Has anyone managed to get an older baby to take a dummy?

[TheNoiseHurts]

Say 12/13 months old?

Or is it a total impossibility?

No advice just solidarity. I am going to try (again) to introduce a dummy to my boob obsessed 9mo 😬😬 good luck x

I was going to suggest the ones you've bought! I was desperate for dd2 to take a dummy so my nipple could have a break.

Also, I switched nipple for dummy after feeding to sleep. When she went through a light cycle and began comfot sucking, the dummy worked.

Thanks im tempted to try it tonight!

Yep- at 18mo.
Breastfeeding was destroying my soul- the dummy was a godsend, and I had tried from months to get dd to take it.
Gave to dummy fairy aged 3.
All hail the dummy!

How did you do it, @crinklesmile??

He's on the boob right now, asleep. I'm warming the dummy in my mouth and about to attempt The Change.......

That did not work

I used to hold it in whilst they screeched, only for a moment though....

That worked when he was tiny.
But it wouldn't work now, he would likely give me a left hook and hurl like the exorcist.

Tried it again and it didn't work just now. Dang.

Have you considered going away overnight (if you have someone who can look after him). It's amazing how they manage when you aren't there. It might just break the habit.

Yes I have, I was rather hoping to avoid that though. That's last case scenario but admittedly looking like the only option.

I question my motive on nights such as tonight where he's on the boob, falls asleep in minutes and transfers to the cot with ease. I wonder what the problem is with falling asleep at the breast?

But I've had a breast sleeper before (and one who self settled) and the breastsleeper was all shades of shite when it came to sleeping around the age of 2-3 because we never established self-settling early on like I had with DC1.

History is repeating itself!

DC1 was a thumb sucker. Problem solved. I was always grateful that he was, and always slightly gutted that the next two didn't suck their thumb.

Have you tried lightly tapping the dummy? Rhythmically and gently. Worked for us and I've no idea why.

Honestly I would work on self settling rather then introduce a dummy. Is there any reason you can't? This is not a tiny baby we are talking about here.

^

Sorry to jump in but how do you get them to self settle ? My 9 month old gets hysterical if I try anything else other than boob to resettle him when waking up in the night & I’m so tired I give in. Is giving up breastfeeding the answer ?

DD wouldn’t take one till 9 months. It was great once she did. I wouldn’t have let her have it for longer but took it away when she started biting through them at 15 months. Only took a few nights then she forgot about it.

My daughter was 2 when I had her brother, she never took one until then, she loved his!

Honestly I would work on self settling rather then introduce a dummy. Is there any reason you can't?

I thought I'd said this? But I scroll back and I haven't, perhaps it's in one of my other million DS Won't Sleep threads.

I paid hundreds for a sleep consultant and we are still here so I've tried self settling.
The answer is controlled crying perhaps but I'm not up it.
And I'm pretty sure he isn't either

Not in the same boat as I have two firm dummy lovers, but try different kinds of dummies. Both of mine are proper dummy connoisseurs who will only take tommee tippee 0-6 months or 6-18 months thank you very much! (What fun we had trying to find a backup when we only took one on holiday abroad to a non tommee tippee country...)

My bf babies would only take those cheap cherry latex dummies you get in pharmacies

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/265284891&ved=2ahUKEwi1nP3qtMDnAhWXSxUIHSwLCTAQFjACegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw3nUoDypsPdFWjRzIyKZTNF" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/265284891&ved=2ahUKEwi1nP3qtMDnAhWXSxUIHSwLCTAQFjACegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw3nUoDypsPdFWjRzIyKZTNF

When you say you've tried a comforter, have you tried a taggie - they can suck the ribbons and the Bright Start ones have plastic loops they can chew on / suck?

We got DS to start settling to sleep without a dummy / breast by doing pushchair walks with the taggie. As he got more used to settling we were gradually able to reduce the amount of walk needed until i could just push the pushchair back and forwards in the hall. Learning to settle in the pushchair seemed to be enough to help him self settle bit better at night.

Wez13

There are gradual methods to stop feeding to sleep but it works best/Can be done with little or no crying if you start much earlier. We started at 4m with both ours, it took 2m to go from feeding to sleep to putting down awake.

1. Feed til drowsy but not asleep but then rock to sleep
2. Feed, then rock til drowsy, then pat to sleep
3. Feed, story, rock til calm, pat til drowsy, hand on chest til mostly asleep
4. Feed, story, rock briefly, pat etc
5. Feed, story, cuddle, pat for say 30 seconds.

Doing this over several weeks we had almost no crying - sometimes a minute or two of moaning but no screaming etc, just tired grumbles. Now at 6m we have not fed to sleep in about 5 weeks. On a bad night if poorly or overtired we will pat til pretty drowsy, this might be once in 10 days and it takes maybe 1 or 2 minutes.

Mine was younger than most on here but was 6 months when she finally
Took one. The nuby Uber soother is the one she took. Worth a look?

Yes at 12 months when I returned to work, I needed to be able to share settling at night with DH and wanted to stop breast feeding.