Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Paci Free!

I mentioned last week that we were officially a paci-free household and several of y'all asked for tips on quitting the paci.  I wish I had some magic piece of advice and all I've got is wait until your gut tells you they're ready and then make your move... and stick with it.


(Luke - almost 2)

All three of my kids have loved their pacis.  A lot.  And when it came time to give them up I feel like the key was not making a big deal out of it.  I've heard about leaving pacis out for the paci fairy, giving them to the zoo for the baby monkeys, putting them inside of a stuffed animal and on and on and on.  We opted with the low key method and for us, it seemed like the less of a deal we made of it, the less dramatic it was for the kids as well.


(Mason - 2 weeks old)

I will totally admit that during the moving process I became totally lax on our "pacis only in bed" rule and I let her have them whenever and wherever.  She would "bargain" with her pacis... asking to trade one for a snack or time on her Kindle.  The jig was up and I knew it was time to bid adieu to the paci.


(GG - 2 years old)

About two weeks ago I took all three of the kids to the doctor and decided to use her big girl status as the stepping stone for being paci-free.  When we got home from the doctor that afternoon I gathered up all the pacis and hid them in the laundry room cabinet.  When it was time for a nap she started asking for them and I asked her if she remembered how big Dr. Chad told her she was and we talked about how big girls don't need pacis.  She definitely protested and it took her longer than normal to fall asleep that day for her nap and that night at bedtime... but after the second day she stopped asking for them.

That was it.  No fairy, no monkeys, no prize.  Just cold turkey.  

I will say, nap time has been a bit more of a challenge over the past couple of weeks than it was prior to being paci-free.  I used to be able to plop her in her bed around 1:30 and she would almost immediately fall asleep.  Now, there's a lot more playing and chit chatting and bed jumping before she falls asleep ;)


(Mason - one month)

A few additional facts about pacis in our house...

- When I first had Luke I was completely anti-paci.  There were going to be no pacis at our house.  Ever.  Because I knew that all those other moms who used pacis with their babies were obviously just not trying hard enough.  (insert HUGE eye roll at myself here).  About two weeks after he was born I caved.  I was home by myself, unshowered, drowning in laundry, watching Luke struggle to suck on his hand when I decided to break out the paci I had been given as a shower gift and held onto "just in case".  He immediately calmed down and we joined the paci-baby club ;)


(Luke - 3 weeks old)

- We didn't stress about when to take the paci away with any of our kids.  We asked our dentist early on and he told us that as long as they weren't still using a paci when they got their permanent teeth we were fine :)  He also told us that some kids need that self soothing and if you take away the paci they'll start thumb sucking, which can be a much harder habit to break.  We TRIED to leave the pacis in their beds, but after sick days (where they had them more often) or other "off" days we were lax about that rule.


(Griffin - 6 weeks old)

- Luke and Mason both had a paci until they were almost three.  We did the cold turkey method with them as well.  For Luke, it was January and he was turning 3 in April and he got a horrible cold (like, throwing up from coughing so much) and I told him that his doctor said he couldn't have it anymore.  That was it.  No big deal.  I don't remember the specifics for Mason... but I do remember that he was the most upset about losing the paci and it was the hardest with him because Griffin still had one.  Poor little man!



Well, that's all I've got for pacis!  Next up on my list is potty training.  #prayforme

I 100% thought that Griffin would be potty trained by now... but not so much.  We're working on that.  hahaha

If you have some great pacifier advice, leave it in the comments!  Cold turkey worked for us, but I know others are looking for lots of tips and tricks!  Please share, friends :) 

Happy Tuesday!

27 comments :

  1. I never stressed about pacis (we called them Nukers) or potty training. My kids both gave up their Nukers around age 4/VPK and potty trained on their own, one at age 4 (yep!) and one at 3. I think for both we just casually mentioned big kid things like you did with GG. Riding a certain ride at Disney or going down a big kid waterside. I have found everything is easier when they're ready, and no child (not including those with special needs) goes to 2nd grade or something with a paci stuck in their mouth while wearing a diaper. There's a point when fitting in with other kids or "being big" becomes more important to them than the paci.

