3 and half year old still needs baby nipple

Do you mean your nipple or a bottle with a nipple? I will assume the latter.


I don't know about teeth development. However by this time she should at least be at a sippy cup. Having said that a bottle with a nipple is a great comfort to kids.


My uninformed suggestion is that since your girl is 3½ you can have something of a conversation with her about this and explain that she's a big girl now and could use a glass.

"i got my son to stop drinking from a bottle by telling him that we ran out of milk(that was all he had in a bottle) one night. we had to go to the supermarket the next day to buy some more. i gave him a sippy cup of water and that's what he has now. the next night, i said, "oops, we forgot to buy the milk!""


Brilliant!

Oh so we are talking a pacifier/dummy. In that case it's definitely time to stop.


You could just go cold turkey and deal with the tantrums, but perhaps a more subtle approach is in order.


An old girlfriend of mine told me how her parents would snip a couple of millimeters off her dummy every day until it got so short she could no longer keep it in her mouth. Don't know how "psychological" that is but it sounds like fun.


Otherwise the "big girl" talk could work. "You're a big girl now." Then set a date for quitting and circle it in the calendar together. On that day, put the dummies away. Don't put them in the bin when she's watching. Just put them together in a cupboard and tell her they will be there for "another baby who might needs them someday". Fairies can probably be worked in somehow. Or ask her what she wants to do. The important thing is to get her involved in the process and to make sure her fears are met with understanding.


If kids (or adults for that matter) feel that they came up with something they will be much more motivated to carry it through.