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Behaviour/development

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Original poster

Dummy to santa??

21 replies

bigbananaflambe · 21/12/2004 12:11

DS is 2.5yrs old and LOVES his dummy - we hate it and always tell him to take it out if he wants to talk to us. He always has it at sleep time and during quiettime before bed with his milk. Also difficult to get it from him in the morning when he gets up. He does ask for it during the day at times too - and is incredibly persistant - I do quite often give in and give it to him when I'm on my own with him and can't bear the wingeing. So I'm quite reliant on it too.

Wondering about trying to give dummies to santa in exchange for presents...any advice?

Should I just go cold turkey or simply restrict it to bed time only?

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merrymarthamoo · 21/12/2004 12:35

We recently went cold turkey with ds2 (the day after his third birthday). I was dreading it - he loved his dodies too I gave all the dummies to my friend so she could throw them in her bin (had visions of me fishing them out of our bin if it all got too much!) In the end, it was a non-event, he whined a little the first night (we said we couldn't find one) and had a little moan about it a couple of times after that. It's been a fortnight now and they are no longer mentioned, it hasn't affected his sleep at all. Go for it - it may not be as bad as you think.

merrymarthamoo · 21/12/2004 12:36

Tbh, it seems a bit mean to do it on Christmas Eve (I assume that's what you would do if giving the dummies to Santa) Why not have an easy Christmas and tackle it a couple of days later?

Original poster

bigbananaflambe · 21/12/2004 13:12

What a bit mean to us or to him!!?! I just thought that with so much going on at Christmas and so many people around (cousins, aunts, grandparents etc) he might not notice it too much and there would be enough of us to distract him...?

OP posts:

sandyballs · 21/12/2004 13:40

Go for it - like merrym says, it may not be as bad as you think. My two DDs were obsessed with their dummies and I was desperate to get rid of them (at 3.5!) but kept putting it off because of the hassle. In the run up to our holiday in Spain last summer I kept telling them that dummies were not allowed on planes or in Spain and when we went they just accepted it and it was never mentioned again. I think, like you say, the fact that there was lots going on and it wasn't "normal" home life made it easer, so go for it at xmas.

Gobbledigoose · 21/12/2004 13:43

Do you think that would work for me when we move house in Jan? I could say we lost them?! DS1 is 3.5 and still has one to go to bed but never at any other time. Problem is, ds2 is only just 2 and he has his a lot (though I draw the line at outside the house and move on to chocolate buttons/raisins/breadsticks for silence in tesco!) - his language is coming on but I'm not sure I can explain they've been lost to him. TBH, the reason we've not tackled with ds1 is because there are still dummies in the house for the 2 yr old. Maybe I should wait till Easter when ds2 might take it better??

Any thoughts?

ChristmasCracker · 21/12/2004 13:48

Dd2 gave her dummy to santa last xmas, for him to give to a baby reindeer, she was 4 though then.

It was quite funny as i told dd that santa would leave her a special pressie, and i had one lined up ready when she suddenly announced (on xmas eve), that it HAD TO be a barbie lamp for her room or no deal , guess who won ?

We told her before hand what was going to happen as we didn't feel it fair to spring it on her, and a couple of days before hand she was a bit unsure about it, but we just kept telling her the same thing and she was fine in the end.
I wrote a letter to her from santa, complete with reindeer hoof print and she thought it was great.

She did mention her dummy a couple of time afterwards but after a few days she had forgotten about it.

Good luck

noddyholder · 21/12/2004 13:51

Did this on ds's 2nd birthday the fairies swapped it for a thomas the tank IIRC worked a treat merrymarthamoo my ds called his a dodie still don't know where that came from

marzipan · 21/12/2004 13:56

We were lucky with our DD - she was about 2.5 as well but my husband's boss was in the house one day and took it saying it was "dirty" - she never looked for it again even though was so attached to it.

blossomgoodwill · 21/12/2004 14:16

Gobbledigoose my dd is 5 & 4 months and still has her dummy at night. Now who should me more

Loobie · 21/12/2004 18:42

so that we didnt have the xmas eve thing we told ds the same story give it top santa and he'll bring prezzies,we visited santa at the shopping centre a week before the day itself,dp spoke to the guy explaining what we were doing and he went along with it,giving us the dummy on the way back out.Ds was unsettled but we kept reminding him he was getting new toys and after a couple of days he never mentioned it again.I think because he seen it go to santa so didnt think we had it.

bundleofyulelogs · 21/12/2004 18:44

why would santa take a dummy, surely he's a present-giver...

