Taking away Paci's when they are older

SO I have been really bad and haven't taken away Paci's yet. My twins will be 3 next week. I keep saying I'm going to take them away but things keep coming up and I keep saying they need them right now, etc.... LOL For the most part they only have them when they are really upset or in bed but I know it's time. My 19 month old still uses them too but maybe I'll take his away soon too. LOL My oldest NEVER had a Paci (but he did suck his thumb and that was a pain to break in it's own right) so I didn't have to deal with this. I don't know why but I'm so scared to take them away. LOL I told them this morning that when they turn 3 we're going to put them in a box and send them to little babies who don't have any Paci's because babies use Paci's and they're big kids now. They said OK Mom but I'm thinking when it comes time they're not going to just say OK Mom. LOL Does anyone have any tips on how to do this?

 

No real big tips but I am right there with you! My kiddo's will be 3 in feb and they still use theirs at night. They are really good, they take them out in the morning and either pass them to me to put on a shelf, or leave them in their beds. However, they are a necessity at night

With both my older kids I took their paci's cold turkey at age 2 and age 3 respectively. It was a couple of nights of rough crying but they settled down pretty quick after that. I attempted to take the twins away shortly after they turned 2, we even went to Build a Bear and put their paci's in their bears, but after 4 hrs of screaming I gave in! I'm going to try again soon, but no turning back this time, we'll just have to deal with the crying for a few nights. By age 3 they are able to sooth themselves without them, and they occassionally fall asleep on the couch or in the truck without them, so they don't *need* them as much anymore.

Good luck!!

 

No advice, just sympathy! My twins will be three in February and they still use them for sleep. I haven't even tried to take them away. I have to transition mine out of cribs before the binky goes bye bye. Our pediatrician said he wasn't concerned over pacifier use until age 4. Ours will see the dentist around their third birthday and unless there are some serious problems with their teeth, I am not stressing over it. I used a pacifier until I was almost 4 and I just gave it up one day... without a fight (although I did wear braces in my teens)! Here's hoping mine will give it up that easily when they are ready! Thankfully, my third son never took to the pacifier and I never pushed it BUT he doesn't sleep very well... it's a trade off! Good luck!!

 

My DDs still have their pacis, and they're nearly 3.5. One of my DDs really needs it to settle when she's upset and to sleep at night, and I can't take the other DDs away when her sister still has hers. Their dentist told me to "try" to ditch them this summer, and since it's still nearly 80 degrees, I figure I'm in the gray area for "summer". My friend is an orthodontist, and she said she doesn't worry about it until Kindergarten, when there is social pressure to not have it any longer. She doesn't mind the braces business later on, though ^_^ She said if you stop when they really need them for soothing, they can start sucking their thumb or finger and that could be just as or more troublesome. My pediatrician isn't worried about it either, so I'm going to wait until they are ready and hopfully get rid of it on their own. I always point out the "big kids" we see and how none of them have a paci. That tactic worked great for getting the twins to wear underwear instead of a diaper and get potty trained.

Like Meghan, my youngest doesn't use a paci or suck her thumb which is nice and her teeth are so straight and pretty, but she isn't a good sleeper, so there is definitely a trade-off.

 

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one. I was feeling bad because they were getting so old but they calm them down so much when they are upset and their Dad has been gone off and on so much lately that they've really been depending on them. My husband's finally done with this latest field thing next week so he'll be home for a couple months and taking 2 weeks vacation and just staying home SO I'm hoping that will help with the transition without them. They have blankies they love too so I'm going to encourage them to cuddle up with them. I swore I'd never give my 19 month old a Paci to sleep with because I didn't want to have to break him and I stuck to my guns and he did fine until he was around 16 months or so. I took away his bedtime bottle at that point and he didn't have the sucking thing to calm him down to sleep and I gave in and gave the Paci to him to sleep with. LOL Totally my fault but he is SUCH a good sleeper. LOL These darn Paci's. They're good and bad. The twins were awful sleepers when they were little until they finally took a Paci at 5-6 months. After I figured out how to keep them from losing them at night (I attached one to a small blanket so they wouldn't fall out of the crib as easy and they could find them easily) it was smooth sailing with sleep. I think that's why I get scared. I like them sleeping good. LOL We did the transition to toddler beds this summer and I'm definitely glad I kept the Paci's at that point. We're doing this whole "big kid" thing this winter so I'm hoping the Paci's will just fit in with that. My husband is building beds for them so we're moving them to "big big" kid beds. LOL My babies are definitely growing up. LOL

 

Nothing to help taking away wise bc Hannah used hers the longest and I took it away at 6.5 months bc you guys are confirming what I was fearing! My only advice is I would take Ryder's away too....might as well make it tough one time rather than going through it twice! Do it now and he'll never know the difference....3 y/o are much harder to take things from

 

Kids need security objects to feel safe. My dd used one until 2.5 years old when she was refusing to nap (she was exhausted) and so that was the only thing I could take away. She cried for about 45 minutes before falling asleep and napping. Then later I just could not figure out a reason to give it back to her. She asked for it at bedtime, naptime, bedtime, naptime & then finally bedtime. Then it was forgotten. It was *that* easy. With my youngest, who used a plug, HE lost his one day. Seriously.. he hid them and could not find them. So, I was not about to go and buy more. It was time. He was in the 2 year old range. He did this cute 'looking for the plug' routine for awhile before nap/bedtime. I did find a few of them (in a boot near the door) a few days later. Ha!
Perhaps you can give them a blankie or something else that would make them feel secure. Good luck!

 

I told them every day for a week that on _____ day I was going to box them up for a coworker's baby. We had no issues. I think that the key was to let them know what was going to happen, and to let it happen like it was supposed to. I let them help me box them up "for M's new baby."

But really, it went easily and they were pushing 3. They were old enough to understand what was happening and why it was happening. Don't be scared!

 

LOL Very true!! OK maybe I'll bite the bullet and do them all at the same time. That way he won't have any the twins can steal. LOL

 

They sleep/cuddle with blankies they've had since they were really little and they are all 3 attached to those as much as the Paci's so I'm hoping that they can just handle cuddling with blankies. It's hard though some days. When someone gets hurt they automatically say BLANKIE PACI!!! The minute they get them they're instantly calmed. Hard to take that kind of magic away. LOL We'll see how it goes. Hoping the blankie will work

 

That's what I'm really hoping. They both seemed ok with sending it to a baby who needed it. We've been giving clothes that are too small for them to other people (Walker hands his down to Ryder) and sometimes they'll get excited when they see something they used to really love and I explain that it's too small for them now and they wear big kid clothes and we have to give these to smaller children/babies who need them. They seem to "get" that so I'm really hoping that they'll get this one too. That's the only thing I fear about taking Ryder's away right now is because he doesn't really get that yet. I might wait on him. LOL We'll see how this goes how much upheaval I can handle in my house at once