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Original poster

Does anyone's 4 year old still have a dummy?

32 replies

sazzler197 · 27/03/2012 20:27

Just wondered if anyone elses lo's still have a dummy at 4 years old! i am really struggling with my little girl i have managed to limit it to bed times only now and she gives me it after half an hour in a morning, then it's gone for the rest of the day! She will start asking for it early sometimes but i just tell her the dummy fairy has not been yet! Any tips on how just to get rid of it, she is quite a demanding little girl sometimes and struggle a bit as her little brother has a dummy too so it is still around her a little! Any advice will be muchly appreciated!

Thanks

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5madthings · 27/03/2012 20:35

my ds4 is just 4 and he doesnt have a dummy but he does suck his thumb, so the same thing! like your dd its just for bedtime, tho he will do it in the car and when watching tv, at least you will at some point be able to take the dummy away. i think if she isnt having it in the day then its ok tbh, she will get so she doesnt want it or you can do the dummy fairy and give her a present in return?

StopSwearingNagoo · 27/03/2012 20:35

Take charge?

Yes it's hard, but it's harder because you haven't taken it away before now.

I am a dummy hater, I really dislike them. I suppose if it was a teddy or something I wouldn't be judging you for letting her keep it, and tell you to let her lose it in her own time.

But since it's a dummy I say chop them all up with scissors (not in front of the DCs, I'm not a sadist) and distract your way out of it. Make the brother lose it too.

IWillOnlyEatBeans · 27/03/2012 20:38

How old is your DS, who still has one?

Could the dummy fairy come and take all dummies in one fell swoop, and leave some nice bribes toys in their place?

It worked for my Dnephews...

joanofarchitrave · 27/03/2012 20:40

I had a dummy until i was 7. One day my mum 'lost' it and after a lengthy search I accepted it was gone.

SparkleSoiree · 27/03/2012 20:42

My DD had one until she was four. She used it as a comforter when she was tired. I started preparing her for school saying that other school children wouldn't have dummies and we needed to think of a way to find the dummy a new home.

One day she brought them all to me and said 'mummy we will put them on Santa's tray on christmas eve' and she did just that.

It wasn't ideal but she was the only one of my 3 that kept it for so long. My other two were off them very quickly!

OhDoAdmitMrsDeVere · 27/03/2012 20:43

Dummy Pirates came to our house on DC4's 4th birthday and took them all away.

4 of my 5 DCs have had dummies. I think he got away with it for the longest.
I get them down to night times only before I attempt removal. Before night times only its nap and night times only.

I got a gift bag and stuck a pirate sticker on it and DC went round and picked up the many thousands of dummies around the house.

He left it out that night and Pirates came and took them, leaving a little gift in their place.

No traumas. Smile

Original poster
sazzler197 · 27/03/2012 20:44

My other boy is 18 months and definately still needs a dummy, but i have been restricting it a lot more with him too and he only has it if he really needs it! I know i should take charge but she is really fond of it! I suppose it's the ''just doing it'' now though isn't it!! She is quite a shy girl at school also and really do think it is just a comfort thing!! It has just got to be a habit with her now, i just know she will find it hard if i completely take it away and we have come a long way for her to just have it at bed times!

OP posts:
HandMadeTail · 27/03/2012 20:47

My DS sucked his thumb. We bribed him with a couple of model aeroplanes to stop, and he just did, practically overnight.

HavePatience · 27/03/2012 20:48

We took DS dummy off him at 11.5 months. Never looked back. What does the 18mo need it for? Maybe this is a good time for dummy fairy/pirates to come for both of their dummies and leave a present in their place?

HandMadeTail · 27/03/2012 20:48

Stopped, I mean.

StopSwearingNagoo · 27/03/2012 20:53

Can someone explain what they are actually for?

I know it shuts the kids up from whinging. But how?

Original poster
sazzler197 · 27/03/2012 20:56

Lol! Stopswearing! Dummies are a comfort thing and helps my lo to get to sleep, it's what she has been used to since she was little! I guess you never used them with your children??

