She was so adamant on having her pacifier to sleep every time or she just won't sleep. Period. Such a strong will child she is that I was scratching my head what should I do to let her wean off willingly. There were suggestions of cutting a hole in her teat, putting chili onto it etc, I find that rather invasive and choose not to.
Finally, my chance arrived when she dropped her pacifier onto the floor in a public toilet of a shopping mall. I picked it up and told her, she can't have it because it is dirty! She agreed, and did not argued with me as she knew very well that toilet is a place to poo and wee, and she never likes being dirty. by the way she was potty trained at 18months old so she definitely understand the function of a toilet.
That night, during bedtime, she asked for her dear pacifier as usual. Then I reminded her.
"Remember the pacifier was dropped in the toilet today? It's so dirty!"
She paused for awhile, and still asked for it. I reminded her again.
"Cannot, toilet got poo poo and wee wee, it's so dirty, are you sure you want to suck your dirty pacifier? It's so smelly!". Notice how I kept emphasizing on the word "dirty"?
She shook her head, "No... Poo poo, wee wee, 臭臭 (smelly)... Mei Mei don't want dirty dirty".
So, despite she took longer time to toss and turn on the bed and occasionally biting her hanky, she finally fell asleep without her pacifier that night.
So day 1, success.
Day 2, she asked for it again.
"Mommy, Mei Mei want pacifier...", in her super sweet sleepy voice,
"Remember what happened to your pacifier? Who dropped it?", I asked.
"Me.", she replied quietly (I sensed the guilty tone)
"and where did you dropped it?", I just need her to remember that it's really dirty.
"Toiler. Ooohhhhh... 臭臭! Blek!". Great, she remembers.
"So do you still want your dirty pacifier?", I tried to let her decide now, after conditioning her mind.
"No...", she replied pitifully, but not a single argument nor cry. This time, she fell asleep sooner with her hanky in hand .
So day 2, success.
On Day 3, she was about to request for her pacifier during bedtime but she paused before she even finished her sentence. She seemed to recall its her fault she knew she does not want her dirty pacifier anymore. So I just proceed with our bedtime routine without having to do any persuasive talk.
So Day 3, success.
Since that day onwards, she never ask for her pacifier anymore and I could happily chuck them away. :)
So there you go, a simple fuss-fee way to wean off the pacifier. Albeit took me longer than the traditional way my old Ma suggested me, it was her decision.
For my elder son who too was glued on to his pacifier, I applied same tactic but it was thanks to a strain of hair he found on the teat. He was so put off with the thought of a strange hair onthe pacifier and he even threw into the dustbin by himself.Isn't that wonderful?
Call me an opportunist, but you can't deny my way works. ;)
If you choose to go cold turkey, well, good luck to you and hope it works!
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