Weaning From Pacifier
In the life of a newborn, there is a time for everything. Early in the life of an infant, you are so glad that the pacifier was invented. It is a godsend to a busy mom because you can give that little one her pacifier that she can comfort herself with between times of nursing. Many a crying infant was quieted by that favorite pacifier that she has come to look forward to having in her mouth.
But the time comes to begin weaning that little one off of the pacifier as the youngster moves past infancy and into the toddler stage of life. This transition can be a bit tricky. There are various schools of thought about how to go about taking on the weaning process. One school maintains that you should just not do anything because peer pressure and the natural maturing process will encourage the child to give up the pacifier. At the other extreme are those who call for going cold turkey and just taking away the pacifier and putting up with the crying when the little one misses something she has grown used to since birth.
There is a middle ground between these two extremes. Young children are very open to suggestion and if you make it a project that mom and dad partner with the child to accomplish, the little one will often try to get off of the pacifier as quickly as is feasible to please mom and dad. When you introduce the idea of giving up the pacifier, don’t make it a punitive thing. Make it a game in the context of moving from something good to something really great.
Many parents have success giving the child a challenge to sleep with a new stuffed animal instead of the pacifier. If you let the child pick out the stuffed animal who moves in with her to become her best friend in getting off the pacifier, every time she hugs that new friend the goal of moving on from the pacifier is reinforced.
Remember that in addition to removing an object from your child's life, you are training her to give up an oral fixation that has been part of her identity since birth. The infant has no orientation to giving something up so be patient. Start out with small goals to go without the pacifier for short durations. The slowly increase the goals as the child gets used to living without the pacifier.
Many parents add a small level of aversion therapy by cutting a hole in the end of the pacifier to make it less enjoyable to suck or by replacing the old reliable pacifier with one the child does not like as well. But by partnering with the child, you can get a feel for what is working and what is not and adapt your approach with each child as you move that youngster into this first big step out of infancy.
