The End of the Paci Era

We started weaning Jaron's pacifier usage after his 2nd birthday. We only let him use it for naps and bedtime. Being the smart little guy his is, he would tell us he needed a nap, get his paci and lay in his bed for a minute or two. Then he would come out of his room, hand us his paci, and continue on his business. We thought it was funny. During the summer, we went on a road trip to Wyoming and Montana. To help prevent an ear infection, we let Jaron have his paci. When we returned home, he did not want to give it up. We then realized his 2nd year molars were coming in, and he preferred his paci to medicine. So we let him keep it. We then decided that at his 3rd birthday, we would wean him again. Starting a couple weeks before, I would tell Jaron that on his birthday he would be a big boy and that meant no more paci. Then his birthday came and went and we did not force the issue (oops!).
I have heard many different methods of paci weaning, from sending them to the paci fairy, trading the paci's for a present, putting a hole in the paci and saying it's broken, giving a smaller paci and the child won't like it so he'll stop, etc. Well, one of Jaron's favorite paci's was a 3 to 6 month paci, so that last idea was a no go. With Lara still using paci's, there was a good chance he would just steal one from her. What to do?
Our little miss Lara likes to bite. Who knows if she is teething, she has all of her baby teeth in except her 2nd year molars (she not even 17 months and they were all in before 15 months)...but she cut teeth early so she could get those early too. One night last week, Dave went to give Jaron a paci. Dave realized the nipple was ripped through on one side. Dave grabbed another one, same thing. Then he took Lara's and sure enough it was ripped through too. We figured out that Lara had bit through all the paci's! Seeing as Dave had bought 2 just a few days prior and they were both ruined, Dave announced that there would be no more paci's. He put Jaron to bed and Jaron went to sleep no problem. Lara slept fine without a paci that night too.
Since then, we have not heard one word about wanting a paci from either of our children. That was easy! I guess the "it's broken you're both going to quit cold turkey" method worked for us. Bye Bye Paci's!