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  2. Pampers Pull Up website has a great quiz on understanding your little ones personality when it comes to potty training. I found it really useful for understanding how my daughter prefers to understand process and responds well to visual praise on charts. It seems to be working charm. Good Luck!

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  3. What a great post! I have two kids. I felt the same way. You rock!

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  4. I will be stopping by later to read some advice...momma to a 2 1/2 year old unpotty trained binky boy who would be devastated to see his baby sister still sucking on her bink!

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  5. Congrats on being Paci free! My youngest just up and potty trained himself, not kidding, and now we are diaper, nursing, and stoller free. What an odd feeling it is! Loving this new season of motherhood that is ahead!

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  6. Cold turkey worked for us as well! When my triplets were 16 months we just took them away. About a week later, they all caught a bad cold and I tried giving them their paci back to help soothe them, but they didn't want them at all.

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  7. I was the same way as a new mom...there was NO WAY my babies would take a paci. Honestly I tried after about 1 week but a got a thumb sucker instead. I would sooooo rather have a paci taker than a thumb sucker.
    Prayers for potty training...probably one of the hardest things about parenting.
    Lesley McFarland
    Www.kltfamily.blogspot.com

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  8. Out of my three girls, two of them were paci addicts. The third is s thumb sucker!!!!! My oldest daughter gave hers up at 14 months because my husband forgot to take it to daycare that day.... And then we just went with it. For my middle, she turned 2, and expecting our third child just 6 weeks later.... So we waited another month and took her to Build A Bear and put her pacis in a stuffed bunny... I think all of the transitions were harder on me than them! I have no idea how we are going to stop our third but I keep telling her when she turns three- no more thumb sucking.

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  9. I FEARED saying goodbye to the paci. Isn't it amazing how our kids can surprise us? We went cold turkey, too, and there was never a fuss or fight! Good luck with potty training!!! We are in the trenches....

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  10. My oldest was paci obsessed his first year. When I weened him at 12 months I decided I wasn't going to force the paci issue for a while. All night long he would wake up wanting his paci back and I would get out of bed and give him another (I slept with like 8!) one night when he was about 14 months I just didn't go give him another one and that was it. He was over it! It was easy as pie because he gave it up himself. My youngest refused to every take a paci... He preferred mommy. That was rough! Ha.

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  11. We talked about it and decided that big girls had a cup of ice water on the nightstand. And if she woke up and wanted her binky she could take a drink of ice water instead. My daughter is 20 years old and she still has a glass of ice water on her nightstand.

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  12. Love this. My third is two and stuck on the paci, unlike my other two at her age. I'm doing the gradual method too lol. We won't talk about potty training. I haven't even started. !

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  13. I snipped the end of my sons paci and he quit wanting them and then I just threw them out. It never phased him! It was super easy!

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  14. My youngest daughter was three when she started potty training. She was excited for hello kitty undies...We talked about how comfy the undies were instead of scratchy pull ups ;) and she got a piece of candy for going on the toilet that she really loved. (But candy is her love language!) The only time she got those candies was for going to the bathroom. We had them setting out on the counter in a glass bowl as an incentive. Just be consistant? Every hour at first? Remind yourself you already successfully trained two boys!!! Don't give up?

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  15. We told my oldest that Santa only brought presents to big girls. She was a little over 2 and fully potty trained. So Christmas Eve she put all of her pacifiers with the cookies and milk for Santa. Telling him to give them to other boys and girls that needed them.
    She never asked about them and went to sleep fairly well Christmas Eve and Christmas night, those few naps and nights after were a little rough.
    When she found out she was going to be a big sister last year, she insisted on writing Santa a letter asking for the Pacifiers back for her sister.
    She has also reminded us that her sister will need to give her Pacifiers to Santa to get presents after she is two! ;)

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    1. Aww that is so cute!! She's going to be a great big sister! :)

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  16. My first son (Mason too!) LOVED his paci.... took it everywhere! My daycare provider had other thoughts ;) Once I figured it out that she was intentionally taking them from us (not in a bad way ;)) I told him that if he took his paci in to daycare it wasn't coming back out. He took his last one in at a little over two and that was it. He asked for it a couple of times but it was never a big deal. My second son (11 months younger) HATED paci's so it made it so much easier. Mason was 2 months shy of 3 when I had my daughter who uses paci's and he had forgotten all about them in those few short months. Cake walk - I'll probably laugh at this when its time for my daughter to give hers up ;) Now on to potty training my hard-headed second son ;)

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  17. We went cold turkey this weekend and so far so good! Thanks for posting!

