Plan To Get Rid of the Pacifier

Connor turns two this week and still uses his pacifier. We only let him have it for naps and bed time, but he ask for it when he's upset and I really can't imagine him going to sleep without it. I'm not overly worried about it in the big scheme of things, but I know we'll have to learn to go without the paci some day soon. Our cousin, Laruen, mommy to Andrew who is the same age as the twins, made a plan to get rid of the paci. They're expecting a baby girl in November and Andrew was headed to school for the first time. She was sweet enough to send me her plan and I've shared the email below. When I first read this I has to hold back tears. I can't imagine this process with Connor. "As far as the paci is concerned, I hope that what I say and my expereince helps.  It wasn't easy to do, but I am sooooooo glad we did it and it is over. First off, you have to want to get rid of it.  If you are on the fence about it, just wait until you are 100% ready.   And when you are ready...JUST DO IT. Second, get rid of every paci in your house except for one. Okay so this is what I did. The morning I took it away we went about our normal morning.  I took his paci and clipped the end off of it (THIS IS A KEY STEP...FOR YOU NOT HIM), then layed it out on the coffee table so he could find it. He saw it on the table and grabbed and said "ahhhh my paci" with a huge grin on his face. (at this point my heart broke and i had tears in my eyes).  He put it in his mouth and tried to suck on it....Took it out...looked at it and then tried again.  He brought it to me to show me.  I told him "oh no...your paci is bust."  He says "bust" when things are broken.  So, we talked about how things get broken, does he really need his paci, he is a big boy, etc.  So, then he just handed it back to me and walked away.  Went about playing around the house.  We eventually left for errands and came back for lunch and nap. At naptime, we got his sleepsac, lovie and 'busted' paci and I layed him down like normal...trying to pretend everything normal.  He told me his "paci was bust", but other than that didn't seem to mind.  Well, about 2 min into nap time he started screaming and crying for his paci.  I let him cry for about 20 min but couldn't take it anymore.  So, at the advice of a friend, I picked Andrew up and again we talked about the broken paci and what we do when things are broken.  I asked him if we should throw it away in the trash.  He agreed and he was the one to open the trash and throw it away himself.  I honestly think this was the best advice I could have gotten.  After he threw it away, we watched a quick episode of Dora and then I laid him down again.  He cried for about 5 min but then went to sleep.  He napped his usual time, and when I went to pick him up the first thing he said to me was "momma my paci trash".  These were his favorite 4 words for a week straight :) That night was a lot harder.  He cried, but we didn't give in.  This is why cutting the paci and getting rid of all of the others is key.  If I would have had a paci available to me, I would have given it to him in a heartbeat.  Not because he was crying exactly, but because I know how much he loves it and missed it.  Even Kevin said how sad it made him. I would say it took about 6 days total for Andrew to completely get over having his paci.  He wasn't really himself, kinda fussy and needed extra TLC.  But, it was easier than I thought it would be. Anyways, now that I scared you to death with my detailed play by play analysis, I hope that this helps. Every kid is different, so it may not bother Connor that much.  I have a friend who took her little girls away (she was 23 months) and it was a non issue.  I have another friend who took her sons away (he was 25 months) and he cried every night for a month and was destructive at bedtime...no joke. I also have a friend whose girl is 3 and still takes a paci."   We've decided to wait a little longer with Connor. I don't know when I'm going to do it, but I'm not looking forward to how sad it will make him.