Is there any gentle way of getting 2 1/2 yo DD off her dummy?
She only uses it for naps and bedtime, but is very attached to it and lately has been a bit difficult about relinquishing it after nap time. She also often wakes once in the night calling (or screaming) for it if she's lost it in her cot.
She took a nap in her buggy recently without the dummy (we only take it out of the house on big excursions, which this one was not) and she still mentions it with a lot of pride ("I took a nap WITHOUT my dummy!"). But she gets upset when we tell her she'll soon have to give it up (getting to be too big for it, etc), even though we've also told her there's a big surprise (ie pressie) for when she gives it up.
DH and I keep telling each other that we'll take it away cold turkey as soon as we've had a few good nights' sleep but we have a 10mo baby who doesn't sleep so well (and doesn't take a dummy), so we're still very tired and loath to subject ourselves voluntarily to more sleepless nights.
Maybe she'll outgrow it on her own, but I really don't want to wait and have that turn out to be at 3 or 4 or 5 yo. But I don't want to torment her either.
Any suggestions or anecdotes of success would be appreciated.