Do you think the paci and/or bottle should be taken away from a child at a certain age? If so, at what age?

I think by 3 they should both be history, if not sooner JMO though

I think it too is different for each parent. I do have to say they should be paci & bottle free by age 3 1/2 though. I broke the bottle just after my kids 1st birthday...but my son held onto his binky till he was 3...at 3 I took it away from BOTH the kids.

I loved what SuperNanny did once in taking the binkies away - putting them all on a tree outside for the "binkie fairy" to come take away and give to all the new babies being born! :)

I loved what SuperNanny did once in taking the binkies away - putting them all on a tree outside for the "binkie fairy" to come take away and give to all the new babies being born! :)



awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww:happy

bottles should be taken away when the child learns to drink from a sippy. This should occur when they are eating more table food than milk and when they stop sitting there and finishing the bottle. When they just start using it as a "drink" instead of the main sourse of nurishment.


Binkies should be gone when they start getting teeth. If they suck too much with teeth it can cause dental problems.

No reason to hold on to these items. A child needs and can find other ways of comfort.

these are my opinions, do not rip me apart

I've gotten accused of forcing my babies to "grow up too fast" because the bottles have been GONE by 12 months. I started both mine on sippies when they were only 3-4 months old, while that sucking reflex was still really strong, before they had become too attached to just having a bottle, etc. Of course they still got the bottle for main meal times, but as I started them on solids, I always offered the sippy with the meal and let them play with it, encouraged them to take a couple drinks from it, let them hold it and get used to it, etc. Well, both kids had no problems giving up the bottle. Jaxon's was gone by 10 months and it was COMPLETELY self weaned. He was so used to the sippy, he started to prefer that over the bottle. Shelby gave hers up about a month ago when she hit 10-11 months old. Again, was totally self weaned. I fully believe it was because I started them on the sippies before they had a chance to form a strong attachment to the bottle. So, we never had to fight the battle of throwing the bottle out. They just eventually prefered the sippy over the bottle and let me know that they didn't need or want it anymore. Saved all of us a lot of heartache and headache! :lol

I had my paci until I was about 3 or 3 1/2 and I ended up having to get braces and headgear :neutral They said that some of it could have definitely been attributed to having a pacifier for too long. Now, granted, paci's are made differently now so I'm sure they aren't AS bad for teeth as they were a while back, BUT I still don't think it's a good idea to keep the paci for too too long. Jaxon went down to using his only at bedtime at around 12-14 months, then I totally took them away at 18 months. He fussed a little at night but it didn't kill him :hehe We just got him accustomed to sleeping with his little lovey (pup pup) instead.

I dont know about the foolers, as I have yet to have a child use one past about 4-5 mo :lol But the bottle I think between 12-15 mo it should be gone.

I am very lucky that Lance doesn't take a pacifier, but I am hoping to wean him of the bottles after his first birthday. He has been using his sippy cups since he was about 5 months, so bottles only for nappie time and night, night time. So we will see how it goes!!

This is a hard one... Madison never used bottles or pacifiers. She started with a sippy at six months.

Hayden loves his pacifier but won't take a bottle either. I'll probably wean him off of the pacifier when I wean him off the boobie, which I plan on doing when he's a year old unless he does it earlier by himself. I've already started giving him sippy cups with water here and there so he won't need a bottle.

Yes. I believe the bottle needs to be put away at age 1. Not on the 1st birthday per say but during the 1st year, as early as possible. Right after Breanna turned 1 the bottles were packed up and the sippy cups were out. I have already tried to get Johnny off the bottle but he hasn't wanted anything to do with it. I will keep trying though.

As far as paci's I think 2 maybe 2 1/2 is the oldest a kid should be with a paci. Thankfully, neither of my kids took a paci so I haven't had to deal with it.

I never gave Aaron a paci I just don't believe in them and he was off the bottle by 7 months

I agree about bottles to be taken away when it's not their main source of nourishment. If they can drink from a sippy, then they really don't need a bottle.
Pacifier....Drives me CRAZY if I see a CHILD walking and TALKING with a pacifier. I don't know what age is best to take it away, but if your kid can communicate using complete sentences, they don't need a pacifier.

I agree about bottles to be taken away when it's not their main source of nourishment. If they can drink from a sippy, then they really don't need a bottle.
Pacifier....Drives me CRAZY if I see a CHILD walking and TALKING with a pacifier. I don't know what age is best to take it away, but if your kid can communicate using complete sentences, they don't need a pacifier.
:agree
You just posted my number one pet peeve! When a child can cry and ask for a pacifier it's PAST time to throw it in the trash. I cannot stand seeing a kid that's walking around talking to their parents while having a pacifier clipped to their shirt.

None of my kids ever used paci's so I am not sure about that. As for the bottles, I really think it depends again on the parent and the child. Oldest dd had hers for about 2 years. Then ds had his for only a year and I took it away and made him use sippy cups......he refused to ever drink milk again once I took the bottle away and still won't to this day. He also used his sippy cup so much that it caused problems with his 2 front teeth and wore them down from him scrapping his teeth up and down on the sippy cup...thank goodness he will have nice new teeth again once his baby teeth come out. DD #2 stopped using her bottle when she was about 2.

I will try to start using the sippy cups around 5-6 months and would like her off the bottle by 1 yrs old.

As for the paci, she's already starting to not take it as much to soothe herself as she has learned she has hands :giggle but I would like her off it by 1, if not sooner.

I don't like paci's (my own choice ;)) and the bottle was gone by 12 months and we started sippys around that time. :D

Pacifier....Drives me CRAZY if I see a CHILD walking and TALKING with a pacifier. I don't know what age is best to take it away, but if your kid can communicate using complete sentences, they don't need a pacifier.

I agree - when the kid can take the pacifier out, say a sentence then pop it back in, they are too old to have one.

I think a bottle should be gone right around the first birthday. binkies Im not sure. Cory and Lily never took one but Lily sucks her thumb. Shes 3 1/2. Its not something I can just take away. lots of the woman in my family have sucked their thumbes as small children and of those I believe only my sister and I had to get braces. I think its fine to have the binky or thumb at bed time but not just walking around. Lilys sucking her thumb less and less so I don't think it will be all that long before shes all done. The dr says no real damage can be done unless she still sucking her thumb when her adult teeth come in.

I would say bottle gone BY 18months. My oldest's was gone by 13months, the very first time I found a sippy he would drink out of he never saw a bottle again. But my youngest was really underweight and our dr advised us to keep him on it for longer because he would drink a full 4-6oz when it was ina bottle and maybe 2 oz when it was in a sippy..and this was when he was 15months. At 17months it was gone though.

I think a paci should be gone by 2 1/2 yrs. My 21mo old still has his but he is sooo attached we are in the process of getting him off it, my oldest had his until 13 mo I believe it was.

I say bottles gone by 12-13 months TOPS! Pacis um...hard one unless it's only at nap time i say GONE bye 21 months

about thumbsuckers db's girls are all 3 thumb suckers...they are 4(the twins) and 1 but luckily it's ONLY when they are tired :)