How to Wean a Child from a Pacifier

Despite being breastfed, many mothers decide to express their breastmilk to their children through a teat bottle. Giving breast milk through a pacifier is actually quite common. However, it is often difficult for children to leave the bottle, so is there a way to wean children from pacifiers that can be done?

For mothers who feel that it is time for the child to separate from the pacifier bottle and want to wean him, mothers can do it far - far away because the weaning process is not an instant process.

It takes a long time to wean and here's how!

How to wean a child from a pacifier works best

1. Start introducing sippy cups

A sippy cup is a glass or cup that is specially designed for toddlers and does not spill easily. Mums can introduce them to their children from the age of 6 months.

Usually, children who have been introduced to sippy cups since the age of 6 months, when they are over 12 months old, they can leave the bottle and drink through this glass. Mum can give and show this sippy cup regularly in the early days of introduction.

For example, when your child eats solids, you can display this glass around him so that he knows that the glass is used for drinking. So, when he needs a drink, he will reach for it.

2. Shorten the feeding time

If a child is accustomed to using a pacifier in the morning, afternoon, and before bedtime, the mother should now gently teach the child that as they grow older, it's time to reduce the use of the pacifier.

Mum can reduce the breastfeeding schedule, for example, by no longer giving it at night and only giving it in the morning and during the day for no more than 30 minutes. If he is able to stop breastfeeding at night, then reduce his breastfeeding time in the morning and afternoon.

If previously he suckled in the morning and afternoon, now mum can give it only in the morning or afternoon. This method is very effective as a way to wean a child from a pacifier because he does not try to avoid the pacifier too hard but is helped little by little to leave it.

3. Replace milk with food

To start weaning, milk cannot just be removed because milk is a source of nutrition for babies. However, milk can be replaced with food.

For example, if your child immediately drinks milk from a pacifier bottle when he wakes up, now you can give him healthy foods such as fruit. Melons, pears, apples, or other fruits that are rich in nutrients, fiber content, and water content are great for children.

That way he can feel full in a healthy way even if he doesn't drink milk in the morning. But what if your child keeps whining for the usual pacifier?

4. Fill the teat bottle with plenty of water

Who likes watery milk with no thick flavor? Kids don't like milk with that kind of texture either.

Therefore, this method can be a solution when the child has been weaned but still cannot move on or leave the bottle. The solution is to keep showing the bottle but give milk that has too much water.

Then also prepare a sippy bottle with drinks that look more attractive, for example filled with orange juice, avocado juice, strawberry juice, or others. Surely the child will be more interested in the sippy bottle and if done continuously, he can forget the pacifier bottle.

5. Run consistently

Even something that feels very heavy will succeed if it is carried out with a broad heart, unwavering patience, and consistency. So, when you are weaning, make sure not to give up easily.

Some children cannot be weaned within 1 or 2 months, and some are successfully weaned at 6 - 7 months. So, parents should always be consistent in weaning their children, don't just give up until the child is successfully weaned.

Indeed, during the weaning phase, it's common for children to have tantrums. This often stems from a sense of unfulfillment. The child may feel deprived of the usual access to milk or breast milk.

This is the information we can share regarding how to wean children from pacifiers that can be a solution in the weaning process. Hopefully the information we have shared above is helpful and easy to practice, mum.

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