HV said I should get rid off dd2 dummy (8m)

[Tinkertaylor1]

Dd2 is still not sleeping through. Thought we had turned a corner but apparently not!

She suggests c/c and binning all known offenders (dummies)

Anybody have any experience of this at this age - or is it certain death / head rolling off?

I got rid of DS's dummy at about 12 months because he was waking up for it in the night - it was pretty easy to do it then, a couple of days and it was forgotten about.

Didn't make him sleep through though. It's really not unusual for an 8 month old not to sleep through.

I took ds's away around 6 months as he kept waking for it

Well I didn't either

What she said made sense but I don't know if I can bare it!

ilove how was he though? Was it bad ?

Thought they were recommended til 1yr (helps prevent SIDS) and after that get rid as can cause goofy teeth?

I did it for naps first and did a sort of pick up/put down thing and a bit of shooshing. It was hard for a few days in the middle of the night but we got there and he slept through the night around 8 months.

With both of my dcs I got rid of dummies around 12 months. I did it because they had actually started waking up and crying for the dummy (which had fallen out of their mouths). I found that they cried for a couple of nights before they forgot about it and slept through again.

Is your dd waking up for her dummy or for food/other reasons?

how often is he waking? Is he still wanting fed in the night?

sorry, meant she, not he

Dd still has hers at 3 as she uses it to fall asleep. Don't feel pressurised

My HV said the same when DD2 had her 8 month check. I smiled and nodded and then ignored her!

Both my DDs had dummys and both gave them up no problem at around two years. Both times we "lost" them at bedtime and just said "you're a big girl now, you don't need it!" DD1 just said "oh" and never asked for it again. DD2 asked for about a week and then forgot about it.

DD2 was a crap sleeper, as a baby, and there was no way I was giving up her magic dummy! :o

Sorry *dummies.

I wouldnt.bother getting rid of dummies or cc at this age.

Chuck a dozen dummies in the cot so they can find tgem in the night.

Dd2 handed me hers 3 days before her 4 th birthday and said bye bye, she was a hellish sleeper from birth a boob monster and it helped me remain sane and yes it did help her sleep longer, she has perfect teeth and is bilingual.
Dd1 no dummy as she spat every brand and Had my undivided attention (pfb) slept through from 10 months......

My nearly 3 year old still doesn't sleep through, and he only had a dummy til he was 7 months, when he got a cold and never wanted it again. Tbh as he was BF he wouldn't take it in the night but only during day time naps, so I don't think it helped him sleep, nor hindered his sleep anyway. He was an absolutely dreadful sleeper til just after he turned 2, now he's just a bad sleeper :o

CC has been largely shown to be evil :o sorry I know it works for some people, there have been a lot have studies which have shown it causes a lot of stress in babies. LOADS of 8 months old don't sleep through - in fact the 'No Cry Sleep Solution' suggests something like 25% of children don't sleep through reliably by their 2nd birthday.

Not sure if that's helpful, but I doubt the dummy is either here or there at 8 months - unless it is very obvious to you on an individual level that she is waking to have you put her dummy back in, in which case getting rid might help... I wouldn't do it on a HV's say so unless you thought "ah, yes that is why she wakes". If she's waking to feed or for a cuddle or for a mysterious reason and still has dummy in or doesn't go to sleep when you put it back, the dummy won't make any difference.

I would stick with the dummy. My one year old DD has just been through several weeks of bad sleep with teething, learning to walk and other big developmental milestones and I'm really glad we had something to help us through the 3am moments. I don't think it's a case of once they sleep through, they then sleep through for ever more, and if you're still feeling knackered and need extra "sleep aids" I reckon a dummy is more help than hindrance.

I had a dummy as a child till about 3.5 years (my parents tried to ween me but I had a secret stash), I slept through from very early age. I don't use dummy any more and I had no speech problems as a child. My DS (12 months) is and always was a rubbish sleeper, he never used dummy and I ignored HV suggestions of CC or shush, shush/ pat, pat, as DS just goes hysterical. The obsession with children sleeping through from day 2 is really pissing me off, some kids sleep well, some don't. At 8 months you have major developments happening that prevent some babies from sleeping. I only understood that after I returned to work and my brain was so overloaded I was waking up through the night for the first week. Then you have molars coming, general teething problems, upset belly, you name it. I honestly don't think there is any reason for you to loose the dummy yet if it gives comfort or to expect your 8 month old to sleep through. Ignore HV and when asked say your DC sleeps ok, so they leave you in peace.

