I simply hate pacifiers!!! My boyfriends son is soo addicted to the pacifier that if it falls out of his mouth when he is asleep, he will definitely spaz out! My philosophy is, if you are old enough to pick up the pacifier and put it in your own mouth, then you are definitely too old for the pacifier!! Hence the word…pacify!!!

i think people need to mind there own buisnesses and get on with there lives!!!!
my son is nearly 2 and a half and he still has a dummy, hes had it since he was born its his only way of comfort!!
it might be Ryders only way of comfort also hes not that old hes only like three isnt he? i think if they are over 3and a half it might get concerning but just give the kid a break!!

btw i took my son to the dentist and he said he has perfectly healthy teeth there all alligned proply, no decay!!!
and thats 2 half years worth of sucking on a dummy!!!

Well, Its kate’s decision if she wants her child to have a pacifier but i personally think he’s way to old, my cousin’s child is 3 1/2 and still has a pacifier, i think thats crazy, she says she uses it to calm him down, and its hard for her to control, 3 boys age 9 months, 3 1/2, and 7, she said the 9 month old when he was a newborn didnt even like the paci and would spit it out and she got mad and she forced the paci on that child, he uses it sometimes but doesnt really want it the, 3 1/2 year old uses his more,when we were at the mall one time and the 3 1/2 year old and 7 year old got into a fight and the 3 1/2 started screaming and crying and the 3 1/2 year old took the 9 month olds paci from him, it was crazy.

I think we should let Kate decide whats best for her son! I have four children and my youngest son is the same age as Ryder, he also has equally long hair and up until yesterday still had his pacifier in the day. As a mum who has been judged so many times for breastfeeding in public, using washable nappies, having 3 home-births and anything and everything that everyone seems to have an opinion! Maybe we should stop judging Kate (who has just recently gone through a separation) and concentrate on our own children!

Pacifiers were created to soothe BABIES in order to fulfill their need to suck-NOT children with emotional issues. And I agree with Teenyz’s point that if parents never introduce a paci in the first place, it will never be an issue. If babies really want/need to suck, they will suck their thumbs, fingers, and/or hands. The whole pacifier issue really has more to do with the mindset of the parents than the child, and Ryder looks downright silly with an infant’s accessory in his mouth at the age of three.
Moreover, I don’t think anyone has mentioned another problem. Pacifiers aren’t only a problem because of how long children use them. They are also a problem because of how often they are used, such as in Ryder’s case IMO, allowing Ryder to sleep with a paci would bad enough, but 9 times out of 10, he is photographed with one in his mouth during normal daily routines. I seriously doubt he has an urgent need to suck every single time he goes out in public. Like I said,the issue of children with pacifiers has more to do with the parents than the kid.

WAY too old for a paci… he looks ridiculous with that thing.

My daugther is 2 1/2 and i have to intentions of taking her pacifier away, or as she calls it, her “pie”. Her doctor is fine with it and so am I. She is in speech therapy but she is also in occupational as well b/c she was born early, so weather i take it or not she will have a speech problem and even her speech therapist and her dentist haven’t said anything about taking it away. in fact her dentist said her teeth were perfect!

Ryder’s parents just split and everytime he goes out in public he has strangers swarming to take his picture. Jeez, I’d be on the binky too if I were him! Give the kid a break. He’s probably got a lot of stress for a 3 year old. I’m sure Kate is a good mom and being understanding, not lazy.
Most kids have the urge to suck for comfort long after a year old. That’s one of the reasons that breastfeeding can go on for years if the parent allows their child to naturally self wean.

I get extremely annoyed when I see ANY child, not just a celebrity’s, displaying behaviors/involved in activities that aren’t age appropriate (i.e., using pacifiers and bottles after the 1st birthday, being strolled around in a stroller over 3 yrs old, breast-feeding children over a year old, etc.) I cringe when I see these mothers strolling around these gigantic children in the mall, and kids that are 3, 4, and 5 years old walking around with pacifiers in their mouths (as I stated before, I don’t even agree with it at 2). I guess that’s just what I’ve been raised to believe. I’m 25, and my mother told me that on my 1st birthday, she threw away the pacifier and the bottle. She said that I cried myself to sleep that night, but after that I was fine. As far as the breast-feeding is concerned, it’s a proven fact that breast milk has no more nutritional value once the child is 2. I hate when people attempt to compare to those in other countries saying “They breast feed their children until the children are 4 and 5 years old!!!”; well, that’s because in a lot of those cases, they don’t have any other choice!! Many of these countries are poor, and that’s the only way for many of those mothers to feed these children, or want to utilize the free method of feeding their children for as long as possible. We (as a society) always speak about how advanced America is, but when it comes to situations like these, we want to practice the ways of the less-advanced countries- amazing!

Shmoo I agree with you