My DS has always had a dummy to sleep, both at night and for his afternoon nap. He goes completely bonkers and screams like crazy if he doesn't have one. I had always thought I'd try and ditch it at around 2 years, but was dreading the day, assuming I would have several sleepless nights!
Two days ago I couldn't find one when I put him down for his nap, so I told him it had been taken away and given to a little baby who didn't have one. He cried and screamed for about 30 mins, then eventually went off to sleep. When I put him to bed in the evening, he just said, "suckie gone baby" and went to sleep! Amazing! Afternoon nap and bedtime tonight all passed without tears, just another mention of "suckie gone baby".
I guess the reason I'm sharing this is to give other mums some encouragement! I wasn't sure about going cold turkey - but it seems to have worked very well!