Break the Pacifier Habit
Submitted by
jenepherc
I swore to myself (and some concerned family members) I'd have my daughter Bella off her beloved paci (she calls it her 'piece') by the time she was 2. Then it was 3. Lo and behold, she's 3 1/2. Yikes. I wasn't all that concerned about it, I mean really, will she stow it in her purse on her first date?? But, after my husband kept pestering me about the inevitable dental bills if we don't get her off it, I decided Ok. Fine. But how?? I'd tried the, "Oh it's lost" tactic. Or the, "You are a Big Girl/Princess" routine, to no avail. She loooooooves that thing. If we put her to bed without it, there was no sleeping gonna happen. She was SO dependent!
My stepdaughter Gina swore to me that what they did to her would work for her sister too - just cut off the tips. She won't have anything to suck! Apparently that worked like a charm for her at 1 1/2...but I thought maybe I'd waited too long for it to go over very well with Bella. She's actually stood in the pacifier aisle at Target with me, on the numerous occasions, picking out the one that would best match her dress.
So, I just decided to go for it and I cut off the tips. When she asked for her piece, and I handed it to her, she stared at it, awestruck, and said, "Mama, its broken!" I, feigning complete shock, said, "It IS?! Let me see! Oh my gosh! Well, you know what that means? When you become a big girl, your pacifiers breaks because it knows you don't need it anymore!" She goes, "Oooooh..."
We haven't had a single incident of piece withdrawal...it's been over a week! I made sure that each and every pacifier that happened to be lying around the house had the tip cut off...she's tried sucking them, but it's not the same, and she actually went and threw one away yesterday.
Its a miracle!
My stepdaughter Gina swore to me that what they did to her would work for her sister too - just cut off the tips. She won't have anything to suck! Apparently that worked like a charm for her at 1 1/2...but I thought maybe I'd waited too long for it to go over very well with Bella. She's actually stood in the pacifier aisle at Target with me, on the numerous occasions, picking out the one that would best match her dress.
So, I just decided to go for it and I cut off the tips. When she asked for her piece, and I handed it to her, she stared at it, awestruck, and said, "Mama, its broken!" I, feigning complete shock, said, "It IS?! Let me see! Oh my gosh! Well, you know what that means? When you become a big girl, your pacifiers breaks because it knows you don't need it anymore!" She goes, "Oooooh..."
We haven't had a single incident of piece withdrawal...it's been over a week! I made sure that each and every pacifier that happened to be lying around the house had the tip cut off...she's tried sucking them, but it's not the same, and she actually went and threw one away yesterday.
Its a miracle!
Submit!
