How do I get rid of the dummies??!!

[100Vicki]

Hi. Just wondering if anyone has any advice on getting rid of a toddler's dummy. My son is only 18 months old but in 3 months time he'll have a little brother/sister and I would love for him to have given up his dummies before then. I've decided that the next one is not going to be given a dummy and, as my son likes to offer his dummy around, think this may be quite difficult if he hasn't lost the habit. He has got an attachment to a teddy bear so won't be without comfort, any suggestions?

why is it such a big deal? tbh I wouldn't worry about it yet, but would wait until he's old enough to bribe (think 2.5 - 3?). and if I were you I wouldn't make too many decsiions about the new baby yet - dd slept really well because of her dummy (ds didn't though ).

whatever you do though, do it either NOW or a good few months after the baby's born. don't do it too close to the birth as he'll have enough to deal with then.

I agree, if he finds them comforting why get rid of them.
Could you instead have a rule that in the morning and after a sleep he collects them up and put them in a bowl that you then place out of reach.

I got rid of ds's at around 18 months. He didn't have it all the time, but started crying for it which I thought was silly as he didn't need to cry if you see what I mean.

I decided to go the cold turkey route which basically gave me a day of HELL then after that he was fine. He still has it for his sleep in the afternoon and on rare occasions (he is 2.2)during the day but not really. If you can stand it and really want him to stop it does work but make sure its on a day when you up for alot of crying.

When does he use the dummy? Have you cut down use to STRICTLY night/nap time only? This is where we are at the moment and wasn´t too stressful.

One tip I´ve heard for older toddlers is to organise "donating" your dummies to a favourite baby animal who needs the dummies more. Get DSs agreement and keep reminding him when he asks for it that the little lambs etc have them...

dd has hers only for sleeping now (20months) - we just removed them during the day at about 12 months and she no longer looks for them. We collect them each morning and after naps and put them in the highest drawer in her room. She doesn't have a problem with this in fact she looks for them and gives them to me straight away now!

ds1 is 2.7 , his brother is 5 months. ds1 has only ever had the dummy for night time. We decided to let him keep it and, tbh, he's been really good with 'he doesnt have a dummy he's too tiny'. I do worry about him having it so long ,but he's still so young himself, and if it helps him at night, whats the harm?

I know he is still very young but I feel that not only is having a dummy hindering his speech but it makes him dribble a lot when he hasn't got it in. I wish I'd never given him a dummy in the first place so I'm sure that I won't let the next 1 have 1. Thanks for all your advice. I'm going to try restricting it to just sleep times and see how that goes to start with. Not sure I'm brave enough for cold turkey yet!! At least if he's not having it during the day, his speech should start to develop a bit more. Thanks again, will let you know how I get on...

Hi, I'd go down to dummies only for day time naps and bed time - so just upstairs - although ds1, who was a complete dummy addict, used to use that as an excuse to play upstairs!! But it worked - he'd keep them in his cot and then bed, and had to take it out the minute he was awake. We eventually prised them off him when he was about 2 1/2 - went cold turkey and had a stroppy toddler for 24 hours and then he was fine!