My DS (2.5) has used a dummy generally only for sleepy time. We've been thinking about weaning him off them for a while and so have made a conscious effort not to replace them when they split.
Last week, I noticed that his last dummy was split and told him that we needed to put it in the bin - which he offered to do himself. I also told him it was his last one and that we didn't have any more. He seemed to accept this at the time.
Today is now the 7th day with no dummy and he is still having problems settling for his lunch time nap as well as in the evening. It can take him 2-3 hours to get to sleep at night and he often wakes up a few times before morning. He asks for his dummy when we put him to bed or if he's tired but we just say that he put it in the bin and we don't have any more.
There are two main problems. He's finding it really difficult to get off to sleep as he used to make a special sleepy noise when he sucked his dummy. Because he now doesn't have a dummy, he gets upset and says 'I can't make the noise, mummy!' as if the sleepy noise itself is as much of a comfort as the dummy. Also, when he's overly tired because he's missed his lunch time nap, he becomes very upset in the evening and we're finding it difficult to calm him down.
We've also noticed that he's starting to put a finger, or a couple of fingers, into his mouth when he's tired. A dummy substitute perhaps.
AIBU to make him go cold turkey like this? I thought he'd accepted the fact that there were no more dummies but do you think we should have had a better plan? Any suggestions please????!!! Do you think he's ready to give them up? We've managed 7 days now without one so do you think we should just persevere?