MistltAeroAndWine · 21/12/2004 19:49

We did this with ds1 around this age, but also thought it mean to do it Xmas Eve as it would have been really sudden and we worried that the realization of what he'd agreed to do might not have been completely understood, so about a month before Christmas we said to him about practising going without his dumy before Christmas, so that when Santa took them away and left presents instead, hed be kind of used to it. He agreed and the first night we just put it under his pillow and he was free to have it if he needed it. He didn't, but the knowledge that it was there was comfort enough for him to get to sleep. We did this for a few nights and he's never looked back. After that we just gathered any we found into a pile and when Christmas came, he was no longer using them anyway, so was happy for Santa to take them away.
Did something similar with dd, but not at Christmas - it worked fine and eventually we just removed them as we found them.

Lara2 · 22/12/2004 10:29

We got rid of DS1's dummy about the same age. We said that the Santa collected all the dummies from the nearly 3 year old children to give to the baby elves. So we put them on the fireplace with the drink, mincepie and carrot and in the excitement of Christmas he forgot it with almost no fuss.

blueteddy · 22/12/2004 10:37

When my ds1 was just over 3, he gave his dummys to Santa in exchange for his presents & I was amazed how smooth it all went!
Ds never asked for his dummys again, as he excepted that Santa had them.
I will try the same approach with ds2 & just hope I am as lucky again!

Rogue · 22/12/2004 10:46

try the fairys ...sounds daft but worked wonders with my first 2 get a huge envelope tell him fairys have asked for dummies for the poor babies in the world and write to the dummie fairys from ..... and tell him to put them in seal it and send it and in return santa or the fairys will leave him something really special....get him a thank you card and sign it from the fairys and a little gift something he really likes. my 2 were so proud they got a card and pressie for giving the dummy to them they asked for it i said well if i have to get a new one for you they will be so upset.
good luck
happy christmas
rogue

hollybelle · 22/12/2004 12:55

I took away my ds dummy just before he was 2.5 years. He seemed to have it continually in his mouth and was affecting his speech. He only asked a couple of times for it and it didn't affect him sleeping. He seemed to miss it more on car journeys! Go for it and I hope all goes well.

Original poster

bigbananaflambe · 22/12/2004 13:18

thanks everyone for your encouraging words!

I was thinking of getting my dad to dress up as santa and do the taking of dummies away to give to other babies, in return for a buzz lightyear!!

Maybe do it on xmas eve/xmas day?

OP posts:

Gobbledigoose · 22/12/2004 13:35

Blossom - oh, I feel better now! Mum keeps going on at me to take it off him but noone else sees him with it!!

Rogue · 22/12/2004 13:37

dont forget to go through toy box for hidden ones he will find one if you forgot it...hahaha and good luck let us know how it all goes

Levanna · 30/12/2004 01:52

Just seen this thread. During the night on Christmas eve (though it was Solstice for us) DD1's dummy went to the baby reindeer. We discussed it with her some time ago and though she got a bit nervous about it during the few days prior she hasn't asked for it since! There was a thankyou 'card' from the baby reindeer in the top of her stocking and I heard her proudly telling her younger cousin today who she had given it too. I'm totally gobsmacked at how well she's coped. Did anyone else give it a go?

Britabroad · 30/12/2004 05:34

We did this too!!
Agreed with DD who was 3 that she could swap her dummies for presents as detailed in letter from Santa. We went on a dummy hunt. Unbeknown to me she had secret stores of dummies all over the house and came back with 32 dummies!!!!!
She still remembers it now and tells her little friends that when they are 3 they can do the same.

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