How can I get my son to give up his pacifier in the least traumatic way? We’ve successfully weaned breastfeeding at 18 months by slowing cutting back sessions, and then slowly weaning to water in a cup instead of nursing... but I think he’s more addicted to his pacifier, and it’s clearly causing him anxiety to give it up.

I need advice from people who have had some success in this area. We’ve successfully gotten rid of it during his awake time by telling him that it’s just for sleep.. the other night in the middle of his bedtime routine, I noticed that the tip of his pacifier was cracking. Of course we didn’t want to give it to him, since it was now a choking hazard, and we thought this was a good opportunity for him to get rid of it, so we tried having him throw it away and we told him it was broken. He wouldn’t go to sleep.. stayed up crying til 1 am, then woke up at 4 am and cried again, so I rocked him back to sleep.

The next day, I decided to try cutting off the tip and letting him hold the broken pacifier so he could again see that it was broken. It helped calm him a little, but he didn’t fall asleep for a nap until 5 pm, and then at bedtime, we finally gave in when he was still awake at 1:30 am... my husband went to the store and bought another pacifier.

I’ve always been against the “cry it out” method, and I feel like letting him cry and lose sleep over not having a pacifier is pretty much the same thing, so I need a more gradual way to help him give it up. Does anyone have advice?