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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

2 year old obsessed with dummy, how I can I get it off her!!

13 replies

mummytowillow · 26/08/2009 22:09

My DD is 2 and wants her dummy all the time! I'm worried its going to affect her teeth/mouth but don't know how to go about getting it off her? Should I just go cold turkey and stop it in one go or is there a better way?

Any suggestions?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Babyisaac · 26/08/2009 22:14

Take her to a petting farm or somewhere where there are baby animals and tell her the baby animals need her dummy? I know this has worked for some friends of mine. I think at this age they need to understand why they should get rid of it iyswim!

ttalloo · 27/08/2009 15:02

I would try reasoning with your DD, and if that doesn't work, go cold turkey. I went cold turkey with DS1 after the dentist told me his dummy use was pushing his teeth out and it was time to stop (he had just turned two). Reasoning with him didn't help, so we binned all his dummies together, and I explained that the dentist had said he was too big a boy to use them any more. That was the easy bit; DS1 only used dummies to sleep, so it wasn't till naptime and bedtime that he went mad demanding them, and it took about five days before he stopped asking for a dummy to help him sleep. It's now been nearly six months, and his teeth are gradually moving back to where they should be, and we are no longer woken up in the middle of the night by DS1 asking for his dummy which has fallen out of his cot.

MummyDragon · 27/08/2009 18:16

Or wait until Christmas (if you can bear to wait that long) and tell her that Father Christmas will take her dummies in return for her Xmas presents ...

Or go cold turkey - I did it with DD and it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared ... good luck!

mazzystartled · 27/08/2009 18:24

DS was obsessed too, but I lost our last dummy on the bus on the way home from nursery one filthy december night, 7 months pregnant, with husband on works xmas do in next time.

he wept and wept and I felt awful, but he eventually fell asleep on me. and never asked for it again.

it depends on the child but for ds cold turkey/all or nothing has worked best with everything. dd is a different character. thank god she wouldn't contemplate a dummy as a baby. she has a will of iron......

seeker · 27/08/2009 18:38

Say it's for bed time only. Not all dentists think that it's damaging to teeth unless they use it all the time - ours said bed time and nap time was fine.

Fruitysunshine · 27/08/2009 18:42

I don't think you have to permanently take it off her - just try and limit the amount of time she has it. MY dd gave hers to father Christmas when she was 4! I decided she would come off it herself when she was ready, her teeth were fine and you never see kids taking dummies to infant school so I didn't think it would ever be a problem.

They all have their comfort things.

Mamulik · 27/08/2009 20:44

no its not good for her teeth, because dummy damages her gums. my advise - just take it away.

Fruitysunshine · 27/08/2009 20:47

Mamulik, I asked DD's dentist several times about a dummy and teeth and she said it did not cause long term damage in any way.

onepieceoflollipop · 27/08/2009 20:48

mtw I am following this as my dd is just 2 and we are considering the same as you. For the past 18 months it has been bed/sleep times only (or if very unwell).

Dh and I are inclined to keep with this until her speech/understanding is better and we can negotiate with her, so I am hoping by the time she is 2.5. Is you dd only just 2, or a bit over?

Jojay · 27/08/2009 20:57

My friend has just taken her DD - 2.9 to the dentist, and was advised to get rid of the dummy as it was pushing her teeth out of shape.

The little girl is question is very bright, so my friend got the dentist to tell her that she must give her dummy to a baby as it would make her teeth hurt.

The receptionist repeated the story to her.

Then my friend took her to a toyshop and bought a baby dolly to 'give' the dummy to, which she did, and she never asked for it ever again!

And she was a true dummy addict too

Littlepurpleprincess · 27/08/2009 21:46

sounds mean but throw it out and don't buy any more. DS cried for about 20 minutes (and he was VERY attached to it) then forgot. 2 years olds don't have very long attention spans.

It will be harder for you than her, by A LOT. You will have to be calm and shrug it off. Try not to make a big deal of it. Tell her how proud you are that she is so grown up now. Try to make it postive, but don't go on about it. You want her to forget all about it. You could start on a day when she is doing something busy that she enjoys so that she is easily distracted.

I was really worried before we got rid of DS's dummy but now I wonder what all the fuss was about. It wasn't that bad at all.

Good luck.

Scottie22 · 27/08/2009 21:47

My dd wants her dummy all the time too - she's 27 months and I asked the dentist at our last visit expecting a 'take it away immediately' from him - he was quite relaxed about it though and like pp said is ok if just sleep/naps. I try only to give her it when she's really upset other than for naps/sleep but is hard as she has difficulty with her muscle tone when she's upset and it does relax her. Might get tougher when she's approaching her next birthday!!

thrifty · 27/08/2009 21:54

make a small hole in it. it wont work properly and she'll just spit it out,and wont want it anymore.

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