How to get rid of the dummy?

[Bibs2014]

DS is 2.5 and loves his dunny. Only has it for naps and sleeping at night. Sleeps well - happy to use the dummy himself in middle of night to get himself off to sleep.

Have spoken to him about stopping using it and he says no and that he loves it. I am worried about his teeth but also worried about taking something away which helps him sleep so well!

What would you do?

[weeblueberry]

We told DD1 that when she was three she was no longer allowed a dummy then took it off her on the night of her third birthday. She was upset for a very short time but was over it by sleeping time. And when she asked the next day we reminded her she'd been fine the night before. She gristled a bit but nowhere near as much as we thought she would.

Good luck!!

[Bibs2014]

Have her teeth been affected by dummy use?

Maybe he's a bit too young to understand and I should wait another 6 months.

[weeblueberry]

Nope but she only had it at night and occasionally for naps. And actually it quite often fell out her mouth about ten minutes after she went to sleep?

[Bibs2014]

Same here but he does reinsert it if he wakes up and goes straight back to sleep.

[DevelopingDetritus]

Put it in an envelope and both of you go to the postbox and post off to dummyland, so that new babies can use it.

[Thisrabbitthatrabbit]

When I took DS for his check up a few months ago the dentist said it was apparent that he used a dummy but not to worry yet (DS was 20 months). He told us when we felt ready to remove it to poke a hole in the end and gradually make it bigger. Apparently they won't want it anymore. I haven't tried it yet though.

[xStefx]

My family all do the same thing. We give the dummys to the baby ducks and introduce a rewards scheme for a month where on a sunday they choose a present/ new item instead of a dummy. with my DS I had to buy the present so he could see it and then give it to him on a sunday when he had completed the week "dummyless", my daughter funnily enough just threw it at a duck and never aske for it since. lol

I think it depends on the child. It seemed to work fine for my two though

[GlitteryFluff]

Watching for ideas
DS is 2.6
Thing is he doesn't understand much, doesn't talk much, so is hard to explain anything to him about he's too old now or whatever. Might try the poking a hole in it.

[Thingywhatsit]

Ds 1 - there was a shortage of dummies and so we had to use his dummies to grow a dummy tree. He planted dummies in the garden, we watered them, and eventually strawberry plants appeared!

Dd1 - we'd already stopped daytime dummy and she dropped it down side of her bed one night. I jumped on the opportunity, the "dummy fairies" had borrowed it, as they needed them for new tiny babies. She cried but eventually fell asleep. Next day there was a letter and parcel on table, explaining how the dummy factory had broken down and the paw patrol crew were trying hard to fix it etcetcetc. The dummy fairy knew she would be sad so had left her her one of the fairies fav toys to borrow until dummies were returned. First bit of playdoh for dd - she loved it, didn't want to give it back! Had quite a few nights of well timed trips in the car where she fell asleep and didn't get upset as that's when she missed it most.

[Bibs2014]

I don't think he'd understand the concept of posting it just yet. I've offered it to Father Christmas for the little babies and he's said no.

That Paw Patrol idea might work though!

[kissmewherethesundontshine]

We started talking about being a big boy, going to big school, using toilet etc and also kept dropping in about not needing dummies. He just decided one day (maybe 3 months later) that dummies were for babies and he was a big boy and put it in a drawer. I realise we may have been lucky but I think he was ready to go without

[Bibs2014]

How old was he kiss?

I have started to do that too with my DS, telling him that he's a big boy etc.

[FelixFelix]

We are giving it to the Easter bunny this year. Dd turned 3 just before Christmas and has recently toilet trained too so there's a big emphasis on her being 'grown up' at the moment. We have been talking about giving her dummies to the Easter bunny and he will leave her some Easter eggs in return, and she seems ok about it. Roll on Easter and we will see what happens in reality! She only has it at night when she's going to sleep, or sometimes in the car when she's tired.

I don't think she would have understood properly at 2.5 but she definitely does now.

[EnglishGirlApproximately]

Ds was 3.5 and ridiculously attached to his dummy. We had the Easter bunny swap it for chocolate- he got rid no problem. Had a few weeks of the odd sad face saying how much he loved his dummy but sleep was fine (well no worse than with the dummy). Only problem now is that he's worried he won't get any chocolate this Easter as he doesn't have a dummy to give....

[EnglishGirlApproximately]

X post felix

[EssentialHummus]

Put it in an envelope and both of you go to the postbox and post off to dummyland, so that new babies can use it.

Am I the only one imagining the faces at the local Royal Mail sorting office? "Oi, Nige, got another one of these dummies through!"

[DevelopingDetritus]

:) yes, I bet they get all sorts through, Santaland and all that.

[FelixFelix]

English glad to hear my plan worked for someone else! Hope it's as straight forward for us too.

[CwtchMeQuick]

DS put his dummies into a special bag and gave them to baby room in nursery for the babies to use. That was about a week after he turned 3. I'd tried to get rid of them before but when he turned 3 he was ready. We'd been speaking for a while about how 3 year olds are big boys so don't need dummies etc.

[Rosa]

DD handed it to me a week before her 4th birthday . She just wasn't ready before . She is bilingual and has straight teeth . She only had it at night and when she really needed it. I was not allowed to throw it away . It is in a drawer and she knows it is there ... Never taken it again . EVery child is different.

[EnglishGirlApproximately]

felix good luck! I stressed about it for weeks and it was fine!

[madmoon]

We are thinking about telling my dd 3 who's so in love with her dummy , that to get an Easter egg from the Easter bunny , she will have to give the bunny her dummy to give to all the baby bunnies . Her understanding is pretty good for her age so hopefully she will get it .

[kissmewherethesundontshine]

bibs he was about 3 months away from 3rd birthday iirc

[kel1234]

And this is another reason why I'm so glad I refused to give my lo one because I hate them (sorry I sound like a judgemental bitch). But I can't stand them.
Good luck op

[MsJuniper]

Just a word of warning: my DS and other children I've known have a period of increased attachment to the dummy once they get wind of the notion of giving it up. My strategy with this was to dial right back, let him have it when he asks, then slowly start mentioning again and reduce to sleep time only.

Ds ended up giving up voluntarily when he was 3.5 which was later than I wanted but relatively painless, apart from the first night when he cried and said it was a lot harder than he had thought. As soon as they were all out the house he was fine.

We had Bea the Dummy Fairy book which helped too.