"Pacifiers Make Great Babies..What About Toddlers?"

Both of my children are/were "noonie babies". My 5 year old gave up his paci a little after 2 and my 23 month old still enjoys hers while in her crib only. She asks to go "night, night" just to have a moment alone with her noonie! I know that the time is coming when Adam and I will have to endure some sleeplessness and crying due to the absence of that colorful, vanilla scented, plastic contraption!


Some moms are able to get their little ones to break the habit before they are a year old....yay for you! Some start trying before they are 2. Some, myself included, prefer to wait until their little one sort of understands what's going on. Some skip this stage all together because their little angel never took one! (Lucky ducks!)

Here's my take on it and what what worked for Mason, my oldest. I did not want to have to cut his pacifier, make it float off into space, or give it to the "Noonie Fairy". I could not see Mason buying into any of those very clever tricks. A good friend of mine passed her unique strategy on to me and here's what I did.

When Mason wasn't around I lightly coated the nipple part of his pacifiers with a product called "Stop the Bite". (It's safe! It's usually used for thumbsuckers and kids who bite their fingernails.) Basically, it created a safe, nontoxic nastiness on the noonie. When it was naptime Mason got into his crib, grabbed his blanket, and one of his noonies. (You know your child has a stash in there too! We all got tired of having to find the lone binky at 2 am!) When he put it into his mouth he discovered that it was "yuck". He took it out and tried another one. That one was "yuck" too! He did cry and fuss when he found out that all of them were "yuck". I calmly explained to him that maybe "noonie" was old and it had just gotten yuck. I played along and made like I believed my own little "white lie". I also explained that I did not have anymore. Albeit hard, I closed the door to his room and he had to "cry it out" for a few minutes. At that point, he decided to just hold his pacifier while he slept. This went on for about a week. Mason realized that the "yuck" was not going away and no longer wanted to hold them. One morning he woke up and asked to throw his noonie away. His explanation, "It's yuck! Throw it away! Yuck!" Happily, he pitched it in the trash himself. He did this with all of the pacifiers. I was relieved that technically "I" didn't have to get rid of them and break his heart. He did it on his own! I really believed that approach worked for us because Mason was old enough to understand that he didn't want that "yuck" in his mouth and all yucky things go in the trashcan. I also think that letting him "own" that situation went far....he never asked for it again.

Addie will be 2 in February. I'm starting to teach her that yucky things go in the trashcan and I'm letting her help me throw things away. I suppose one day her noonie will "magically" become yuck too! I just hope she takes it as well as Mason did!