How to Get Rid of Your Child’s Pacifier
Has your child grown up but still loves to suck his pacifier? The pacifier could be more than just an annoying habit, it can cause serious damage to your child’s teeth. And getting an orthodontia is far from affordable!
Your child you should be saying goodbye to the pacifier by the age of 3 or 4, but ideally, you shouldn’t encourage a pacifier at all, if orthodontists are to be believed. Whether you give your child a pacifier or not is a personal parenting decision, but there are children who grow up without them comfortably.
Here are a few tips to help get rid of your child’s pacifier:
1. Talk to the Child
More often than not, a preschooler can be talked into giving up the pacifier. Explain to your child that a pacifier is for babies and follow it up by asking him or her if they are a baby. The answer will be ‘no’, for sure, and then you can encourage them to not act like one and say goodbye to the pacifier.
2. Use Books to break the habit
Put the bedtime story time to better use by swapping the fairy tales with stories from our favorite pacifier-breaking books:
3. Stop Pacifier Time at Night
Often, children go to sleep with their pacifiers. Negotiate with them on the time of the pacifier at night. For example, tell them that they can only suck the pacifier after their father retires to bed. More often than not, they will fall asleep waiting for this to happen.
4. Do not travel with the Pacifier
Do not store 4-5 pacifiers in the stroller or your handbag or diaper bag. If you don’t have one at all times, you will cut back on the pacifier time when outside of your home.
5. The Binky Fairy
This involves the use of yet another book, or you can simply tell your kids the story of the Binky story or the Paci-Fairy who comes one day to collect cleaned and sterilized pacifiers from under the pillows of children, and takes them off to other babies in need of one.
The Binky Fairy can be really fun to visit especially if she leaves behind a gift or money to help the child buy something he really wishes for!
6. Keep Your Child Busy
Engage your child in activities that require him/her to recite, sing or enact so that the mouth is actively engaged instead of craving for a pacifier. Talk to him about stuff or encourage reading at night so the child falls asleep without the pacifier.
7. Use Orthodontic Devices
When all else fails, go for an orthodontic ‘retainer’. It is known to work miracles and can work in one day flat, depending upon the child. However, it is suggested you try this method only if all else fails and if the child grows too old to be really sucking on a pacifier or a thumb.
| Related Links:
Choosing Bedding for Your Toddler |