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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

How long does dummy cold turkey take for a 2.6 yr old??

11 replies

lumpybananapuree · 04/03/2011 19:16

Ds1 is 2.6yrs. I want to ditch the dummy. Has anyone done it at this age? How long did it take? We're going away next weeken and don't want it to cause problems.

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Cathpot · 04/03/2011 19:25

Hi, is there any reason you need to do it before you go away? Eventually of course it will be fine but intially it might cause some trouble, I would avoid the stress myself until you get back. Is it night time only or day time as well?

Original poster

lumpybananapuree · 04/03/2011 19:30

He only has it in bed. It doesn't leave his bedroom. It doesn't have to be before we go. I just wondered how long it would take to see if we can do it (I know everyones different and he might not be the same) I've just decided I'm going to do it, and want to do it as soon as possible. Before I chicken out!

OP posts:

Pkam · 04/03/2011 20:49

Any way you can get him to make the decision himself? DD2 did this at about 2.8 (shocked us) when she got up one morning and said her dummies had been on the floor. I jokingly said 'in which case you don't need them' and she agreed! Took them away and she never asked for them again. She had a dummy to sleep from birth and I really thought it was going to be a nightmare.

Bumperlicious · 04/03/2011 21:04

We did the dummy fairy at exactly the same age, made a box for them and everything. 1st night wasn't too bad, she was a bit shocked I think. Helped that the dummy fairy bought a trolley to sweeten the deal. But the next two nights she sobbed and sobbed and needed me to lay with her to sleep. Her behaviour was bad for about a month or so, insecurity I think. She got over it eventually, but unless you have a good reason I would recommend waiting a while to see if he gives them up voluntarily.

monstermissy · 04/03/2011 21:12

My ds is 4 in June we 'lost' his about 3 weeks ago. He only really asked for it about 5 times then gave up. Even when he found one under his bed he didnt fuss when i took it off him. I was worried it would be a nightmare.

GibberingGinger · 04/03/2011 22:10

We did it at a similar age. We were in a similar situation - sleep only, didn't leave her bedroom. We mentioned to her that she was getting to old for a dummy for a long time, and told her that she would have to give it up soon. And then one night we just bit the bullet and took it off her. Bribed her to stay in bed by saying that she would get a nice chocolate rabbit lolly thing (from throntons) in the morning. Have never looked back.

Good luck

aviatrix · 04/03/2011 22:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

kreecherlivesupstairs · 05/03/2011 05:53

DD lost hers to the dummy fairy around the age of the OPs D C. We spoke about it and DD decided the baby fairies could have them in exchange for a pink dog and a DVD. We went into her room around 4am and took them.
She came into our room at 7 and told us they'd gone. We then had to hunt around her bedroom to find the present which had been left in exchange.
She was fine all day long but as bedtime approached she got more and more nervous. She did go to sleep but she had taken all sorts of things with her as substitutes.
It took her about four days to get back into her old routine.
OP, I'd talk to your DS about it and probably wouldn't do it just before a trip away.

ednurse · 05/03/2011 06:10

Maybe you could plan to visit the 'dummy fairy' on your trip? Donate to the new babies who need the dummies now your DS is such a big boy :)

Cathpot · 05/03/2011 20:59

I just did the dummy fairy with our DD, but she is 4 and there had been lots of chat about it happening when she was 4 etc. She presented us with the dummy on the morning of her birthday and has been pretty good- far less stressful than I was imagining- I was worried about it as I was an enthusiatic thumb sucker myself and remember the comfort of it. It is taking her a bit longer to settle down, although she is not mentioning her dummy- I suspect this is it, we are now 3 weeks in. I was just tonight thinking we need a sticker chart or something to get her back on track with going to bed and not getting up again.

My argument with leaving it as late as we did (my DH hated it) was that her sister has a cuddly toy for comfort and there is no way we would be trying to take that off her, unfortunately DD2 had only the dummy. I felt that was unlikely to be doing much damage to her teeth as it fell out as soon as she fell asleep. Are you worried about teeth? I wonder how of a problem it actually is.

Original poster

lumpybananapuree · 06/03/2011 20:35

Cathpot yes teeth are a concern, I come from a family of goofs so he doesn't stand much chance even without the added problems of a dummy
He also has a monkey and a dog cuddly toy so its not his only source of comfort.

aviatrix Its just very unhygenic! I know it doesn't leave his bed but thats his bed where ever we are. so it does get put in a suitcase when we go away! I was it regularly but it smells!

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