Weaning children from pacifiers or thumb sucking is extremely difficult if your child just isn’t ready to do it yet. Even when the child is fine with it missing, the break in habit could wreak havoc with her sleep cycles and irritability. As long as pediatricians and dentists feel there’s no issue to the child’s health, it really pays to be patient with this stage as children have a way of becoming ready on their own time clock. Once they are, with your help, they’ll segue right into a normal routine without it.

Read more: The Long Goodbye (to the pacifier)