Getting rid of a dummy, practical advice needed please

[TeaDr1nker]

DD is 15 weeks old and wakes in the night for her dummy, once she gets it she goes back to sleep. I know she is dependant on it and it is really starting to have a knock on effect as i have sleep dept!!

Please can someone give me a step by step guide as to how to ween her off it, or at least tell me how i can get her to get herself back to sleep. I am tired of having to get up ion the night two or three times to put the dummy back in.

I have bought a book on sleep but although i know what the problem is i didn't get a solution.

Help please.

Thank you.

Or wait til she's 3 and swap it for a skateboard. Not good advice sorry, but that's our experience.

They have very short memories at that age so take the dummy away if you don't want to use it, but we left our dd keep hers until she was 2.

The book "No Cry Sleep Solution" has tips on how to wean babies of dummies. My DD is 5.5months old and I am up two or three times a night to put dummy back in, it only takes a minute or two for her to go back to sleep once I pop it into her mouth so I figure it is a small price to pay! People keep telling me she will start putting back in herself soon(which she does during the day) we'll see!

Just go cold turkey, it's the only way. We did it recently with DS, he was I think 8mo at the time, and I wish we'd done it sooner! We were having to get up several times a night to put it back.

We went cold turkey, first night we had about an hour crying on and off which was hard, then a couple more much shorter later in the night. Second night huge improvement, third night slept through and has always settled himself since then.

I just took the dummy away at 15 weeks, for the same reason it was becoming more of a pain than a help. Literally just put them in the bin and that was it. Had a hard few days but he soon forgot about it.

Just to say that recent advice from the FSIDS has suggested that if a baby has a dummy, it should not be removed until the baby is 6 months as a precaution against SIDS.

I don't believe we should be depriving our children of whatever gives them comfort esp if it helps them to sleep. ds1 lost interest in his soon after his 3rd birthday and giving it up wasn't a problem. we solved his night waking due to lost dummy by tying one on each corner of a muslin that way he could always find it in the night and prevented him throwing them out. worked a treat

Well dd went to sleep in a cot that looked like a hotel bedroom - only instead if rose petals strewn on the bed it was multiple dummies.
She only had her dummy (with a clothie thing as well) at nap times and then at night, until she was about 3.5. Gave it up with no problem. The dummy fairy came.
DS has his more during the day than I would like really, but seems to crave it most when in unfamiliar surroundings or when travelling.

We just went cold turkey when our twins were about a year old. They had grown really dependent on them and would cry when they fell out in the night which was a complete nightmare, running up the stairs to re-dummy them every 45mins!

It took a week of controlled crying, then they completely forgot about them. They have been brilliant sleepers ever since and we have never had to use them again.

I forgot to add - around the same time we bought these blankets. Our girls go to sleep slurping away on the tags! They have been a fantastic alternative, gives them a little comforter to cuddle up with.

Thank you everyone for your advice. I know that FSID recomends them but selfishly i would like some sleep.

O am i asking to much of my DD to sleep through at this age?

We went cold turkey at 9 wks with DC1. It took 1 day of screaming for it and it was over with. We threw them in the bin (the dummies not the baby) so as to resist temptation.

With DC2 we haven't even considered a dummy. More trouble than they are worth, methinks.

We went cold turkey at just over 3yo. DS was only supposed to have it at night but ended up having it late afternoon to watch telly when he was tired etc. But in preparation for the cold turkey we got really strict about it. We also waited until he got attached to a teddy so he still had that comfort in bed.

We told him that the dummy fairy had taken them to give to another child who needed them more, someone who was smaller than him like a baby. She left some little cars as a thank you. He was really unimpressed but eventually went to sleep and the next couple of days he half-heartedly asked for it but we had no problems at all.

FWIW I don't think I could have done it any earlier. It was important to me that he understood what was happening (as much as he could) rather than thinking we were just being cruel for no reason.

I think at 15 weeks you might be expecting too much when it comes to sleeping through. For example, dd and ds both had dummies. DD slept consistently 12 hours when she was 10 months. Still had night feeds until 6 months. DS slept through reliably from 5 months (no need for night feeds). I suppose what I'm saying is that every baby is different, and removing the dummy may not be the solution when it comes to night wakings. Some babies just don't get it until they are a wee bit older.

DD1 just swapped hers for a pair of barbie butterfly wings. She's 3.2

DD2 is 23 weeks and still doesn't sleep through and she doesn't have a dummy, although sometimes I wish she would!

We went cold turkey after first birthday. About 3 days of hideousness and then bliss!

My DD has just turned 5 months and is slowly becoming less dependant on her dummy, now she's becoming more alert and interactive. She still usually has one to go to sleep with and will sometimes wake up if it's dropped out, but can sleep along time without realising as well. She regularly sleeps through the night as well, usually without the dummy, but we're co-sleeping which definitely helps. Sorry if this doesn't help!

my dd is nearly 6 months, and has been without her dummy for about a month. i was up 5 or 6 times a night to put the bloody thing back in. couldn't take it any more! i did the baby whisperer pick up-put down method for about 3 nights - only had to do it a couple of times each night - and now she's back to sleeping through. it was hard work, but better than no sleep and better than leaving her to howl!

We just took DD's away. It was fine.

Another vote for cold turkey here. We did it when dd2 was six months. Best thing we ever did.

I have same problem with night waking, but when dd (10 months) goes down for a nap, or is upset, it really calms her to be able to suck on her dummy. We sometimes repeatedly have to replace it during the night though. I was at a 5.5 month old replacing hers during the day - my dd has never nearly got the hang of that (she like being waited on!).

I do wish we had never started, but they are GREAT when they're great.

Good advice about the taggies blanket - might try one of those.

We used a dummy clip and from about 15/16 weeks DD could find it herself.

A top tip I wish I'd known is don't take the dummy away but don't ever replace it with the next size up - by doing that they will just lose interest as they won't be able to suck it in the same way as they get bigger.

teadrinker at 15weeks just take it away. There will be a few complaints for 2 nights - then nothing. Bliss. Maybe try and get her to replace it with something like a muslin to snuggle up to. My DS1 used one until 12 weeks then we took it away. He started chewing a polar bear's ear instead (and is still v fond of the bear, now earless, 7 years later)

Otherwise keep getting up at night and putting it in for hte next 6 months or so and then spend the year that she is 2 posting threads on mumsnet entitled "I hate my dd's dummy, how do I wean her off it?" like me with my dd2