Right - fess up - has anyone had a child still "addicted" to the dummy at age 4?

[lisalisa]

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DD1 was told by the dentist 2 months before her 5th birthday that it had to go, she agreed she would ditch them in return for a trip to Legoland and a Barbie scooter. She duly got rid of them one at a time (had 4-5 in bed at once) and within 2 weeks they were gone.

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dd1 was very addicted to her dummies. in t6he end i bribed her with money

A friend of mine did. I think her dd was 4.5 when she finally gave it up.

They agreed that in return for Father Christmas leaving some presents, he would take her dummy. It didn't work straight away but about a month or so later it did.

My dd, now 6½, is a thumb-sucker

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No she was only allowed her dummy in bed - so if she wanted them during the day she had to go lay down in bed with them!!! Perhaps you should start with that though - making them strictly for sleeping only. Obviously if she was unwell and camped out on the sofa then she did have them.

From a young age she was not allowed to talk with it in her mouth either, I always told her to remove it.

Ditching them at night is a battle that you could do seperately.

hi,

no advice but just wanted to admit/share/confess that a dummy at 3.5 is our guilty secret. DS only has it at nightime (well as long as his pyjamas are on).

will watch this with interest. am I being naive in thinking that he will eventualy ditch it of his own accord?

My sister still bears a grudge against my parents for taking her dummy (& she's 30).

dd is 10 and still mentions how she misses her dummies, but I partly think that is an attention thing with having 3 younger sisters!

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she was 3, I think! she has a very good memory & is v good at bearing grudges too.

well just ditch it during the day - do the rule I did - it really did work, I just said you can have your dummies whenever you want at home but you have to have them in your bed - she soon got very bored - worth a try at least?

my ds2 has just turned 3 and still has a dummy. in fact, the addiction seems to be getting stronger. i hate it but waver between breaking his heart to get rid and thinking it must go. he is articulate and confident but very dummy orientated! he doesnt have it out and about or at playschool. i have tried the fairy babies need it/ postman pat/ father christmas but he is really not interested and unbribe -able.

My ds will be 4 in December and he like your Dd lisalisa is obsessive about them.

We've also tried taking them away,leaving them for the dummy fairy etc but to no avail.He doesnt have them at nursery and will have them out during the day for a time but as soon as he gets a little tired he's on at you all the time to get him his dummies.He also has certain ones for certain things...they're divided into 2 lots ,he has ones that go in his mouth,and others that he just 'squishes' inbetween his fingers.

Dd was never this bad

Dd 3.7 has a dummy for bed.

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DD1 is 3.3yrs and still has a dummy. We had got her down to night only, but after the clocks changing and her being so so so tired yesterday, she ended up with it for most of the day, and she has had it in for the last hour so far today - doesnt have it out and about and doesnt have it at nursery.

I hate it, and the dummy fairy etc just doesnt work - she screams and sobs for hours and I just cant deal with it

despite the fact that I hate them, my ds2 had a dummy (given to him at 6 mo when I was demented with all the bfing). He still had it at 4, but only at night. I eventually managed to get him to give it up by 4.5, I think because he was so bored of me saying 'you're far too old to have a dummy' every night!
My big, burly brother in law (40) still sucks his thumb!!!

My dd was very very very addicted to them -would go to sleep with one in her mouth and 2 in each hand and she used to stroke her face with them, put one between the dummy in her mouth and her face, she used smell them etc etc etc She could spin them, doing mental arithmetics provided you were adding/subtracting/dividing in dummies.

I would just focus on one step at a time tbh, they will be easier to ditch when they are older without deep trauma!

DS didn't get rid of his till he was well over 3. I told him the cleaner had thrown it away. He only had one because it came from a french supermarket and I couldn't get another, you can imagine the trauma when he used to loose the damn thing.
Apparently DH's cousins were taken to the top of the flats where they lived (in Spain) and encouraged to throw them to the dogs!

Hi
I have just read your thread and cargirl had already said what we did. DD was only allowed her dummy in her bedroom, when not in there she had her special box she had to put it in.
We got rid of it finally by leaving it for Santa to take to other babies - we left Santa a letter in return for toys - with great emphasis on something she really wanted, whenever she cried it was answered with well lets put all the toys in bags for Santa to take back - seems harsh but it worked and she was younger than your DD.
I know it is a battle of wills but like anything once you back down once DC know its an empty threat!!
Don't want to seem like I am preaching but thought I would share my experience.

i would wait and bribe with santa>> leave for baby reindeer.....

both mine had them until 4.5

someone told me to cut the teat a little bit everyday to make it less and less appealing...>>> didnt try it though...

my dd2 was really stuck on hers but she gave it up easily, even though i was so worried about it> she was fine

best of luck