Getting rid of 8 month old's dummy

[HensMum]

My 8.5 month old has had a dummy since he was weeks old. He only uses it for naps and at night, never when awake.
He never used to be that dependant on it, he'd spit it out and he'd never have it in when I got him up. However, recently he's got more dependant on it. He always falls asleep with it in and usually still has it in when I get him up from naps, though not normally in the morning.
He sometimes cries in the night and we go in and pop the dummy in and he stops. Not sure if he is crying because he has lost the dummy or for another reason but it works.

Anyway, I want to stop using the dummy now as he is becoming so dependant and to try and get him to sleep better. I'd like him off it by the time he's a year old, ideally.

How do I do it?! All the advice I've read is for 2+ year olds...I don't think that the Dummy Fairy is going to work on my 8 month old. I'm happy to try putting him down without the dummy and see what happens but what happens when he cries at night? He's never been great at settling himself and I cannot calm him without getting him out of the cot.

Any advice gratefully received, especially if you've done it yourself with a baby of a similar age.

You just have to put the dummys in the bin, and prepare for some sleepless nights

Cold turkey only way. We did it with DS at the same age, much easier than we thought. First night pretty awful, crying at about 1am for an hour, then woke again later but settled himself. Second night much better, third night slept through.

definatly cold turkey - I waited too long and decided to do it when dd was 2 yrs. More traumatic for her than it was for my ds - cold turkey at 5 mths...much easier. The longer you leave it, the harder it gets I think.

Good luck. Babies that old adapt more easily than we give them credit for.

I wouldn't do it personally

Would you take away a special blanket, or teddy, if it offered comfort and helped him sleep?

I went for the 'chuck a load of 'em in the cot and hope' method of dummy-loss-in-the-night management

DD1 gave hers up easily at just-3 (had it foer sleeping only)

I have to say my DS slept much better once he'd given up his dummy. He'd started waking up for it, so had very disturbed sleep, even when he was able to find it and put it back in himself, we heard whimping and whining and scrabbling round until he found it.

Once he was used to sleeping without it, which took a ridiculously short period of time as I've said, his sleep was much less disturbed and we all slept better as well!

I did it at 7.5 months. Just take it away and prepare for some screaming. My ds slept soooo much better even the first night, and it only takes 2-3 nights for them to forget. Do it, was the best decision I ever made.

I think they go through phases of needing them more some times than others. Personally, I don't see why you'd take comfort off your little one, not yet anyway. We took DD's dummies away at 2, in return for her going into a cot bed, which she wanted much, much more than any old dummy (horray for older cousins I say!)

If you are going to do it though, i'd day go cold turkey, their memories are quite short at that age and he'll soon forget he ever had one. But it'll probably be a rough few days!