OP, we got rid of our son's dummy at around 8 months because he was waking up every 1.5 hours and crying for it. Getting rid of the dummy was pretty easy - we just went cold turkey and he cried for a bit the first night, but after 3 nights it was like he'd never had one. It was getting him out of the swaddle that was the bugger!

We wouldn't have bothered getting rid of the dummy if he hadn't been waking so often for it, though.

My dd didn't start sleeping through til she was 2.5

I'm very against cc

I would suggest other options to see if that works.

Try - black out blinds, a night light, a baby sleeping bag so she's not kicking off covers, little me bath oil and massage cream was great for us. We did a bath followed by a wee massage with the stuff, I think boots still sell it.

8m!! Mwahahaha! Would love to know what your HV would say about my 23m who woke at 11, 12.30 and 4.17 last night!

I saw my HV when DC1 wasn't sleeping through at 10m. She grinned and said "welcome to parenthood. Learning to talk will stop them sleeping through, so will learning to walk, so will making friends, so will potty-training. Next thing you know, they're teenagers and they won't go to bed till 4am!". It wasn't exactly practical advice but it helped to know that a) the DC are perfectly normal, b) HV is right and just when you think you've cracked it, sth else will upset the sleep pattern (DC2 has yet another cold), c) your life never goes back to how it was pre-DC, so you need to start thinking in a different way ("woke only three times last night? Woohoo!"!).

For us, it was finding a pattern that works. We do shifts - I stay up later than DH, try to get the house cleared up and basically hang on till DC2 invariably wakes 11-12ish. If I can get in there at the first sign of stirring, I can stop him waking fully. This worked for DC1 and for both DC in terms of getting naps to last longer than 20 or 40 mins. It's getting better for us, quite frequently now he'll get himself back to sleep without fully waking and if he's not ill he'd usually sleep through now. I then go to bed and get up if either DC wakes during the night. Whatever time DC2 wakes after 5am is officially morning and DH gets up with him. Again, it gets better - default time is probably 6am. Unfortunately every cold/ear infection/tooth causes regression and it's closer to 5 for a week or so.

We've never used a dummy but if we had used one, I wouldn't take it off an 8m baby - that's got to be the worst time, really, just as they're going through such major developments and entering separation anxiety phase. Both mine had their worst sleep phases (bar illness!) at 8m and 13m. I'd wait a bit till communication and understanding are better (though I'd probably stop giving in the daytime by now, just to try to reduce reliance).

I wouldn't do cc either - again, lack of understanding. I leave DC2 to cry for a couple of minutes now on occasion, but a) he's in a bed and his door is ajar, he can get out and come and find me if he really wants and b) he needs to learn the world doesn't revolve around him and just sometimes his big sister may also need me at the same time!

Good luck.

As someone who used to suck her thumb I gave my kids Dummies (as at least sometime you can take the dummy away). I would never stop it at 8 months, surely that would make it more likely that they start thumb sucking?

It's much easier to settle a child who has just lost their dummy. You need to properly wake up to deal with other reasons. Mine also learnt quickly to find and re-insert their own.

Sleeping through at 8 months is a bit of a myth, better to adapt so you get enough sleep around their patterns.

BTW apparently in the Middle Ages even adults woke in the middle of the night, they had a "big sleep" and awake bit and then a "lesser sleep". Maybe it's not babies who have it wrong.

Hello thanks for replies - had to nip out!

Dd just wants her dummy in the night, as soon as I out it in she is away. Her sleeping as been all over the show at the moment, from when she went down last night around half six she woke every four hours but the two night before it was every two! - my eyeballs were hanging out my face.

I've tried cluster feeding while asleep but she won't take it so I don't think she is hungry plus she settles when her dummy in.

She is currently in her cot stood up swinging by one arm shouting like a drunken sailor instead of having a nap . It's hard not to laugh when I go in her room but I won't find it funny at 2, 4 , 6 am!

She goes of easily at bed time it's just the frequent waking up during night. I don't think I could neck CC in the early hours.

My DD1 slept through from six months and give dummy up around three

I literally haven't slept more than six hours (once) since she was born !

In your situation I would get rid of the dummy and do cc (in fact that's what I did with both dcs) but if you don't want the crying, I would go with the suggestion above to throw a dozen dummies in the cot so she can find one!

She dosnt even try to find one as she knows I legg it in not to wake whole house up!