Weaning off the pacifier: tips and helpful rituals

5 tips for weaning the pacifier

As a rule, children should give up the habit of sucking on a pacifier by the time they start kindergarten at the latest. Fortunately, many children at this age stop suckling on their own, but sometimes the parents still have to help a little. The following tips will make weaning the pacifier easier for the whole family.

When should you wean the pacifier?

The weaning phase should begin after the first year of life to prevent your child from developing a “dependence” on sucking and suckling. In the best case, the pacifier period is over when the first teeth break through. However, a big step has already been taken if the pacifier or teat is only used occasionally or at a certain point in time up to the age of two, for example when falling asleep. Of course, these specific times should not become a habit either.

Pacifiers only on special occasions

Make sure that your child will soon be able to do without the pacifier on the fixed occasions or fixed times. Nothing stands in the way of final weaning.

Lots of praise when weaning the pacifier

Parents should first realize that a child cannot be weaned from pacifiers immediately, but that weaning is a slow process. This phase can last for different lengths of time in each child, but usually two to four weeks. If you’re trying to wean your child off the pacifier, make sure you give them enough praise and less blame. Because your child will certainly not find it easy to do without his “faithful companion”.

Offer an alternative to the pacifier

If you want your child to break the habit of learning, it’s a good idea to offer them an alternative: teething rings are ideal for this. Because they not only replace the pacifier, they are also good for your child when the first teeth come through. It can relieve pain and help to ensure adequate blood flow to the gums. The sucking reflex is replaced by the chewing reflex.

Wean yourself off the pacifier on vacation

Since a change of location and many new impressions distract your child from his previous discoveries and habits, a holiday together is an ideal opportunity to wean yourself off the pacifier. Simply stop offering the pacifier and observe how your child behaves.

While this method of weaning works for some children straight away, other children may ask for a pacifier even more often than usual, especially on vacation, because the pacifier is something familiar to them in an otherwise unfamiliar environment. Then you should allow him the pacifier and continue weaning him off the pacifier once you get back from vacation. As your baby then finds himself in his familiar world, he may no longer need the pacifier as he enjoys the other familiar things.

What is the best way to wean off the pacifier?

A nice ritual will help your child say goodbye to the pacifier. We have put together five popular rituals for you. There is definitely the right ritual for you to wean yourself off the pacifier.

The Farewell Procession

Beautiful rituals help your child to wean them off the pacifier and are also great fun for everyone involved. During a weaning ritual, the parents, the child and the siblings say goodbye to the pacifier together. There are no limits to your imagination when devising the ritual. However, prepare your child for the day about three weeks before the farewell procession so that they can adjust to it and not be caught off guard. The farewell procession could look like this: One evening you make a procession through the apartment that ends in front of the trash can or a hole in the garden. There, after a speech and a solemn oath, the “faithful companion” is finally disposed of. As a reward and compensation, the child can receive a small gift.

Pacifier gift to baby

If you like it a little more solemn, you can throw a farewell party. Your child can wrap their pacifier in gift wrap and give it away as a gift for someone younger than themselves. You can explain to your child that the pacifier has served its purpose and needs to go to someone who needs it more. Take the gift out and tell your child that you will now take it to another baby. Then come back with another gift your child will get in return. You can also tell him that it’s the baby’s thank you gift, which now has his pacifier.

The pacifier tree

A tradition from Denmark is also becoming increasingly popular in Germany: the public “pacifier tree”. Farewell ceremonies are regularly held there, where children say goodbye to their longtime companion and hang their pacifiers in the tree. There are already pacifier trees in Cologne, Berlin, Munich, Dresden, Gelsenkirchen, Mannheim, Ratingen and Münster. Maybe there is already one near you? Find out in your toddler group or kindergarten.

The pacifier fairy

Also very popular is the so-called “Schnullerfee”, who collects all the pacifiers given to her by mother and child at night and, as compensation, leaves a nice present for the now “big” child.

The donation

For some time now, there has been a petting zoo in Sweden that helps children wean them off the pacifier. Children can throw their pacifiers in a bin provided and donate them to the baby animals. So the children can see that the donation of their pacifier is for a good cause. They feel “bigger” and therefore more willing to give up the pacifier. Dentists have similar campaigns here in Germany and the children can donate their pacifiers, for example stuffed animals. Find out more from your dentist.

Weaning off the pacifier often takes time

If the above pacifier weaning tips don’t work, don’t despair. Your child may just need a little more time. Especially for children who are supposed to wean themselves off the pacifier before the age of 18 months, it can be an advantage if you gradually withdraw the pacifier from them over a period of two to three weeks until they end up not using it at all or only need on certain occasions.

No drastic methods to break the pacifier!

Soothers should not end up in the bin in front of the child (exception: during a farewell procession, see above). You should also refrain from pricking the pacifier so that the air can escape. After all, your child should be able to understand why they no longer need the pacifier and not do without it because they no longer “like it”.