When is too old for a child to have a pacifier?

[Mariape]

My friends daughter still has one aged 8 and i said i thought that in the nicest way possible it was slightly ridiculous that she still had one. She disagreed however and said that a lot of her other friend’s children had them until at least 8?

 

[disykat]

eight? I was going to say 3! Does she still use it in the daytime?

 

[Ben E N]

eight? I was going to say 3! Does she still use it in the daytime?

I was going to say 3 at the latest as well. Mine were both done by one, but I know that everybody is different.

 

[Mariape]

Not outside the house no. She doesn’t have it in constantly but does use it during the day yes

 

[sam_gordon]

One

 

[jaiminee krikit]

Wow. DD was 2.5 when we got rid of hers. She only used it as a soothing mechanism and for my birthday I told her I would like her to get rid of her binky. We went over to the trash and she threw it away, never asking for it again. I was pleasantly surprised!

 

[Pooh2]

And I thought one-year was pushing it..

 

[kuhltiffany]

2 at the most. Not only does it interfere with speech, it creates huge dental issues...

 

[disney4us2002]

Other than bedtime, when they can talk and remove the damn thing to speak. This is a pet peeve of mine, perhaps an irrational one, but yuck!!!

 

[Floridaman999]

The problems with her teeth are going to be the gift that keeps on giving.

 

[EscalatorKid]

8?!?

Nooooooo. They negatively affect dental development and oral health. My childhood dentist was adamant about making sure that my mom weaned my sister off the binky ASAP for that reason.

Dental issues are way too expensive to fix after the fact, so that binkie would just disappear one day by 2 or 3, max. The kid will get over it.

 

[superme80]

My son had his until 3. Then the "Binky Fairy" came and took it away. I think 8 is way too old.

 

[disykat]

I agree that by one is the smartest, certainly in terms of teeth and speech development, but I don't think two or three is too out of the norm. You certainly see kids with them. I think mom is delusional if she thinks other kids are using pacifiers at eight.

My dad was a pediatrician. He told me to watch my kids around one for a time period when they seemed less attached to their bottles and pacifiers and to leap on that moment. He said if you miss that window they grab on tighter and get more attached and it becomes much harder to get them away. I found that advice worked for both my kids and it wasn't a big deal to transition them away from both shortly before their first birthdays. My boys attached to their blankies though. I set rules about blankies not leaving the house (except for overnight trips) after age two, but both boys slept with them throughout their preschool years.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

So thankful that we didn't introduce our twins to a pacifier but if we did I would have wanted them off by one. I saw one just yesterday and he was about 6 or 7 running around the store with it in his mouth and biting down to talk. I was shocked at that age but EIGHT? Yikes!

 

[BLAZEY]

Mine DD spat her pacifier out at a week old. I put it back in a few times but she kept spitting it out so I got rid of it then. At 9 she still has a blanket she sleeps with but that stays on her bed.

 

[mousefan73]

Think mine were 3 or 4 but mainly at night. I know I was late too. But 8 is kind of cutting it. Did notice a family friend still had some in the house and kid was already in grade school.

 

[mummabear]

Mostly I would say when the child and parents are ready.
But I think 8 is too old.
I would think anything up to 5 is reasonable

 

[kimblebee]

I think my daughter was about a year and a half. It was starting to get ridiculous so, just one night at bedtime we just didn’t give it to her. She fussed for a minute and then went to sleep. That was the end of the dummy.

 

[mjkacmom]

The latest for mine was 3, but I used them for sleep only after a few months. I’d get them hooked, and then they were only for the crib.

 

[BadPinkTink]

my niece was around 2, it was gifted to the fairies to give to another child