When to stop using pacifier for sleep

Pacifiers (also called 'dummies'), like everything else baby-related it seems, are a great cause for controversy. The decision to use a pacifier is entirely up to you as parents and each baby is different in terms of their settling skills and their preference to use a pacifier or not.

There is no "best" age to introduce a pacifier; some babies have one from newborn, some when they're much older. Some babies have pacifiers for sleep only, some babies have a pacifier to help soothe them during the day.  

Pacifiers can definitely be great in your baby sleep toolbox; equally they can start to wreak havoc with your little one's sleep a bit later on. Here, we'll explore these situations and also provide you with a couple of solutions if you want to ditch the pacifier.  

• When pacifiers work best
• When pacifiers become a nuisance
• Should I get rid of the pacifier?
• How do you get rid of the pacifier?

Get guidance, advice & exclusive support through the sleep regressions, nap transitions and big sleep changes to come.

The fact is, pacifiers are great settling tools for younger babies because sucking is extremely comforting. Babies younger than 3 months will resettle and move between sleep cycles a lot easier than older babies and won’t necessarily need the pacifier replaced every time they come out of a sleep cycle. This means a pacifier can be a great way to settle your baby to sleep at the start of each nap or overnight, without having a negative impact on their ability to stay asleep.

For an overtired or overstimulated baby, a pacifier can really help calm them and assist them to sleep - this is especially effective if combined with other settling tools such as a swaddle, white noise and a dark room.

Closer to 7 or 8 months your baby will be able to learn to put the pacifier back in themselves, a skill crucial to them being able to sleep through the night with a pacifier. We REALLY recommend a product called a Snuggin, which is a little comforter that has velcro paws you can attach pacifiers too, making it a lot easier for your baby to find and replace their own pacifier in the night.

When pacifiers become a nuisance

Once your baby is closer to 4 months (and beyond) if they are using a pacifier to go to sleep they might start needing it every time they wake between sleep cycles (45 minutes in the day and every 2 hours at night). This is a lot of pacifier runs! (See this blog for more information about how your baby's sleep changes at 4 months). 

Until your baby is able to replace their own pacifier at around 7-8 months old, they will need YOU to replace it for them because they are relying on the pacifier to fall asleep, so much so, that they aren’t able to go back to sleep without it.

If it becomes a problem, 3-4 months is a good age to ditch the pacifier, unless you're happy to ride it out for a few more months until your baby can put it back in themselves.

What can also happen with using the pacifier at night is that it can actually mask genuine hunger - the sucking can trick babies' brain into thinking they are being fed. This can, in itself, lead to more night waking because your baby is genuinely hungry, rather than just waking for the pacifier.

Use of a pacifier can sometimes mean your baby is going to sleep during the day before they're actually properly ready for a nap - especially for younger babies. The sucking is such a strong sleep association it can mean your baby settles to sleep earlier than they should be, which can cause them to catnap due to not being tired enough for a decent sleep. 

Should I get rid of the pacifier? 

This is a question that doesn't have a very clear cut answer - everyone's situation will be different. Generally speaking, the younger your baby is, the easier it will be to get rid of the pacifier. If your little one is older, the better option is usually to keep the dummy and work on helping them to find and replace it themselves.

How do you get rid of the pacifier?

Check out our tried and tested methods for removing the pacifier in THIS article. We talk you through, step by step, how to remove the pacifier for your baby, or toddler.

If you need help with removing the pacifier or weaning your baby off other unwanted sleep associations (like rocking or feeding to sleep), you'll find more detailed advice in our Little Ones App and our certified sleep consultants can support you every step of the way.

Many parents who use pacifiers feel a twinge of guilt the first time they stick a pacifier in baby’s mouth. Pacifiers can be a huge help to manage tantrums or meltdowns. You may have used it as a soother to help your baby sleep or to deal with a screaming infant at the store. Most parents try just about anything they can think of to calm the child down! Today we’re going to talk about when it may be time to say goodbye to the pacifier and how to get rid of pacifier at night.

The truth is, the pacifier often works. Babies are born with the instinct to suck. They have limited means of expressing what they want. They can’t let you know if they’re hungry, thirsty or in pain. Sucking soothes them and brings them comfort. Therefore newborn babies will suck on almost anything you put in its mouth, whether it’s a bottle, breast, finger or toy. If you have a newborn, check out our 5 newborn sleep tips. 

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Table of Contents

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WHEN TO WEAN PACIFIER

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PACIFIER HABIT

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issues with prolong pacifier use

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Crying when pacifier falls out

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HOW TO GET RID OF PACIFIER AT NIGHT

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Help with getting rid of the pacifier

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GENTLE SLEEP TRAINING

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WHEN TO WEAN PACIFIER

And pacifiers have benefits beyond managing meltdowns and tantrums. In fact, it may reduce your baby’s risk of SIDS, possibly due to the fact that baby has a harder time burying their face into soft bedding if they have a pacifier sticking out of their mouth.

The American Academy of Pediatrics Safe Sleep Guidelines does recommend that parents consider offering a pacifier at nap time and bedtime. However, the pacifier should be offered once breastfeeding has been firmly established. 

