over! My older DDs also had another comfort item which helped too. A blankie and a stuffed monkey.

[bumblebee23]

My son was about 3yo I think. He had it all the time and would throw a MAJOR tantrum if we couldn't find it. He started biting the sides and one morning showed it to me. I was still half asleep and I ripped the top part off and gave it back to him. He put it in his mouth and took it out and said, "Pugy boken" I told him he better go throw it away then. He got up and went to the kitchen and threw it away. He asked for it a few times after that but I just said, "Pugy boken remember? You threw it away." He would remember and accepted it and that was the end to that.

[irish]

I was going to do the clipping, but I heard it can cause a lot of bacteria growth and sicknesses.

I'm a mean mom. We did it cold turkey, but it was kind of by accident. DS only had one binky left, and he was spending the night with his grandparents. We forgot to pack it, and kind of used that opportunity to get rid of it. He was fine without it at his grandparents (it helped that he was having a sleepover with his cousin!) and when he came home we never talked about it and never offered it. He whined a little for the first night or so (back home) and then that was it.

[onlyoneboy]

We cut a small slit in it and DS1 never liked it after that. We made sure he threw them away so he knew he wasn't getting a new one. I think he was around 3 when we did it. I'm lucky that now DS2 never wanted to suck on one so we don't have to go thru that again.

[lilmermaid]

Interesting about the germs and bacteria Irish! My Peds Dr is the one who told me to cut it. I guess I view the things as full of germs and bacteria already. I rarely wash or disinfect them.

[jrose]

The only thing that worked for DD1 was her sending it to her favorite cartoon character. She put it in the envelope, wrote some things on it, and put it in the mailbox herself! If she did ask for it we would remind her and she was perfectly fine with it being gone now.

DD2 I think we just took it away and never gave it back. She was easy.

[sarahisis]

We went on vacation... he fell asleep without it one night and for nap the following day, and never asked for it again....
Send them to Santa!

[irish]

So true Lil! I think the longer you draw the process out, the harder it is to let go. Like I said, I'm a mean mom LOL!!

[healerarina]

Dd1 had a nightmare one night and threw it aside, that was the end of the paci for her. She only asked a couple times after that.

DD2 is almost 18 months, the paci stays in her room, only given at nap/bed time. I will let her have one in the car just before nap time when I take dd1 to school.

[angel22]

Grr, I lost my response! Ok, I think cold turkey is the only way to go. It's the only way that makes sense to me. Whether you have the kid throw it away or send it to the Nuk fairy- gone is gone. My girls all were Nuk free by age 2 (same with potty training- I wanted it done before the next kid came!) With DD1 we told her that we forgot it at Nana's house. DD2 bit the tip off of her's so I made her throw it away. With DD3 I just told her that she was too big for it and took it away. All of my girls only used them for sleep time by the time I took them away, anyway.

[sharon]

Ian was 2 1/2 and very much loved his "bee bee." First we limited it to the car and bed only. Then just the bed. Then, we set a date with him about 2 weeks out and told him the bee bee was going away then. We showed him on a calendar, and also paired it with Passover so he would have a sense of when was coming. That way too, we would be off school and home for a while, so if his sleep was disrupted it would be easier to deal.

The other thing we did was pack up his beebees and bring them to a family member who was pregnant to pass on to her baby. This really helped him too, with the idea that he was getting bigger and that the beebees were for littler ones. In the end he was excited about it and wrapped them up carefully in a little box and happily presented them. He never looked back.

[sharon]

P.S. Not sure if it's just Ian's temperament or what, but we found the idea of giving about two weeks warning for big changes worked well with him in general. It's enough time for him to process a bit - he gets anxious about big changes - but a short enough time that it doesn't drag on too long. And it let's us take control in that we tell him when it is happening, but gives him some sense of control too in that he has some time to prepare.

That, paired with finding some way to make the transition a positive thing rather than just a loss worked well with the pacifier so we applied the same idea to potty training and to weaning as well.

[bunsy]

Ds1 was a challenge. I'm embarrassed to admit he was over 4--only had it at night. We ended up having a sleepover--he got to sleep with mom--for 3 nights. He had to hold it in his hand but wanted me there to make sure he didn't put it in his mouth. I learned my lesson about waiting TOO long.

DS2 was never THAT attached to his. I told him and dd that we weren't buying anymore. If it got lost, they were done. They were about 2. They hung on to those last pacifiers like crazy. DS2 just couldn't find his one night and was fine. DD gave hers to the neighbor for their new baby. She asked for it that night and was sad when I reminded her that she had given it away. But that was the end.

Definitely easier at 2 than at 4.