Author Topic: Has anyone ever weaning the paci around 18mos?  (Read 1087 times)

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Offline ~inbalance~

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Has anyone ever weaning the paci around 18mos?
« on: November 20, 2011, 19:40:20 pm »
I always figured we'd keep it until F was old enough to understand something like the paci fairy, etc., but now I am wondering if we should just bite the bullet and do it now.  We just came through the other end of some 18mos sleep regression stuff and are back on track.  For awhile he was seriously addicted, I could never get it away from him.  Now he is doing much better keeping it in his crib only.  Sometimes I can even convince him to leave it there after waking, but most of the time he brings it downstairs and then I take it away after a few minutes once he's woken up and I hide it.  There are still times when he will ask for it, usually during a time when he knows there is one (like if he walks by his room and remembers they are in there, he will stand at the door and ask for it).  The reason I'm wondering if I should get rid of it now is, he just doesn't seem as attached to it anymore.  When I went in to check on him the other night he didn't even have it while he was sleeping.  Sometimes he just doesn't want it.  Also, he has a persistent rash around his mouth which I'm sure is never really going away because of the paci, even though I am always washing and sterilizing them.  Yesterday I bought him two new ones, they are a different kind so though he is still using them, I can tell he is unimpressed that they are not his normal kind and usually spits them out after a few minutes.  I got rid of all the ones in his crib except for 2 (he had about 6 or 7 before), and he slept fine last night, though we did have one brief NWing.  I wonder if it was because he couldn't find the paci as easily.

Has anyone ever successfully weaned at this age?  Or is it better until he can understand more and do some sort of paci fairy thing.  I'm not sure if I should just take the plunge (or if I have the courage), but it would be nice to get rid of it.
Em
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Offline <Catherine>

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Re: Has anyone ever weaning the paci around 18mos?
« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2011, 21:27:17 pm »
Not sure if my story will help or not Martina, but I had always planned the same as you - wait until he could understand a story etc, but he had a cold a month or 2 before he was 2 yrs (I think) and kept spitting it out and refusing to take it, so I just took it away. Never asked for it again :) We never mentioned it, and there were none in the house. My childminder's son still had one at that point too and DS wasn't even bothered if he saw (or had access to) his. I was amazed.
Catherine x








Offline shivi

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Re: Has anyone ever weaning the paci around 18mos?
« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2011, 21:47:00 pm »
This was a time when my two both needed theirs A LOT. More than nearly EVER. They only had them for sleeps but were so used to them, not addicted, but found it so hard to actually fall asleep without.....and then there were the horrible big teeth coming in at this age (and much, much later in Emma's case as we've only gotten the 2 yr molars in the last few months).

We did paci Santa with Oscar (for the baby reindeer) at 3yrs 8 mths.

I'm not even thinking of doing it with Emma. She's in her first year in preschool, totally needing her 13.5-14 hr nights due to the OT/OS of the 8-9hr daycare situation, gets a cold a month etc etc. She actually told me recently that she didn't want hers anymore but then had this horrible tickly cough for 10 days and I did everything I could to convince her to take hers back for now....and she did. Again tonight she said she didn't want it...but I want to get thro this first season of major preschool infections and OT/OS and maybe we'll do a Easter-Doo-Doo-Bunny for her.....

S x


Siobhain - Mammy to Oscar and Emma, forever spirited, currently bilingual and curly, formerly baldy, extended breastfeeders!