So given that very substantial and important consideration, I’m making the following recommendations for baby’s over a year old. That doesn’t mean this is irrelevant if your little one’s younger than that. But just make sure you’ve carefully considered the pros and cons of taking away the pacifier before you make a decision.

Because at a certain age, children are more than capable of learning to self-soothe. And pacifier dependence can cause long-term problems. Many experts agree that pacifier use up until about age one is okay. But pacifier use past the age two may be cause for concern. 

PACIFIER HABIT

As a toddler and baby sleep consultant, I have found that the pacifier habit can interfere with the consolidation of nighttime sleep. If your toddler uses a pacifier as a baby sleep soother to fall asleep, she will most likely wake in the night and then not be able to get back to sleep until she can find it. Even if baby isn’t bothering you to help, there are still times when it’s causing a full wake-up for retrieval.

While brief wake-ups are common in the night, when a child is dependent on a pacifier as a baby sleep soother, it often leads to fragmented sleep. And this can make for a tired and cranky toddler the next day. Prolong pacifier use can not only affect sleep, but can cause a whole host of other problems. Here’s a few reasons why you may want to consider getting rid of the pacifier at night and ditching the pacifier habit.

PROLONGED USE CAN CAUSE DENTAL PROBLEMS

Pediatric dentists recommend eliminating pacifier use completely by age four, and limiting it by age two. Once your child loses his baby teeth, his adult teeth can be permanently affected by sucking on a pacifier. Overbites and crossbites can occur, which lead to problems with chewing, speech and appearance.

MAY INCREASE MIDDLE EAR INFECTIONS

Studies are now linking pacifier use with recurring ear infections. In fact, children who use pacifiers regularly are up to three times more likely to develop ear infections. One reason cited in these studies is that pacifiers act as fomites, which are objects covered in germs. These germs can increase the risk of infections, such as ear infections. Children in daycare are presumably at a higher risk of this. The other reason pacifiers may increase the risk of ear infections is the sucking motion associated with the pacifier. It can hinder proper eustacian tube function, which usually keeps the middle ear open and clean.

DELAYED SPEECH DEVELOPMENT

Around the age of one, kids enter into their speech development phase. This means they will start trying out sounds and word. They will often babble to themselves and others while they learn this new skill. If they constantly have a pacifier in their mouths, they might be less likely to practice talking.

Also, the pacifier habit can make it harder for a child’s tongue and lip muscles to develop normally, according to Patricia Hamaguchi, a speech-language pathologist and author of Childhood, Speech, Language, and Listening Problems: What Every Parent Should Know.

YOUR CHILD OR BABY CRIES WHEN PACIFIER FALLS OUT 

If your little one relies on the pacifier to get to sleep at bedtime or nap time, then the pacifier has become a “sleep prop”. A sleep prop is something that your child needs from someone or something in order to get to sleep. The problem with relying on the pacifier to get to sleep is that it’s going to fall out of their mouth after they’ve fallen asleep.

When your child comes out of a sleep cycle and is trying to transition into the next sleep cycle, they’re going to realize that the pacifier is no longer in their mouth. So they’re going to more fully wake up. And now they have a job to do. That job is either to:

1. Cry out for you to come and put it back in their mouth, or

2. To more fully wake up and find that pacifier themselves  

 Either way, now you’ve got a child awake in the middle of the night. And this doesn’t usually just happen one time. It happens several times throughout the night. If you and your child are waking up constantly throughout the night to play the pacifier game, you’re probably ready to get rid of the pacifier at night.

HOW TO GET RID OF PACIFIER AT NIGHT

How to get rid of the pacifier at night? Some kids will start to phase it out themselves as they develop other coping skills around the age of two. But some won’t give it up without a fight! Here are 2 things I recommend doing before getting rid of the pacifier at night AND two strategies for doing so:

Communicate the Changes

If you have a child at least 2 years of age, then you’re going to want to give you child a heads up that you’re making this change. That way they’re not completely thrown off guard by what’s going to happen at bedtime.

I find it’s best to start telling your child a couple weeks before you’re going to get rid of the pacifier at night. Set a date that you’re going to make the change and circle it on the calendar so that your child can help count down to the big day.

I really recommend getting a few books that they can relate to that help them play out what is going to come. My favorites are No More Pacifier Duck and Bye-Bye Binky. You can read these to your child every day leading up when you’ll be getting rid of the pacifier at night. If your child is feeling sad about getting rid of the pacifier at night, you can remind your child about what the little boy or girl in their book did to cope with those feelings.

When the big day finally arrived, remind them several times throughout the day. Tell them that things are going to be a little different at bedtime starting tonight.

These strategies will really help your child understand that the change is coming and feel more prepared for what’s to come.

Replace the Pacifier with Another Object

Now is the time to flex those creative muscles and come up with a plan for exactly how to get rid of the pacifier at night. How are you going break the pacifier habit and spin this change in a positive way? Toddlers typically embrace the idea of growing into “big kids.” So marking it as a milestone can be a big help. Present the change as a very exciting and positive occasion.