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  18. I'm sorry I have no tips for getting rid of pacis, my daughter only took a paci for about 2 weeks when she was born and then refused them after that, it was only mom and the bottle. As for the potty training, well my mom kept trying to force the issue because since she potty trained ME at 18 months she figured my daughter would as well. Since she watches her once a week, it became an issue for a little while but after I talked with my mom (honestly, I got mad at her) she stopped forcing it and little by little after my daughter turned two we started potty training. We made a big deal of her being a big girl and she had a sticker chart. I have to admit that it took longer than I thought it would but it wasn't horrible. Now if anybody has any ideas on how to get rid of the little potty that would be great! lol

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  19. With my oldest she was neither potty trained or paci-free at almost 4. So, one night she was on the toilet, refusing to go, sucking her paci. I started crying thinking I was the worst mom ever! I just said out of desperation "you either get up and throw that paci in the trash or pee on the potty". She got up and threw her paci away and never asked for it again. And then a month later she was potty trained and never had an accident! Went from 100% diapers to 100% panties. So, then with my second, I didn't stress about it. Like you said, I knew the time would come when it was right and at 3 1/2 he had bit the tips off all his pacifiers and so we threw them way and he was fine. He didn't potty train until almost 4 too and he never had an accident. I feel like if you wait until they understand and are ready it will be so much easier. My mom took my paci at 2 because all of her friends gave her a hard time and I started sucking my thumb and did that till I was 12! It's much easier to loose a paci than a thumb, ha!

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  20. I'm not a parent, but I think one of my dad's favorite parenting achievements was going paci-free. He poked holes in all of my pacis and laid them all around me, so when I went to grab one, it didn't soothe me. After trying them all, I stopped grabbing them, and never started again!

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  21. We boxed pacci up and mailed it to the babies who need them (put it in the mailbox and all). Then we had a big boy day and went to the childrens museum. He did ask for them but we just said remember we mailed them to the babies who needed them. Never go back and get it! (of course we did take it out of the mailbox and threw it away). We did it around 2.5 years. About to take it from baby girl soon. She's going to be pissed lol.

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  22. Girl you are soooo lucky! We went cold turkey with the paci for our son when he was almost 3 and the first night he did great. Then after that, every single night he screamed and screamed and screamed and had to be patted to sleep every single night. To this day (he's almost five) we still have to pat him before bed. We only have to stay in there for ten minutes or so now (compared to 30-45 right after we took the paci), so it's not really a big deal now, but it just totally messed up his sleep when we took it away. Our daughter is now approaching 2.5 years and we're contemplating taking hers away soon, but I am DREADING it.

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  23. Good luck on the potty training! I just did my 3 1/2 year old last week. I waited until I knew he was ready and it was mostly painless. My 1 year old is a thumb sucker and never would take a paci, that's going to be fun 😬! None of my kids would take a paci!

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  24. My son was terrified to poop, and I used the doctor excuse too! :) it worked perfectly!

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  25. I can't wait for the potty training blog!! My little girl just turned 3 this month- she will use the potty any time she is asked, but its not a constant thing... yet!

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  26. My oldest was just like Luke. He was throwing up in the middle of the night and the one he had got thrown up on. I put him in our bed and didn't give him another and realized we made it all night without one. The next day when he asked about it I reminded him it got dirty and there wasn't much fuss about. Our youngest was addicted. Lol! We were on a lake trip and we had the in-the-bed-only rule. He would take his paci and lay down for a nap just to have it. So after that weekend we sent his to Santa to give to the babies and Santa sent him a big boy gift back. I felt like he needed more than the "we just aren't going to have them!" anymore. It took him about 3 days to break. His naps were never the same after that. He's been paci free for 2 years but sleep is harder to come by (still!). I don't regret them having pacis, but it can be a hard transition!

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