"How am I ever going to get rid of this pacifer?"

I hear that question A LOT from parents who have babies under one year.  Sure, some babies never take a liking to pacifiers, but there are just as many babies who can't get enough of that sucking action. 

You might worry that if you don't take away the pacifier soon, your baby will get even more attached and you'll find yourself with a 3, 4, or 5 year old still sucking on that pacifier.  But you also can't imagine taking it away now... especially since your baby started sleeping through the night and you don't want to return to sleepless nights.  Or you have that upcoming trip on an airplane and you know you will need it then.  What's a mom to do?

I was one of those moms... my first daughter was obsessed with her paci.  OBSESSED.   At around 1 year we limited her use of it to just her crib, her stroller and the car.  And then we cut back to letting her have it just in her crib.  But there was no way she was going to give it up on her own.  The method we finally went with is "The Pacifier Fairy."  You might have heard about it, but if not, read on to see what it's all about, and make sure to leave a comment sharing your story about the pacifier.

The ideal age for using The Paci Fairy method is between 2 and 2.5 years.  Most babies cycle through phases where they are easier and open to change and where they are difficult and fight change.  You will need to choose a time to do this when there is not other stress in baby's life (new sibling, new school, etc) AND when baby just seems to be having one of those good weeks.  

Read up on the method, get prepared to do it, and then be flexible with timing... if you choose a certain date but baby seems to be acting up about everything, be flexible and postpone it a week or a month or more. 

The basic gist is that you tell your 2 year old about The Pacifier Fairy who comes at night to collect the big kid's pacifiers so she can give them to all the new babies in the world, and then leaves a present for the big kid. 

Like this so far? Then follow these step by step instructions for how to do it:

1. One or two times, casually mention the story of the Paci Fairy to your child.  Explain about the fairy, but don't make it personal to your child or your child's paci.  Just talk about the existence of the fairy, so that when the time comes for the fairy to visit he or she will be familiar with the idea.  
   
   Do this betweeen 1 and 4 weeks before you actually take the pacifier away.
    
2. You start the process 3 nights before you actually take the paci away, and you tell your toddler on each of these 3 nights what is going to happen. 
   
   For example, on Sunday night you will explain that the Pacifier Fairy is coming in 3 days, on Wednesday night.  Explain that they get to sleep with their paci tonight, tomorrow night and the next night, but on Wednesday night (or whatever day) the Pacifer Fairy is coming.   Repeat how he or she will leave all his/her pacifiers for the fairy and the fairy will leave a toy.  
    
3. Do the same thing for the second and third nights.  For example, you will explain on Monday night how your toddler will get to sleep with his paci tonight and tomorrow night, but on Wednesday night the pacifer fairy is coming.
    
   You get the idea.
    
4. On the third night, walk around the house with your child before bed collecting all the pacifiers together.  Place them in a bag.  Put the bag outside the front door.  Follow your normal bedtime routine, give extra love and snuggles.  Talk about how the Pacifier Fairy is coming tonight and will be leaving a toy.
    
5. In the morning, give your toddler lots of love and walk to the front door together.  Open the door and discover the toy that the pacifer fairy left.  
   
   (Note: don't forget to replace the pacifiers with a toy before your toddler wakes up! The pacifer fairy is actually not a real fairy.  Also, make sure you don't put the old pacifiers somewhere where your toddler will find them!)

Congratulations! I hope you find that it was actually easier then you expected it to be. 

One final piece of advice is that it is really important for you to exhibit CONFIDENCE that your toddler will be okay without his/her pacifier.  If you don't believe it yourself he/she will pick up on your anxiety and it will make it much harder for both of you.