Baby doesn't want to get rid of pacifier.

Time. For my 3, they just stopped using it. When the young ones look at the older ones and think "hey, they don't use a pacifier", that's normally a trigger. Once they go a night or two without needing one to go to bed, we make them disappear. In my experience its in around the 24 month mark. And the pacifier is waaaay better than the thumb as you can get rid of the pacifier, but not the thumb.
Place an extra in the bed so he can find one more quickly if that's the concern.

Of course there are other ways of getting him to calm down, but that will take effort and work on your side!

Our son didn't use one long, just a bit as an infant, but when it was time to get rid of the bottle, I just explained he was a big boy now and big boys didn't use bottles, and he badly wanted to be a big boy so he threw it in the garbage. He was about the same age as your son, so that could work with the soothers, too.

I know of parents having success when they explain to their child that another kid needs the soothers, so they pack them up to 'give away'.

natalka wrote: ↑ Of course there are other ways of getting him to calm down, but that will take effort and work on your side!

Our son didn't use one long, just a bit as an infant, but when it was time to get rid of the bottle, I just explained he was a big boy now and big boys didn't use bottles, and he badly wanted to be a big boy so he threw it in the garbage. He was about the same age as your son, so that could work with the soothers, too.

I know of parents having success when they explain to their child that another kid needs the soothers, so they pack them up to 'give away'.

this is a smart trick lol

Cut the tip off.

My little guy kept waking up when it fell out of his mouth, when he wasn't old enough to even know he should be looking for it. So we got rid of them early.

I guess we should give him more time, until he doesn't want them anymore.
The other issue is that he's teething and salivating a lot, and with the pacifier he produces even more saliva and coughs due to it when he's on his back, so we have to change his position... but then he moves again.

We have even tried to take the pacifier off his mouth, but if he's not fully asleep, he would feel it and suck it back.

natalka wrote: ↑ I know of parents having success when they explain to their child that another kid needs the soothers, so they pack them up to 'give away'.

In my house we left it on the Christmas tree for Santa this year for him to bring it to another baby as a Christmas gift.

Our 23 month old (at the time) daughter wasn't really using it but she needed it to fall asleep (she needed 2 actually) one in mouth another in hand. After she fell asleep and it fell out she would run her hand around to find it and hold one in each hand until she woke up.

Anyways...at a year and a half just let it be...

My parents tell me they used to coat the pacifier with spicy or bitter oil (?) (or i guess anything that tastes bad?) and eventually I stopped wanting a pacifier altogether.

kmarcie wrote: ↑ My parents tell me they used to coat the pacifier with spicy or bitter oil (?) (or i guess anything that tastes bad?) and eventually I stopped wanting a pacifier altogether.

That or cut the tip off all the pacifiers

gontori wrote: ↑ What other alternatives can we give him?

Yeah once you start, you can't rid of it ... One day, he'll probably wake up and stop using it. That's what happened to our kids with sucking their thumbs.

paf wrote: ↑ That or cut the tip off all the pacifiers

I actually haven't heard this one - what does cutting off the tip do? you mean just the rounded tip of the pacifier? Is it just uncomfortable so they stop using it?

kmarcie wrote: ↑ I actually haven't heard this one - what does cutting off the tip do? you mean just the rounded tip of the pacifier? Is it just uncomfortable so they stop using it?

Yes pretty much they feel it's not the same . You will probably have to deal with withdrawal for a few days but then it comes easy. Kids just need another distraction.

Every kid is different; just keep trying.

kmarcie wrote: ↑ My parents tell me they used to coat the pacifier with spicy or bitter oil (?) (or i guess anything that tastes bad?) and eventually I stopped wanting a pacifier altogether.

Apparently not a good idea for younger kids. Their taste buds aren't fully formed yet. Introducing negative tasting items early on may backfire and they'll actually learn to like it.

Our eldest sucked in his fingers. We got him the bitter nail polish. It specifically warned against using it with toddlers.

But once we did use it, it kicked his life long habit in about 3 days.

gontori wrote: ↑ My one and a half y/o baby doesn't want to leave his soother.

He looks for it particularly at bedtime. He refuses to sleep without one, and even during the night, if the pacifier falls from his mouth, with eyes closed starts waving his hands around the crib looking for it, if found, he grasps it and put it back to his mouth, if he doesn't, eventually wakes up crying.

The only way of calming him when stressed or bored and starts yelling is via the pacifier.

What other alternatives can we give him?

Dude the kid isn't even 2 yet. Let him use the pacifier for at least another year. It's not going to scar him for life or anything.

We let our daughter kick the habit on her own. She probably caught on when she saw her younger brother never use the pacifier. She'd stick up to 4 pacifiers in her mouth just for the heck of it.

kmarcie wrote: ↑ I actually haven't heard this one - what does cutting off the tip do? you mean just the rounded tip of the pacifier? Is it just uncomfortable so they stop using it?

What I have heard people do is cut off the tip slowly (little by little) so that it does not shock them all at once and they don't even realize what is going on.

gontori wrote: ↑I guess we should give him more time, until he doesn't want them anymore.
The other issue is that he's teething and salivating a lot, and with the pacifier he produces even more saliva and coughs due to it when he's on his back, so we have to change his position... but then he moves again.

We have even tried to take the pacifier off his mouth, but if he's not fully asleep, he would feel it and suck it back.

It’s also a calming behaviour. It’s self soothing.
This isn’t a concern at this age.

Thanks to all.
Now I know it's not a concern, but mostly about other folks askind the same question over and over, which made me think my baby shouldn't have one.
I'll just let him decide when.