Taking the dummy away

[Wilberforce2]

I have a 13 week old dd who would be an amazing sleeper at night if she didn't keep waking for her bloody dummy. We only gave it to her as she was a really unsettled sucky newborn and it was a miracle worker but now it's driving me crazy. She can go 12 hours without a feed but if she wakes and that dummy isn't in her mouth she will not go back to sleep. For the last hour she has been very unsettled but still kind of asleep so I've left her but I really want to sleep so I've given in and popped her dummy in and she is off already into a lovely sleep.

Would you carry on with the dummy as she is generally sleeping well and just deal with the two/three 5 minute wake ups or ditch the dummy?

Would I just take the dummy and deal with the crying or is there's nicer way of doing it? Not sure I could stand her screaming!!

Well we were the same with DS 1. I don't know why I started with a dummy as he didn't need it. One night at bed time I dropped it on the floor and stood on it ( on purpose) and said ' oh no! Broken!'
He was a bit grizzly for a short while without it but it was soon forgotten about and he nevertheless saw it again.

Bit if a worrier... But I think taking away a dummy is a risk for SIDS. You might just want to check first.

My son still has his at night (2.5). There were a few weeks where he'd drop it and we've have to put it back a million times. Then he learnt to put it in himself and I nearly wept with joy.

X

There's a thing called a Sleepytot which is a bunny with Velcro paws. You attach dummies to the paws so you dc can find it. We got one but dd hasn't learned to use it yet - it gets great reviews and I've not given up yet....

Thanks! I can't find anything on the net to say that it's a SIDS risk just that having a dummy can reduce the risk.

She is only 14 weeks so is going to understand if I say it's broken and it's going to be months before she can put it back in herself. At the moment she just wakes up then lays there with her mouth open turning her head side to side!

So far tonight it's wake up number 4 just for the dummy, maybe I will have to go cold turkey and deal with the crying

Just an idea (I weaned my DS off the dummy at 6 months for the same reason), could you replace the dummy with something else, eg a small soft toy? My DS now has one of those little grey rabbits from the white company, & sucks one of its feet to go to sleep. It is big enough that when he wakes he can find it himself. If your LO won't give up the dummy easily I would say keep it for now & try again in a month or so. Also try weaning off for daytime naps first, the try getting your LO to sleep without it at bedtime...I read that however they fall asleep at bedtime is then how they want to fall asleep at every night waking - so if they used the dummy at bedtime, they want it in the night too. Have you also tried the pantley pull out removal to try getting them to sleep without it?

Why did you start with a dummy? ( genuine question, out of interest)
When I had my first I thought that's what you did and everyone had them. Then I heard they were helpful to premature babies in helping them to learn to suck.

I didn't bother with one for my 2nd although in hindsight it may have been helpful because he was such a crier. It may have acted as a comforter. Who knows?

Maybe a few nights cold turkey will break the patten. Good luck. Lack of proper sleep is horrible.

When it gets really tough, just remember this is just a phase ( and the next one will be along soon!!)

My DS was the same. About two months of multiple dummy reinsertions each night ending in bringing him in with me to continue the reinsertions from bed saw me crack and take the bloody thing from him at about 5.5 mo!

I tried sleepytot. Didnt do a thing and was quite expensive. it's now sat at the bottom of the toy box!

It took about 3 days where I basically did anything possible to get him to sleep without the dummy, and found sucking on his comforter worked best. He still needs it now at least nearly 1yo.

Best thing we ever did! Word of warning though - he was then reliant on me and his comforter to get him to sleep rather than the dummy, so those first three days were swiftly followed by sleep training.

He's slept about 11 hrs a night straight through since he was 7, 8 mo though (except when he's been ill) so we definitely did something right! I'm sure we wouldn't be able to say that if he was still using one.