Would I be a horrible mummy if I took my 4 month old's dummy away?

[beccajoh]

It's hideously problematic at the moment. I am a SAHM but not well (cancer) so not able to do much

FFS! Not well and cant look after my children at the moment. DH is doing night wakings, and little man has completely lost the ability to self settle (had done it from birth) because lots of different people have been looking after him and they've been cuddling to sleep and so on.

DH was up every hour last night putting the dummy back in DS doesn't sleep longer than 30 mins for naps, or until the dummy falls out.

How would we settle him without it?

Bump!

Welcome to the 4 month sleep regression -it's a real thing and probably has little to do with different people trying to settle your baby

Your baby is nearly at the stage where he will be able to find his own dummy so it does get easier

Lots of babies don't have dummies but a proportion of those will use their hand/thumb to self settle -the problem then being that you can't take their hand away when it's time to stop whereas dummies can go to the dummy fairy

With all things baby related I'm a firm believer in do what works for you, especially if you also have health issues
So if its sleeping in the pram, co-sleeping etc, do it

I don't have any advice I'm afraid as although DD has a dummy to go to sleep some nights, she is happy to go without it once she's asleep and it falls out. However, I am sure someone will be along soon with some useful advice as I remember seeing a thread about this a few weeks ago.

Sorry to hear about your health issues, you must be going through a tough time of it at the moment. Wishing you a speedy recovery

My first had a dummy until 4months when we went cold turkey on the sleep training, we waited a couple of weeks after the start of the 4m regression just to make it easier for him but it worked like a charm. He is still a dummy addict at 3years old (it crept back in when he started nursery). Dc2 also has a dummy. She didn't have one regularly (just when her reflux was really bad or she was unsettled getting to sleep in strange places) until 8m or so when we attached it to her cuddly so she could find it. She learned that skill very quickly, within a few days we just left her to it.

I take it out just as she is falling asleep/fallen asleep. That way she feels it go and if she wakes up won't expect it to be there.... However we haven't hit the 4 month sleep regression yet :/