Pacifiers- getting mixed messages. Help???

My pediatrician wants me to take the pacifier away from my 2 yr old b/c she said it will cause damage to my daughters teeth. However, when I went to the American Dental Association they said it won't effect a child's teeth until they turn 4. My 2 yr old only takes the pacifier while going to bed, and doesn't even have it in her mouth the entire night. She's very attached to it and in the past year there have been many changes for her moving, new sibling, her father deploying and I am just having a hard time taking away her "lovie". Anyone know when it actually starts effecting kids teeth or any suggestions on how to take away the pacifier?

Pacifiers- getting mixed messages. Help???
I would suggest seeing your dentist. He can tell you if her pacifier sucking is causing a problem. They can do an examination of her mouth and see if there is a structure problem. (or if they will be) However, given that she's going through a lot you can't just take her "lovie" away. Maybe find a replacement in terms of a doll, stuffed animal or blanket. They have a "deployment doll" that you can put a picture of your husband in it and the child can carry daddy with her everywhere. Put holes in the binky so that when she sucks she gets air. Usually after one night it will be gone. But I'd make sure you replace her lovie before getting rid of the paci. Good luck! http://www.sewnsilly.com/index.php?pr=De...
Reply:the next time she misplaces it pretend to look for it and pretend you cant find it. Show her your helping her look for it but you can't seem to find it and make it a game everytime she asks for it. She will have a couple of rough nights and eventually get over it. Have lots of patience.
Reply:It's going to be hard no matter what you do. Try talking to her about it before it happens. That way she's prepared. You'll just have to pick a "quit date" and stick to it. It's the same as any addiction, really. Maybe she'd accept a substitute like a stuffed animal or a doll.
Reply:If the child can ask for the pacifier by name, it is time to take it away.
Reply:I would take her to the dentist and see what they have to say. I don't believe that it is harming her teeth, thumb sucking is worse then a pacifer for sure. I wouldn't worry to much about it
Reply:listen to your doctor, loose it in the trash
Reply:Since the ADA are the experts on teeth, I'd take their word for it. If you see the doctor again %26amp; daughter's still using her "lovie", explain the reasons you just gave us.





It sounds like you're doing a great job, in spite of all the change *you've* been under in the last year. Keep it up!
Reply:Doctors only know what theya re taught while attending medical school. They QUITE often do not keep up on latest studies. Mine tried tellign me that at our sons 12 month visit. Go by teh research, I did. Even the AAP says age 3.
Reply:i have always heard no later than age 2...however i took my daughters before her first b-day. they best way to take it is to just take it...if you think it will work make up a lie (my mom told me that a cat pooped on my bottle....after that i didn't want it anymore)
Reply:Have you taken your daughter to the dentist yet? If so have you discussed it with the dentist? I think before you decide to keep it or get rid of it, you need to talk to a dentist (preferably a pediatric dentist) to discuss this matter.





I know my nephew used a pacifier until he was 5 and in Kindergarten and his teeth are fine (he stopped last fall). My sister sucked her thumb until she was 15 and also no problems.





I think if it is for limited times during the evening and she is not walking around with it hanging out her mouth at all times then let her keep it and wait until you can have an actual discussion with her about it.





