As for Sara, she was on pacifier as early as five days old (I think) and no, I am NOT proud of the fact.I know that kids regularly on the pacifier will tend to develop dental deformities, so we have from time to time try to avoid excessive usage.
Sara has always call her pacifier nu-nu, and she'll motion for her pacifier using her index finger to her mouth EVERY TIME she wanted to sleep. So, what we did was take out her pacifier as soon as she falls asleep.
As she grows older, and able to talk, she'll always ask for her nu-nu when she wants to sleep. BUT, when she reached towards two-years-old, she began to demand for her nu-nu every time she felt neglected by people around her.
For example, when I was watching TV instead of playing with her, she'll walk up to the kitchen, and start to ask for her nu-nu. So, I casually suggested to my mom to start depriving her of the pacifier, gradually.
Little did I know that my mom was also having the same thought, which is to stop her from using the pacifier altogether.
So, what we did was: first, we stopped giving her pacifier by her demand. When she wanted to sleep, we gave her the pacifier, but after 10 minutes of sucking, if she's still not sleeping, we'd take out the pacifier and played with her until she's really sleepy.
Secondly, we'd take out her pacifier the minute she falls asleep (as opposed to taking it out when she has dozed off completely). Sometimes she would wake up, but judging from varying degree of crying (mild meaning she can get back to sleep, screaming meaning I-want-my-nunu-back); we either give it back or just cuddle her until she falls right back to sleep.
However, the two ways doesn't really diminish her need for pacifier. They were just means to train her and decrease her need to depend on the pacifier.
One day, my mom decided to go cold-turkey. She secretly cut the tip of the pacifier and put a black thread inside the pacifier. So, it looks as if there's "worm" inside the pacifier. (Sara is really scared of worms ;p)
She took one look at her pacifier, and say "Nenek, got worm" and together, they threw the pacifier in the dustbin. Later that day, when she wanted to sleep and asked for her nu-nu, my mom reminded her that her nu-nu got worm and its in the dustbin. She must've been really sleepy because she dozed off after that.
During night time, she asked for her nu-nu again, and this time, she pulled my dad's hand to the dustbin and demanded that my dad take back her nu-nu. "Wash first, ok?" she said. Haha.
My dad took the nu-nu and brought her to the kitchen and they wash the nu-nu together. "But, the worm cannot come out-la, Yaya" my dad said. She's dissatisfied, but didn't cry. I take that as a good sign.
She came running to me and asked me to buy her new nu-nu and I said okay. I also told her that "Only baby can get nu-nu, Sara big girl already, Sara kan kakak. No more nu-nu okay?" She seemed to understand and didn't press further.
Luckily for us, starting from that moment on, she'd never scream/shout asking for her pacifier. Don't get me wrong, she did cry and we have had some sleepless nights and our patience are almost running thin. But, we persevered and the result; no more pacifier for the little girl.
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