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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

Dummy reliance: should I care?

12 replies

ZeroMinusZero · 01/02/2012 20:32

My 11 month old DD is generally a "good baby" (sorry, I know that's not a popular phrase around here) and can easily sleep through the night. However, she is VERY reliant on a dummy to sleep and will often wake up in the night crying because she has lost it.

This doesn't bother me that much right now but I do wonder when exactly we're going to break out of the habit. Or will she come out of it naturally? How much should I care?

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4madboys · 01/02/2012 20:38

my 14mth old has a dummy, again just for sleeping and in the pushchair/carseat sometimes, she now generally find it herself in the night but i leave 4 of the glo in the dark avent ones in bed with her! if she doesnt its easy to pop it back in and she sleeps in bed with us. i dont see it as in issue tbh, my eldest three all bfed to sleep and grew out of it eventually, my 3yr old sucks his thumb, again its pretty much just for sleeping or when he is unwell, he will grow out of it.

it wouldnt worry me, she is 11mths and just a baby, if it works, leave it be!

Original poster

ZeroMinusZero · 01/02/2012 21:22

That's pretty much what I was thinking, thank you. I do think she'll grow out of it eventually so I'm not too bothered. I like the idea of glow in the dark dummies.

OP posts:

chocoroo · 01/02/2012 21:27

DD is also eleven months and a total dummy fiend. We recently got her a dummy bunny (from Amazon) which has helped her and us find the dummies in the middle of the night.

I'm hoping to ditch the sldummy for daytime naps once she turns one...

conorsrockers · 02/02/2012 06:40

Dummys are great! Don't worry about taking them away until they are ready. Mine weren't allowed them at nursery/school apart from naptime and just had them when they came home. They were eventually discarded voluntarily about 5 with no tears or stress. I don't see the point in trying to take them away.

Goodpen82 · 02/02/2012 15:53

Yes, I agree. My daughter had a dummy until she was 3 but eventually gave it up when we told her 'big girls don't have dummies!'

Tinsie · 03/02/2012 01:34

My 9-month-old is the same, relying on his dummy to sleep and waking up crying if he's lost it. It doesn't bother me, I'd rather he used a dummy than need breast feeding or a long cuddle to help him nod off. I'm sure he'll give it up when he's ready - and I'm hoping that he'll soon be able to find his dummy himself in the night, or at least stop flicking it on the floor and then wake up crying when he can't find it!

P.S. We might give the dummy bunny a go, thanks for the tip Chocoroo!

smoggii · 03/02/2012 20:46

13 month old loves her 'dodie' and i don't take anything away from her unless it is unsafe. As I understand it there is no evidence to suggest that modern day dummies cause any problems with teeth and my kid never shuts up so it certainly hasn't interfered with her language development!

islandbaby · 03/02/2012 20:48

Good lord, we have a nightmare with DS when he throws out loses his dummy from the the cot. Especially at resistant nap times.

After reading this thread I checked out the dummy bunny on Amazon and almost bought it, before realising that the comforter that we got for free from joining the Hipp baby club can be easily untied at each corner and retied around three dummies.

We now have three dummies that don't fit through the cot bars, and a baby who has slept right through for the last two nights and settled straight in to all his naps.

Gotta love mumsnet!

Tinsie · 11/02/2012 00:47

Update: We got the dummy bunny and it's fab! No more chasing dummies in the night What a fantastic idea! Thank you Chocoroo

Fishpond · 11/02/2012 23:07

Have been told by a few orthodontists and pediatric dentists that it's MUCH preferable for a child to have a dummy even up to age 5 than it is to suck their thumbs. I do not plan on having DS on dummies until then, but will not be upset in the slightest about using one up until about age 3.

smilingcl · 13/02/2012 15:06

I didn't have anything against dummies until my 3mo learnt how to knock them out and obviously can't put it back in. For the past few nights and naptimes I'm up and down the stairs like a yoyo while he's getting really crappy interrupted sleep. How did you deal with this stage?

I'm tempted to go cold turkey just so we go back to nice uninterrupted sleep for several hours in a row but he's got an operation coming up soon and I think he'll appreciate he's dummy even more then as he doesn't really use anything else to comfort himself.

Tinsie · 16/02/2012 23:31

smilingcl, mine wasn't overly keen on his dummy at that age, I had to teach him to take one at around 4m when he started sticking his whole fist in his mouth and sucking vigorously.

Have you tried a different type of dummy, or a larger one (one aimed at babies age 4m+)? Could it be that they're dropping off because they're too small for her?

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