Baby pacifiers are always tempting, but almost always somewhat disappointing because of the nipple/teat size. People mod these pacifiers all the time by popping the button off the shield and replacing the nipple with an adult-sized one. If you search for how-tos, you'll usually see somebody just jamming a screwdriver into the seam between the button and the shield and cranking on it. This works, but chews up the plastic and leaves you with a pretty ugly-looking result. The answer? Tape up your screwdriver (largest flat-tip you can find) so it doesn't scratch the plastic, make a little wooden spacer block that fits under the lip of the button, insert your screwdriver between the wood and the back of the shield, and then crank.
Pop! Button off without so much as a scuff on the plastic.
The dimensions of these things will depend on the pacifier, but are also somewhat noncritical. 1/8" - 3/16" plywood works well. This particular MAM has a button diameter (under the lip) of 0.95", and I have a laser cutter, so I was able to match the diameter perfectly, but I'd expect a 1" drill bit would work fine also.
FWIW!
---
Disclaimer: Obviously this ain't gonna work on pacifiers where the button is welded on with a plastic solvent. Examples I've encountered include Baby King and Richell, and I'm sure there are others.
As long as it's a NUK with an upper lip/overhang on the button so that you can get your spacer in there, this method should work for popping the button off. After that, it'll be a matter of having a compatible nipple. Before going to all the trouble, measure the bases of your "from" and "to" nipples and make sure they're pretty close to the same. I've only tended to buy the largest sizes of baby pacifier, so I don't know whether the nipple bases vary from, say, a 0-6 month MAM to a 16+ month MAM. (Obviously the rest of the nipple varies a lot!) I like Gen 2 LFB nipples, which are NUK style, and have put those in both NUK and MAM baby pacifiers.
Not sure about down-modding an adult pacifier. I've only played with the LFB adult pacifiers, and they're designed to come apart easily. What adult pacifier(s) are you thinking of?
Not sure about down-modding an adult pacifier. I've only played with the LFB adult pacifiers, and they're designed to come apart easily. What adult pacifier(s) are you thinking of?
Piece of cake, then—at least if it’s a Gen 2. Pull the handle ring out of the button one side at a time, and then the button will just slide off. Stick a MAM or NUK nipple in there and reverse the process.
The Gen 1’s come apart the same way, but the nipple has a larger base and isn’t a good match for a baby nipple.
Aw, well... Maybe don't be too quick to accept defeat. If you can manage to stretch the base of the smaller nipple over the stud inside the LFB button, you'll be golden. Just might be slightly a pain.
---
About NUKs in general: I'll be embarking on a related experiment in a couple of weeks. Found some Lion King NUKs on eBay and snapped them up, hoping I could mod them. They're 6-18 month. I'll report back when I've had a chance to work on those, whether it's a success or a miserable failure. Unfortunately they're coming from the other side of the planet, so... *twiddle, twiddle*
I expect success, though, as I've pried apart NUKs in the past and they weren't glued. I just gouged them up quite a bit, as I hadn't yet worked out a good system.
It's been a year, and I realized I never did close the loop on the whole NUK thing: Unfortunately, I've only been able to pop apart a few vintage NUKs. Every semi-modern one I've bought in hopes of modifying has been glued/welded. That included some Bambi and Lion King pacifiers that I was soooooo looking forward to using. Sigh... Back to the drawing board.
There may yet be a solution for modern NUKs, but if there is, it probably involves cutting the button off and then re-attaching it with some kind of welding solution, so it's probably not the sort of thing most people would want to do.
i used the screwdriver method without tape or wood and while mine are a bit chewed up by the screwdriver, they still function perfectly with the adult teat. I believe i bought NUK 18-36 month ones. Pictures of my pacifiers are on this site.
Sigh... Back to the drawing board.