My son had his dummy until he was two years and three months. I had tried to take it away at 18 months and it was a disaster of epic proportions. Three nights of screaming, zero sleep, and a mother questioning all of her choices. We put it back. We tried again at 26 months using a completely different approach and it worked in four days. Weaning from a pacifier is one of those parenting milestones that is much easier when you wait until your toddler is developmentally ready and able to understand a simple explanation. Most experts suggest starting to reduce pacifier use between 18 months and 3 years, with dental associations recommending stopping by age 3 to prevent effects on tooth alignment. The cold turkey method: remove it entirely in one go. Works fastest but is hardest, especially for children under 2. Works best for older toddlers who can understand explanations. The gradual reduction method: limit pacifier to sleep times only, then just bedtime, then phase it out entirely. Takes longer but is gentler and often leads to less protest. The pacifier fairy: tell your toddler that the pacifier fairy comes to collect dummies from big kids and brings a small gift in exchange. Many families swear by this. Let your toddler say goodbye to their pacifiers, put them in a bag, and wake up to a small gift. Build it up beforehand so your toddler feels proud rather than robbed. Snip the tip method: gradually snip a small amount off the tip of the pacifier each day until there is not enough suction to be satisfying. Many toddlers abandon it themselves within a week.