Ditching the Dummy

[FlippertyJibbit]

Starting to take the dummy from DS.. He goes (mostly) all day without it and has it for naps and bedtime at the moment. I'm noticing he's sticking his fingers in his mouth a lot more now though, would this cause just as much/more damage to his teeth then the dummy? Any tips on an easy (ish) transition from dummy to no dummy as well please?

[Brookville]

I can't speak for all but we had a surprisingly easy time of it. DH told her that she didn't really need it anymore, said they were for little babies and she did fall asleep without. She was about 2 and a bit.
Having said that, she only had it for nap and night sleep. I think we built up to it by constantly saying they were for babies and that she was a big girl etc.
Dummy fairy is the classic other strategy.

[guinnessgirl]

we waited till DS was almost 3 - until then he still had dummies for sleep times. We went for the 'dummies as currency' trick where we pinpointed a toy that DS really, really wanted, and then told him he could buy it with hits dummies. Took them all to Mothercare, handed them over at the till (God bless them for playing along! ) and walked out with fancy new toy. DS did cry for his dummy for a few nights, but we just reminded him that he had 'spent' them and they were gone. Two days later they were all but forgotten

[moomin35]

How old is he OP?

[KatyN]

Guiness girl that is brilliant. I a, so going to try that.

My boy is 3.4 and only has his when he's in bed. But we've been wondering how to take the next step.

K

[stressbucket1]

Someone I know put her dummy inside a build a bear I think I will try that when the time comes

[Ihavealwaysbeenastorm]

We recently got rid of DDs (3.6).
One night in just told her they were for babies and we had to put them in the bin. We'd been building up to it by reinforcing the 'for babies' thing for weeks and then just bit the bullet.
She was ready though, I wouldn't have done this with her any younger.

[Rosa]

Dd was 3 days short of 4. She decided that was it and stopped . We had been talking about it - saying she was a big girl etc. new toy did not work, giving it to dummy fairies no way , she decided but she did the same with potty training she was clean in 3 days never wet her pants either.
We had tried to get rid of it around 18 mths but it was impossible and it kept us and the neighbours awake for hours.
Now at 6 I found an old one in a drawer and she looked at it fondly and asked if we could keep it ( but not to tell anyone as she doesn't want it to use !!!!)
BTW she has perfect teeth and is bilingual !

[tumbletumble]

OP, how old is your DS? If he replaces the dummy with sucking his fingers then yes, that can damage his teeth as much as a dummy, and it's harder to stop him because you can't take away his fingers! So I'd be tempted to give him back the dummy and try again when he's older.