Re: advice needed on pacifier weaning

P. Tierney wrote:
<earlycomputers@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:1127983850.475042.84790@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi - can anyone advise re weaning my 17 month daughter off her
pacifier? She only has it in bed at night and during nap times but I
would like to wean her off it soon, for the following reasons: she has
started waking us up a few times in the night asking for it when she
has lost it; I think she has it in her mouth most of the night rather
than just using it to fall asleep; she has a lisp when she speaks;
people say that it will only get harder to wean her off it when she's
older so I want to do it sooner rather than later.


    The more I hear people say this about seemingly everything,
the more I question it as a reason to take action.  Or maybe it's
the idea that just because it might be "easy" means that it
therefore, to some, also makes sense developmentally.
I don't know, but something isn't right.


	I think it's both.  There *are* times when it is
developmentally easier to get rid of pacifiers.  Around
6 months, the innate *need* to suck lessens pretty
dramatically for most kids.  If you want to remove a pacifier
at that stage, it's likely easier than at some other times.
The child's reliance on the pacifier ebbs and flows over
time as their developmental stage changes.  If you hit
a more or less difficult time developmentally, that can
make a big difference in the reaction (as can hitting a
more or less difficult time in terms of the child's
environment).  I do think that around 17 months tends to
be a more difficult time to decide to go cold turkey.  The
ability of the child to understand and participate in the
process is limited, as are the alternative comfort measures.
So, I think most likely, if you want to go cold turkey, it'll
get *easier* for a little bit, and then there'll be a little
window of opportunity, and then it'll start getting harder
again as the habit gets more entrenched without and offsetting
developmental trend creating an increasing opportunity to
wean to some other comfort measure.

Best wishes,
Ericka
.

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