By Stacy DeBroff 

You're reluctant to wean your child off a source of pleasure and comfort, but you know he can't hold onto that pacifier forever. In order to wean your child effectively, it is important to start early and approach it in a way that works for your child, providing a substitute, offering rewards, or sometimes just tricking him!

Try these helpful strategies:

Wean your baby before she is six months old, or you will have a much more difficult struggle when she's older.

Start the weaning process by offering the pacifier only at naptime, at night, or when you or your child desperately needs the break. Allow your child to use a pacifier only at home. Introduce a substitute comfort toy or blanket. Dip the nipple of a pacifier into lemon or grapefruit juice to make it taste bitter.
Stop buying new pacifiers, and let your child know that when the final pacifier wears out or disappears, there will be no more.

Throw away all but one pacifier and begin talking to your child about how to get rid of that last one. Give her a week or so of warning and preparation before you finally take it away.

Create an incentive program to encourage your child to give up her pacifier. Use a chart, giving her a star or sticker for every day she does not use the pacifier, redeemable for a prize when she fills it.

Take your child to the toy store and offer the option of trading in her pacifier for an item she associates with being more grown-up.

Image From: Health of Children

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