- Totally relate to the pressure—sometimes it feels like every choice is going to mess up their teeth forever.
- We tried all the apps and “techy” tricks (timers, reward charts on the tablet, even a paci countdown), but honestly, cold turkey was what finally worked for us too.
- Genetics is a wild card. My brother and I had totally different teeth as kids, even though our parents did the same stuff.
- Dentist side-eye is real, but hey, you did what worked. That’s what matters.
Genetics is a wild card. My brother and I had totally different teeth as kids, even though our parents did the same stuff.
This is so true. I always felt like I was failing my daughter when she kept clinging to her pacifier, but honestly, my younger son never even wanted one and their dental checkups have been almost identical. It’s wild how much is just out of our hands, no matter how many “proven” methods we try.
We did the gradual approach at first, but it just turned into a negotiation every night. In the end, going cold turkey was the only thing that actually worked for us too. The first few nights were rough, but after that, she barely mentioned it. I still get a bit anxious at dentist appointments, but the side-eye is less intense now that we’re past the binky phase.
You did what you had to do, and honestly, there’s no one-size-fits-all. Sometimes the “right” choice is just whatever gets everyone through the day with their sanity intact.
I still get a bit anxious at dentist appointments, but the side-eye is less intense now that we’re past the binky phase.
That dentist side-eye is so real... I feel like they can sense my guilt before I even sit in the chair. It’s weird though—my kid was obsessed with his pacifier and I was convinced it’d ruin his teeth, but his last checkup was fine. Is it just luck, or are dentists sometimes a little too quick to blame binkies? Did anyone actually see long-term dental issues from pacifiers, or is it mostly hype?
It’s weird though—my kid was obsessed with his pacifier and I was convinced it’d ruin his teeth, but his last checkup was fine. Is it just luck, or are dentists sometimes a little too quick to blame binkies?
That’s what I always wondered too. I stressed so much about my daughter’s pacifier habit, especially after the dentist gave me “the look” and warned about overbites. But honestly, she dropped it around age three and her teeth are totally fine now. I think there’s a lot of hype, or maybe it depends on the kid’s mouth shape or how long they keep it up? My cousin’s son used his until four and needed a spacer, so maybe there’s some truth, but it’s not automatic doom.
I still get a bit nervous at appointments, like they’re going to find something I missed. But I feel like once we got past the binky, the pressure eased up. Anyone else feel like dentists focus on one “bad habit” at a time? First it was the pacifier, now it’s juice pouches and flossing.
Did anyone’s kid have trouble actually giving up the binky? We tried the “binky fairy” trick, but she just kept finding old ones in random drawers... I’m curious if anyone had success with cold turkey, or if it was more gradual.
It’s funny you mention the “binky fairy” trick because we tried something similar—left the pacifier under her pillow and swapped it for a little toy. It worked for about a night, then she raided our junk drawer and found a backup stash I didn’t even remember hiding. It turned into this weird game of hide and seek for a while. Eventually we just started cutting the tips off, a tiny bit every few days, so they’d lose that satisfying suction. She got bored with them after a week or two and just… stopped asking.
I do think dentists sometimes make it sound like every kid who uses a pacifier past a certain age is doomed to need braces. I get that it can cause problems for some, but it feels like there’s a lot of individual variation. My niece used hers until almost five (her parents were just exhausted and let it slide) and her teeth are fine. Meanwhile, my friend’s son barely used one at all and still needed orthodontics. Genetics probably play a bigger role than most of us want to admit.
And yeah, the focus does seem to shift. First it was “get rid of the pacifier,” now it’s “don’t let them sip juice all day” and “are you flossing every night?” Sometimes I wonder if it’s just part of the job to always have something to warn parents about. Not saying they’re wrong, but it gets overwhelming.
Did anyone else notice their kid substitute with something else after dropping the binky? Ours started twirling her hair a lot, which seemed harmless but kind of funny. I half-expected her to start sucking her thumb instead, but thankfully she never did.
