I read a story about a popular initiative that has led the City of Avila to create the "Pacifier Tree", a place where children can say goodbye to their pacifiers in a symbolic way and trying that this fact is not traumatic.
I have always thought that we are the ones who put the pacifier on the kids (an unnecessary accessory), so we have to be very careful when taking it off, since it causes them dependence and many children have a really bad time when you have to say goodbye to the pacifier.
Your child may stop being interested in the pacifier at any given time (this happened to my youngest daughter) and spontaneously abandon it, but it is usual that they do not want to separate from him so easily.
We must not be drastic, but of course, we cannot wait until they have many years to carry out that "separation". Because while the pacifier can be beneficial during the first year of life (except for newborns: remember, breastfeeding must be well established before they use the pacifier), it should not be used beyond twelve months.
Using the pacifier too long can affect the emotional development of children, along with other risks such as increased otitis media or dental problems, which is why the Spanish Association of Pediatrics advises limiting the use of the pacifier until the year of life.
So, if the child has already reached that age, it should be considered that the time has come to put aside that great treasure. The way in which it is done has to be spoken with the child, try to make him understand that it is for his good and that it is a step to "get older" (although for us they will continue to be babies much longer) and not at night to the morning: it can be a gradual process.
Performing a symbolic act such as changing the pacifier for a toy, leaving it on a special excursion, giving it to a smaller baby or hanging it on a tree, could be helpful in this trance. Hence pacifier trees are something that is spreading throughout the world (of the world in which pacifiers are used, of course).
It seems that the first of these pacifier trees (or at least the one that became popular) was the one in Stockholm (the "Tuttetreet"), spread across Europe to places like Stavanger, and arrived in Spain, where these trees exist in Seville, Badajoz, Logroño, Torremolinos ...
If you do not have a pacifier tree nearby, you can do it in any tree on an excursion, like a small party (although later we do not forget to pick up the pacifier to recycle it in a more suitable place).
The inauguration of the new pacifier tree in Ávila will take place next Saturday, November 23, at 12 noon in the Four Seasons Park, and there will be theater, dances and gifts for those who leave their "pupos" there.
Hopefully it will be useful for those Children who must leave the pacifier already do so in a less traumatic way. Encourage the kids, and also those parents who will have a few days and nights more moviditos than usual without the pacifier ...
