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Parenting

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Original poster

Dummy addict! How to say goodbye to dummies

12 replies

maggiethemagpie · 20/05/2016 09:13

My 2 and a half year old is completely addicted to her dummy and it's time to stop. How do I do this without traumatising her? With my son we cut them down so that there was no suction but she already bites them and will still suck on the half bitten dummy so I'm not sure that will work.

Just bracing myself for the fact that she will hate us for a few weeks if we take her dummy away!

I was thinking of having a good bye dummy ceremony and putting them all in a box and pretending they were going to timbuctoo to new little babies. Any better ideas?

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LouBlue1507 · 20/05/2016 18:53

There's the dummy fairy idea.. But if it was me, I'd simply just put them all in the bin and deal with the drama for 2/3/4 days. It won't traumatise your child, don't worry :) x

isthatmytshirt · 20/05/2016 19:03

My baby was "given" a dummy as a present from a friend's toddler. She loved coming and seeing my newborn, and was so excited to be considered old enough to hold the baby, so was persuaded to give her dummies to my baby because my poor baby didn't have any

Do you know any small babies in person? I guess it's like your sending them off idea, but more tangible (though may also lead to a lot of hatred for the chosen baby if/when she changes her mind about being so generous!).

Buggers · 20/05/2016 19:06

Cut hole into dummy tell them they broke it by biting it as dummys are made for babies who don't have teeth so it's a sign they have outgrown, get child to throw in bin, possibly a few unsettled nights but It won't be as bad as your expecting trust me

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Buggers · 20/05/2016 19:07

Ah sorry just read it doesn't bother her - my dd was horrified at sucking on a broken dummy I'd just throw them anyway if you keep super happy and positive about it around her she won't be as bad

ILoveAGoodBrusselSprout · 20/05/2016 19:10

DD2 and I put her dummies in an enveloped addressed to "The Poor Babies" when she was 2and a half. We found it in a box a few weeks ago and DD, now 15, keeps it (still sealed) in her memory box.

She did ask for a dummy for a while but when I reminded her about the poor little babies who didn't have dummies, she was quite happy.

FATEdestiny · 20/05/2016 19:31

I favour the gentle route.

limit to bedroom only. Free access but only if child is in their room. "You'll need to play in your room quietly if you want a dummy now"
limit to only when lying in bed. Free access but not allowed to play when dummy is in
limit to sleep time only
start removing dummy when you go to bed so it's not there for morning
offer present for when child is ready to not have a dummy for a week. We looked thro Argos catalogue, picked something. No pressure whatsoever to stop using the dummy today, "but when you are ready you can have..."
in all three cases my children have chosen, themselves, to do without dummy in order to get said present.
any resistant at night is met with "yes you can have your dummy. But it will mean no [present]. Are you sure".

Empower the child to make the choice them self

weeblueberry · 20/05/2016 21:10

Our DD has just turned three and only had it at night time until recently. On her birthday she developed impetigo and we told her the 'sore lip' was because of germs on the dummy (not entirely untrue) and she was more than happy to give it up after that.

Lollylovesbones · 20/05/2016 21:17

DS was a dummy addict til he was 3 - we read a book called "The Last Noo Noo" www.walker.co.uk/The-Last-Noo-Noo-9781406331844.aspx

We talked about giving up his dummy and eventually he agreed to give his dummies to the baby reindeer (it was xmas) - that was it and it was all quite painless (he's 18 now)

NickyEds · 20/05/2016 21:26

My ds would have his dummy in constantly given half a chance, he's 2.5. He gets a lot of comfort from it and it helps him sleep so we have no plans to get rid of it completely yet but we've restricted it to his cot, where they "live". I tend to favour Fate approach of gently restricting its use until he can be in control of get to g rid of it. Ds still can't talk and although his understanding is pretty good he wouldn't really 'get' it suddenly being taken away.

Original poster

maggiethemagpie · 22/05/2016 17:03

I tried the 'sending away to little babies' trick, she went along with it and got all her dummies to put in the box. The first night, she realised what she'd done and was upset but less so last night. She seems to have understood they have all gone to little babies as she is a big girl now. I think she will adapt faster than I anticipated.

OP posts:

amusedbouche · 31/05/2016 22:43

My dd had dummies until she was 4. They gave her a lot of comfort and helped her sleep. We talked to her about wanting her to give them up. She threw a lot of them away herself (or I did secretly) until there was just one left. She had that last one for a while and when she was ready to give it up we posted it to the dummy fairy. No tears (but it did take a very long time).

Woodenmouse · 31/05/2016 22:49

We lost the last of ds1s dummies and there were no shops open to buy a replacment so we had a night of screaming. After that i just thought fuck it we will carry on. The following night he cried for half an hour then fell asleep the third night he went to bed no problem.

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