All three of my boys have used pacifiers for sleeping. Bub had his until he turned 2 and then we used them to buy a new favorite toy at Target. It worked great, and he only cried for it for two nights and we were "pafa" free.
At our last dentist appointment, we were strongly urged to ditch the pacifiers with Thing 1 and Thing 2. Our pediatric dentist is actually fairly laid back about pacifiers...until they start causing issues. And ours are causing issues. My guys chew on their pacifiers like they're 80 year old men chewing on their stogies. You can look at their mouth and deduce which side they chew on because they teeth on that side are starting to move up and out. Crap.
Now I'm sure it would have been great to get rid of them before they were 6 months and before they were attached. But there are two of them. We weren't even breathing by 6 months. Thing 1 had reflux and Thing 2 had severe colic so we were just starting to sleep. There are two of them. 'Nuff said. So...now we have to ditch the pacifiers to save the teeth.
Don't get me wrong, we're ditching them because I don't want their teeth to get any worse, or set them up for future issues/problems. But part of me feels like a horrible mommy. Thing 1 is really attached to his, really attached.
They are only allowed to have them at bed time, and I have to hide them the rest of the day because he'll go searching for them. The pacifier combined with his rhino lovey is a complete self-soother for him. If he has those two items, he can completely calm himself down (and he has an Irish temper that can flare out of nowhere). Even though I know we need to get rid of it, I feel so bad for Thing 1. I feel like I'm going to traumatize him by taking it away.
It's so hard when, as a parent, you know you're doing the right thing, but at the same time it's breaking your heart.
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