Before I get rolling here, let me say that I am not anti-pacifier. 
I mean, what mother could be? We’ve all been saved from a major baby meltdown by the quick introduction of a dummy into a baby’s mouth at the right moment. Maybe they missed their sleep window by a little bit and were getting a bit cranky; perhaps they got an unexpected bump on the head, or you had to swoop in and take the dog treat out of their mouth. Just before they go into a tantrum, in goes the pacifier, and like magic, all is well. 

Pacifiers have benefits beyond preventing tantrums, as well. The AAP found that pacifiers can reduce the risk of SIDS, possibly due to the fact that baby has a more challenging time burying their face into soft bedding if they have a pacifier sticking out of their mouth. So, given that very substantial and necessary consideration, I’m making the following recommendations based on the supposition that your baby is over a year old. 

That doesn’t mean this is irrelevant if your little one’s younger than that, but just make sure you’ve carefully considered the pros and cons of taking away the pacifier before you make a decision.

So here’s the conundrum from a sleep expert’s point of view: pacifiers can become a problem when it comes to sleep. If a baby’s accustomed to falling asleep with a pacifier in, it almost always wakes up in the night after it’s fallen out. It kicks up a fuss until mom gets up, finds it, and pops it back in its mouth.

So, first off, let’s look at why babies can’t just fall asleep with a pacifier in and then peacefully sleep through the night. Then, we can look at some strategies for getting rid of the pacifier if you and your baby are ready to take the plunge.

Sleep, for babies and adults alike, comes in cycles. Many of us are under the assumption that we fall asleep at the start of the night, go into a deeper sleep as the night goes on, and then gradually come out of it as the morning rolls around.

It’s true that we go from light sleep to deep sleep and then back again, but it happens several times a night, depending on how long you sleep. For adults, a full cycle typically takes between 90 and 120 minutes. For a baby, it’s closer to 50. 

Suppose your baby won’t sleep at bedtime without a pacifier in their mouth. In that case, there’s a distinct possibility that they rely on that pacifier to sleep. When they get to the end of a sleep cycle, they get into that very light stage of sleep and might actually wake up, at which point they’re still tired, but they might have trouble getting back to sleep because “Hey! Where’s the pacifier? I can’t get to sleep without my pacifier!” 

Suppose they can’t find it or haven’t figured out how to put it in on their own yet. In that case, they’re going to get upset because they can’t get back to sleep, and they’re going to start crying for someone to come and rectify the situation. 

And that, right there, is the definition of what we in the sleep consulting field call a “sleep prop.” Sometimes, it’s feeding, sometimes it’s rocking, and sometimes it’s some crazy combination of a bunch of things, but essentially, it’s something that babies depend on to get to sleep that they can’t provide on their own when they wake up in the night.

More than anything, that’s the secret to sleeping through the night. Getting rid of sleep props is, hands down, the most critical component to getting your little one sleeping peacefully from the time you put them to bed until they wake up, happy and refreshed, in the morning.

A lot of parents who use soothers feel a twinge of guilt the first time they stick a pacifier in their baby’s mouth. However, dealing with a screaming infant in the grocery line or on a long car trip will make most parents try just about anything they can think of to calm the child down!
 
The truth is, it often works. Babies are born with the instinct to suck. They have limited means of expressing what they want and can’t let you know if they’re hungry, thirsty or in pain. Sucking soothes them and brings them comfort, which is why a baby will suck on just about anything you put in its mouth, whether it’s a bottle, breast, finger or toy.
 
But at a certain age, kids are more than capable of learning to self-soothe, and pacifier dependence can cause long-term problems. Many experts agree that soother use up until about age one is okay. Anything past age two and there are some worrying issues.

Sleeping
Soothers interfere with the consolidation of nighttime sleep. If your toddler uses one to fall asleep, she will most likely wake in the night and then not be able to get back to sleep until she can find it. Even if the child isn’t bothering you to help, there are still times when it’s causing a full wake-up for retrieval. While brief wake-ups are common in the night, when a child is soother dependent it often leads to fragmented sleep, which can make for a tired and cranky toddler the next day.  
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Dental problems
​Pediatric dentists recommend eliminating soother use completely by age four and limiting it by age two. Once your child loses his baby teeth, his adult teeth can be permanently affected by sucking on a soother. Overbites and cross bites can occur, which lead to problems with chewing, speech and appearance.  

Ear infections
Studies are now linking pacifier use with recurring ear infections. In fact, children who use soothers regularly are up to three times more likely to develop ear infections.  

Speech
​Around the age of one, kids enter into their speech development phase. This means they will start trying on sounds and words and will often babble to themselves and others while they learn this new skill. If they constantly have a soother in their mouths, they might be less likely to practice talking.  
Also, constant soother use can make it harder for a child’s tongue and lip muscles to develop normally, according to Patricia Hamaguchi, a speech-language pathologist and author of Childhood, Speech, Language, and Listening Problems: What Every Parent Should Know.
 
So how do you convince your child to give up the soother?
 
Some kids will start to phase it out themselves as they develop other coping skills around the age of two. But some won’t give it up without a fight!
 
Over a three-day period, you can start to wean your child off the soother by telling him he can only use it in the house. Whenever you go outside the house, tell him it stays behind until you come back. Next tell him he can only have it during a period of time during the day. So, for example, only for 30 min during his/her TV time. Tell him that on the third day, it will be time to say goodbye to the soother for good, and then make sure you stick to the plan.
 
Be prepared for a few tantrums and tears, but don’t give in. I have found that parents are often far more worried about the idea of taking it away, than the actual reality of it. Most children are over it within a day or two.