weaning from pacifier

Hello. Need advice from experienced parents. Our 15-month old son only
uses the pacifier for naps and bedtime. He usually goes right to sleep
and rarely wakes up during the night. Most of the time it falls out or
we'll take it out after awhile. We tried not giving it to him the last
two nights, but he just screams and we give in after 5-10 minutes. Should
we let him cry until he falls asleep without it or should we try weaning
again in a month or so?

please help

On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 20:47:13 -0500, "mrandmrss"
scribbled:

Hello. Need advice from experienced parents. Our 15-month old son only
uses the pacifier for naps and bedtime. He usually goes right to sleep
and rarely wakes up during the night. Most of the time it falls out or
we'll take it out after awhile. We tried not giving it to him the last
two nights, but he just screams and we give in after 5-10 minutes. Should
we let him cry until he falls asleep without it or should we try weaning
again in a month or so?

None of my kidlets kept a pacifier for very long so my ideas may not
be useful.... but I'm wondering why you want to wean him? Passive use
shouldn't be an issue with his teeth.
Have you tried substituting another comfort item for the pacifier?

Nan

On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 20:47:13 -0500, "mrandmrss"
wrote:

Hello. Need advice from experienced parents. Our 15-month old son only
uses the pacifier for naps and bedtime. He usually goes right to sleep
and rarely wakes up during the night. Most of the time it falls out or
we'll take it out after awhile. We tried not giving it to him the last
two nights, but he just screams and we give in after 5-10 minutes. Should
we let him cry until he falls asleep without it or should we try weaning
again in a month or so?

I wouldn't worry about the pacifier until he is getting closer to age
two. You are already way ahead of the game than many parents. As long
as it is put away during the day and he only uses it to get to sleep,
he will likely wean himself off it by age two. If not, after his
second birthday, you can give it to him at bedtime and encourage him
to put it in a drawer and wave bye-bye to it as you take him to bed.
(That way he's doing it, rather than you taking it from him.)

PF

Note to fearful readers- apparently there is a time at about 7 mos when
the weaning from pacifier is very smooth and easy. If you miss that
window, it can be really tough, as the OP is finding.

my heart goes out to you. I understand why you would like to lose the
pacifier- they cover beautiful smiles, are correllated with increased
ear infections, speech delay and possibly later apnea. (see
www.brianpalmerdds.com)- but it isn't easy, is it?

some friends who missed this window of opportunity weaned their boys
wwhen they were 5 or so and it was H*ll! for one of them they paid
him for each one that he gave up- their son was fine until he sold the
last one to his parents- not sure what they did, actually. even if
they never gave it back again, it worked because he's almost 18 and
doesnt' blame them for removing it.

for the other son they snipped off the tips so it was no longer
air-filled and satisfying. I think that was more effective- and more
necessary as their son has an overbite and arched palate, IIRC and they
really wanted to stop using it. Over time they made the nipple part
smaller and smaller so it became less and less interesting until it was
a non-issue.

good luck with this. It will probably take more snuggling time for
awhile- but it is so worth it, both to ditch the pacifier asap and to
get some high quality toddler hugs while he's adjusting. :-)
--
--
Kate, http://systems.cs.colorado.edu/~koli...f-formula.html
Mom to Ursula (10), Sage (7.5), Benno (4!!) Nothing is more
conducive to peace of mind than not having any opinions at all. ~
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
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