Getting rid of the pacifier?

we have been very successful at getting our son off the bottles before his first bday well now the biggest issue is the pacifier the plan was to get rid of bottles and paci's by his first bday (dec 13th) well the amount of paci's he has in his collection has been dwindled down to 4. the pediatrician says let him have it as long as he has the sucking reflex well i dont like that advice and i have seen kids that were like 4 walking around with paci's. what are some things you have done to get your baby off the paci? i dont want to just take it away bc he usually wants it when its time to go to sleep for a nap or bedtime and i dont want to deal with the screaming for a few nights (this was the advice of friends who have kids) any suggestions?