HTH!
Reply:I think if she only uses it to go to bed it's not as big of a deal. If you take it away and she's stressed, she'll find something else, (thumb?). Then it becomes more of a power struggle. Experts can say what they want, you know what your child needs more than anybody else!
Reply:I agree with your pediatrician! If you wait any longer, it will be harder to get it away from her. Try this little trick.... When you find one lying around, cut the nipple off and put it back where you found it. When your daughter finds it, just tell her "oh, it's broken! Can you please put that in the garbage?". Wait a day or two and do it to the next pacifier, then the next until they are all gone. You can tell her that they break because she must be turning into a big girl. My daughter was beyond attached and had no problem giving them up after I did this!
Reply:i remember when i was little i slept with a bottle that i hugged during the night. and their were holes on top of it so sometimes it would spill. I took it everywhere. i think i had it simce i was 1 or 2, and then i think my mom took it away from me when i was 4. she told me that little mice came into the room at night while i was sleeping and took it away because it was a little girls bottle, and now i'm a big girl and didn't need it anymore. But then i found out i accidentally droped it in the garbage. Because i taught it was a bin or something then went to sleep and forgot all asbout the bottle. and when i woke up i started crying because i wanted it, and my mom made that excuse up.
Reply:Just take the damn thing away from your child. Does it really matter at what age you do it. . . and if you can't do it now and you keep giving into her what makes you think it will be easier when shes 3, or 4 or 5. Just do it and quit crying about it and making up excuses.
Reply:There are tons of ways to get rid of the binky. We're not ready yet either and my daughter is the same way, only uses it for bedtime. I mentioned it to my dentist and she says though she doesn't like the ideas of binkies or finger-sucking, she said it's okay until she turns 3 or 4 years old. My pediatrician said pretty much the same thing and made the suggestion of snipping the tip of my daughter's binky to help turn her off of it if we felt she was ready. Well my husband and I tried it a month ago and she got really upset her binky was broken and kept screaming and crying and handing it to us in hopes we'd fix it. So we handed her one that wasn't "broken" and caved so we could get some sleep. Suggestions I've been told from friends and family for getting rid of it: Wait until she's old enough to understand these of course - 1: Tie the binky to a balloon and tell her it's so the baby's in Heaven waiting to be born have binkies and since she's a big girl she needs to send hers up. 2: Mail it to your mother or friend and tell her she's a big girl and there are babies that need the binky more than she does elsewhere in the world, and 3: take her to a park or grassy area that you don't visit too often, dig a hole with her and bury it so a great big binky tree can grow so all the babies in the world can have binkies. I think these are cute ideas and suggestions especially seeing as snipping the tip didn't work for us. I think we'll be doing the balloon one. LOL But by all means, wait until things calm down and perhaps pursuade her to become attached to a new lovie like a small stuffed animal or small blanket of some sort. Best of luck!
Reply:I would take it away now because it easier to get rid of something they have used for two years rather then four years. I actually never gave my son a nuk so we didn't have to go through this.
Reply:My oldest was a thumb sucker, the second was a pacifier addict. The oldest had major tooth issues from the thumb sucking. The second had NO tooth issues from her paci. (She was 4 before she finally gave it up.)





Pacifiers and bottles will get you more opinions than probably anything else! I heard people who understood my battle to take away the paci, and others who couldn't believe my daughter still had it. We were in a similar situation ... new house, and marital issues at the time so daddy wasn't home much ... so it was not so easy to just TAKE the paci away from her. You have to weigh out how much more stressful it will be for her to lose the paci with everything else going on.





The way we convinced my daughter to give up her paci was to trade it for something else she really wanted. She couldn't get her much desired cotton candy maker until she permanently gave us the paci. We discussed it and she debated a few more weeks, but one day she made the decision to let them go, so we made a big deal about HER throwing them in the garbage and we immeditely went to buy the cotton candy maker. She never asked for a paci again.





As for the pediatrician's comments ... ours is a younger doctor, so I felt he was more "up to date" on current trends. His theory was he had never seen a child actually go to school with the paci or in diapers so he wasn't concerned.





The bottom line is that YOU know how well your daughter is going to handle giving it up. If you have a lot going on right now - which it sounds like you do - I personally think a little peace of mind is well worth the few minutes she sucks on a pacifier while drifting to sleep. And no one has to know you let her do it. ;-) And if it makes you feel better, give her an orthodontic pacifier ... some are made to better accomodate to the mouth's shape. (I like Nuks.)
Reply:I would go with the dentist's oppinion on this one. Especially since she doesn't use it all the time, just to go to sleep. And especially since she's had all those changes in her life.
Reply:The ADA is giving good advice but your doctor is probably thinking in terms of preventative medicine. As in, better to take it away now than leaving it too late.





If you don't feel comfortable taking it away just now, give her a few months then work at it. Remember, it doesn't have to be a traumatic event; you can make it a happy day where she becomes a 'big girl'. Make a big thing of getting rid of it (perhaps saying the fairy is coming to give it to the new babies and she'll be leaving behind a present for your daughter because she's so clever and big now). Give your daughter something nice in it's place such as a fancy cup for her juice or a new teddy so she still has some form of comforter.
Reply:I would side with the dental association since they're the ones ultimately who know more about teeth. However, she's probably getting a big old for it. You do say there have been some changes and she only uses it at night, so go slowly. Talk about her being a big girl first and that pretty soon she won't need her 'lovie', then after a couple of weeks, as soon as she spits it out of her mouth at night, take it away (provided this happens while you are still awake). From there you can move to only having it on certain nights, then to nothing at all.





Ultimately there is no right answer on when/how to take it away. Just go with your gut and her reactions (don't be too soft but don't be too hard on her either - she won't be walking around with it when she's 12).
Reply:Let her keep it until she is ready to give it up.





My daughter is 4 and we talk to the dentist (a pediatric specialist) at every visit about her paci. He wants her to give it up but says that because it is only used at night it is not causing any harm to her teeth.





If you take it away now, your daughter will probably find something else to comfort herself with. If that something else ends up being her thumb you are stuck because you cannot take it away, and therefore it can be a very hard habit for the child to break. My MIL took her daughter's pacifier away when she was 2 and not yet ready. My SIL started sucking her thumb as a replacement and kept doing it until she was a preteen.