OP posts:
morecoffeepleaseholdthecake · 27/03/2012 20:57

Could the 'Easter Bunny' take both dcs dummys away? Worked for my friends little girls. My mate told her dcs that the easter bunny only leaves easter eggs for children who dont have dummys anymore and will leave an extra egg for children who leave out their old dummys for the bunny to take away Grin

Good luck!

OhDoAdmitMrsDeVere · 27/03/2012 21:01

sazzler I know it seems impossible that your DD will cope without her dummy but I promise you she will.

All of mine (apart from DC5) have been dummy fiends and they all forgot about them within a week of losing them.

Honest - you might have a couple of days of whinging and crying but it will be over before you know it.

Diamondgirls · 27/03/2012 21:02

I hate dummies too. People keep telling me tp give DD a dummy. Errr no... Why should you have to take it off them just because they reach a certain age if they find comfort from it?
Op could you just limit her, to say, an hour with the dummy before bed then gradually reduce this time?

5madthings · 27/03/2012 21:02

babies are naturally programmed to want to suck, its how they get food and at the same time when at the breast or being bottlefed they are being cuddled and held, they associate it with warmth and comfort!

some babies are 'suckier' than others, my ds1 wasnt too sucky, ds2 and ds3 were but would only accept the boob! ds4 sucks his thumb and has done since before he was born (scan pics showing him doing it and he did it from birth) dd was a sucky baby, didnt like my strong let down and oversupply and then i moved her to bottles and she needed more sucking comfort that she got from the bottles, so she has a dummy, she is 15mths and its pretty much just for nap times, or when she is in the car/pushchair, its a comfort, she sucks it but at other times she just likes to hold it. It really is no different to a cuddly toy or blanket that other children have as a comforter :)

joanofarchitrave · 27/03/2012 21:03

StopSwearing, do you smoke/have you smoked?

I never did, actually.

I haven't had a dummy in my mouth since 1976.

But I can still feel how goooood it was to be sucking on one of those babies.

RandomMess · 27/03/2012 21:06

My 6 year old still has her dummies for bed (have only ever been for bed) everytime we've taken them away she just plugs her thumb in instead Confused

She's indredibly stubborn, even her teachers have commented on that aspect of her personality!

Original poster
sazzler197 · 27/03/2012 21:12

My little girls is the same and is soooo stubborn this is part of our problem too! Some people just think ''take the dummy off her'' but it really is meltdown sometimes when she wants in in the day but i don't give in!! I could maybe try the easter bunny think but feel my 18 month old will still need his as he is also quite attached to it too!! Argh!! Will defo be getting rid of it soon as she is due to start school in september!!

OP posts:
HavePatience · 27/03/2012 21:45

Easiest way is to just take it away (kindly, with a fairy or whatever and a gift) and stick to it and brace yourself for the tantrums, meltdowns and tears.

RandomMess · 27/03/2012 21:46

and chop off their thumbs so there isn't a substitute...

HavePatience · 27/03/2012 21:50

My DS and Dnephew, Dneice all had dummies removed from home and never sucked thumbs.

StopSwearingNagoo · 28/03/2012 04:47

Joan, I have smoked but a 'party smoker' so never really liked it that much Grin

Baby goo sucks her thumb. I suppose in a few years I'll be here asking how to stop her doing that :)

Rillyrillygoodlooking · 28/03/2012 05:16

DS is 4.5 and still has a dummy at bedtime. He probably would take even longer to go sleep without it. Dh thinks he should have it as long as he wants and he will give it up eventually [shocked]
I would like to take it away and feel like we should just whip it off him one day but with a week or so of explanations that he can't have his dummy anymore etc. or that they have gone on holiday.
He deffo wouldn't go for the argument that other children would laugh at him as he doesn't give a monkeys what other children think.

RichManPoorManBeggarmanThief · 28/03/2012 05:39

Baby goo sucks her thumb. I suppose in a few years I'll be here asking how to stop her doing that

My sister and I were both major thumb suckers. My sister (35) still sucks hers when she is watching TV and thinks no-ones watching. I stopped when I was 10 but I admit I am still occasionally tempted Blush. You never forget your first love......