I don't proofread my posts before I publish them... cause I keep my thoughts au naturale.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

How to Kill a Pacifier and Get Away With It

Okay, so my son is 3 and still has a pacifier *insert judgement here*.  I have tried sticker charts, begging, pleading to get him to give up his pacifier.  He also has blankies.  I'm okay with the blankies, but not the pacifier.  And sure, I could take it from him and watch him cry,  but I'm a pushover mom about some things and I think deep down I wish I could still use a pacifier for self-soothing.

So, today I am trying Plan L.  L is for Leprechaun.  I took all the pacifiers and hid them away in a high cabinet and told my son that a leprechaun snuck into the house and stole all his pacifiers.  Reason being is that leprechauns don't like seeing big kids with pacifiers so they steal them.  Will it work?  Hopefully.  He hasn't asked about it since, but when he starts crying and sobbingly says, "PASSY" I am hoping I have the willpower to stick to my guns.

Next step is getting his dad and grandparents on board.  I think his dad will go along with it, but the grandparents are bigger pushovers than I am.

Did anyone else have a similar problem with their toddlers or teenagers, lol?  I will keep you updated on if I am successful or not.

4 comments:

  1. I've never had any problems along these lines. Probably because I've never had kids. That said, should the leprechaun strategy fail, I'd suggest you simply toss all his pacifiers and replace them with spinach-flavored green ones. The only downside to this approach is that in addition to having the desired effect, the kid may also become traumatized for life. So I'm not sure how far you'd be willing to go to wean him off his surrogate teat.

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  2. Passing no judgement here, I have a two year old that still sucks his "Tete" and my daughter did it till about 4. When they are ready to give it up they will. I was scared my daughter would never give it up. Well, she started preschool and she would suck her pacifier all the way to school and when we got there she's take it off and leave it in the car till I picked her up. Well one day she forgot and took it to class in her backpack. She hid it in the bottom of the backpack and was embarrassed. She dropped the habit so quickly. Overnight Almost.
    I've heard a saying somewhere "You don't see anybody walking down the aisle sucking his thumb or pacifier." It's true. They'll drop it when they are ready. I don't fret over it at all. My mom would allow my kids to suck their paci at night and during the day they had to leave it under their pillow during the day. It worked when they slept over her house.
    Good Luck.

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  3. I'm happy to say that he hasn't had his pacifier since Thursday! The leprechaun ruse worked. He asks for it here and there, but we just remind him that we don't have anymore of his pacifiers. Sure, it's pretty much lying, but I'd much rather the leprechaun deal with my son's wrath than myself!!

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  4. I am 30 and still have my pacifier and blankies

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