How to get a 2 year old off their pacifier / dummy?

1. 84

   AustralianNappiesposted 12 years ago

   How to get a 2 year old off their pacifier / dummy?

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2. 68

   Rebecca2904posted 12 years ago

   I think as with most things, it's just something that kids need to do in their own time. I used to look after a little girl who didn't want to get rid of her dummy or to use the toilet. We told her repeatedly that big girls don't wear nappies or have a dummy, and she would always reply 'then I will do it when I'm a big girl'. Then one day when she was three she turned around and told us that she was a big girl now, and we had no more problems getting her to give up her dummy or use the toilet. Good luck with it!

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      AustralianNappiesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Well, she certainly had a good come back line!  Thank you for sharing your experience about this, much appreciated!

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   algarveviewposted 12 years ago

   I think it much depends on the child... My little girl was completely addicted to her pacifier to the point that she talked very little, not because she couldn't, but because she didn't want to bother taking her pacifier out. But around 2 and a half I actually talked to her (I don't exactly know if she really understood me), but I told her how beautiful she was without it and how we loved to hear her talk and how she was now a big girl and that it was time to stop using it and she actually gave me all her pacifiers and never again asked me for one. I saved them for a few weeks just in case... And the best thing was she really blossomed afterwards...

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   Lady Wordsmithposted 11 years ago

   The same way worked all three times for me - that is, with each of my three sons - on or around their 2nd birthdays I took all of the dummies, and threw them in the bin.  I pre-warned each boy, about a week before.  I put the dummies in the bin right before their eyes and told them that they wouldn't be needing them any more.  There were no problems at all.  None of the boys asked for their dummies back, or cried for them, or had tantrums because they couldn't have them.  But that's probably because they were used to my style of parenting by then: no nonsense!  Up until a certain again I don't give my children choices, or leave decisions up to them - I decide how things are going to be, then I tell the boys.  I decide what they're having to eat, and they eat what's put in front of them or they go hungry, and so on.  The same with dummies - I made the decision that they could have dummies (only when they were tired and struggling to sleep), and I made the decision as to when the dummies would be taken away.  They get to make choices about the fun stuff, like which toys and games to play with, or where to go for walks and fresh air.  I make the decisions that I should be making as a parent.  This way works perfectly for us.

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