Here’s a bit of a dirty parenting trick. You could round this off with the introduction of a  “Pacifier Fairy.” Tell your toddler that the Pacifier Fairy is coming to collect all of their pacifiers. And, in exchange, they are going to leave them a special surprise. Whether that’s something that your little one will embrace, I leave up to your discretion. If you choose this option, you can even get The Paci Fairy book to read to them everyday leading up to the big day.

A lot of children respond really well to adding a stuffed animal or lovey to their sleep environment as that new object to help them self soothe at bedtime and naptime. And if your child is feeling sad and missing their pacifier, you can encourage them to hold onto and cuddle their new stuffed animal or lovey. They can even lightly chew on their new lovey so that they can get some that oral sensation that they used to get from their pacifier.

If you don’t want to add a stuffed animal or lovie and your child is still in a crib, I really like using the Bitta Kidda sleep sack because it has two lovies attached to the chest of the sleep sack and are always in the exact same place every time your child needs them to soothe themselves. Keep in mind you should only introduce a lovey or stuffed animal once your child is over 12 months of age per the AAP’s safe sleep guidelines. 

At times, taking away the pacifier is not enough and we need to incorporate certain behavioral and sleep hygiene techniques in order to allow our kiddos to be ready to fall asleep at night. I go over 7 habits that are often times overlooked when creating bedtime habits in getting our children to sleep through the night. Sign up for my free guide below and get your child sleeping through the night! 

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Methods to Get Rid of the Pacifier at Night

Ok, so you’ve communicated that their binky is going away and may have got a replacement item for them. Now there are two methods that you can use to get rid of the pacifier at night. The first is to slowly wean your child off the pacifier and the other is to go cold turkey.

Slowly Wean

Some parents prefer to slowly wean their child off of the pacifier by cutting the nub of their pacifier smaller and smaller as the weeks go on. By the end of several weeks, there is nothing left for your child to suck on. FridaBaby has a Paci Weaning System with 5 different pacifiers that basically go from fully pacifier to nub free. This system allows your baby to graduate down to no pacifier over the period of a month or so. This weaning system is designed for babies 6 – 18 months of age.

Go Cold Turkey

I generally find that the best way of getting rid of a pacifier at night with babies and toddlers is to go cold turkey. Toddlers do better with absolutes than they do with moderation. So pick a day to make the change. Explain it to your little one that starting today, their pacifier is going away. 

Then take all the pacifiers out of the bedroom and throw them away. This way you’re not tempted to give it to your toddler at bedtime. Don’t save one for emergencies or just-in-case scenarios. It will be too easy for you to fall back on the pacifier to get a quick solution if your baby is having trouble sleeping. And then you’re just causing confusion. 

Be prepared for a few tantrums, but don’t give in. Parents are often far more worried about the idea of taking it away, than the actual reality of it. Believe it or not, most children are over it within a day or two. Toddlers can often adjust to new situations remarkably easily so long as things are clear and consistent.

The number one reason I hear from parents why they’re scared to break the pacifier habit and getting rid of the pacifier at night is because they don’t want to make their baby cry it out at night.

I go over evidence based techniques and sleep hygiene habits that will help ease your child into sleep and sleep through the night faster. It is in my guide 7 Tips to getting your child to sleep through the night. Sign up through this link to get a copy that you can download on your phone and read it when ever you have a chance. 

NEED MORE SLEEP?

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GETTING RID OF THE PACIFIER AT NIGHT HELP

But here’s the good news. You don’t have to let your little one cry it out! If you follow our plan at Live Love Sleep, we will be providing you with a step by step plan to teach your baby how to sleep without the pacifier. You can even stay right there in the room with them as they learn how to break the pacifier habit and fall asleep without it. Check out our alternatives to the cry it out method. 

But at some point, your child will need to learn how to fall asleep without the pacifier. The pacifier habit can persist for several years. And that’s a long time to go without a good night’s sleep. 

You can go in to your child’s room and be present and comforting as they learn how to fall asleep without the pacifier. Once your baby breaks the pacifier habits and can fall asleep without it, they will be getting a good, restful sleep each and every night. And so will you mama!

It might take up to a week or two to consistently see your baby connecting sleep cycles and sleeping through the night, but it is so worth it!

GENTLE SLEEP TRAINING

I have personally worked with hundreds of families who have tried breaking the pacifier habit on their own without any success. As a Baby &Toddler Sleep Consultant, I create a customized sleep plan that is going to meet your BABY’S SPECIFIC NEEDS so that it WORKS FOR YOUR FAMILY. Read more about my sleep philosophy here. 

Every family is different. Every child is different. And they all respond a little differently. That’s why we work together for  several weeks. If I’m not seeing your child progress like I’m expecting them to, that’s when it’s my job to make  recommendations of change to ensure that we’re meeting your sleep goals.  

If you need help getting rid of the pacifier at night and for naps, let’s chat! I’m here to help you navigate through this challenging time by creating a customized sleep plan that will work for your family. If you’re ready to get rid of the pacifier at night once and for all, get started by checking out our Baby Sleep Services!

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