Ditching the dummy- how long?

[WinkyisbackontheButterBeer]

Ds is 3 and has sent his dummies to the fairies tonight. He’s had them longer than I would have liked due to various reason but they are gone.
We had a few tears but he did incredibly well and I am so proud of him. I just wondered, if your child was a similar age when giving them up, how long before them dropping off to sleep went back to normal and how long before they stopped asking for the dummy?

Thanks

Just to note, he only ever had them for sleep and naps, incase that changes answers.

Bump. 3am wake up and tears here.

It took about 3 nights of tears with my 3 yr old when saying goodbye to the dummy. Her dummy went to the fairies too!! We went to visit a fairy trail a couple of weeks after that and she got really angry at the fairies accusing them of stealing her dummy which was funny! I've had to stroke her head a bit at bedtime now to help her to sleep but other than asking for it the odd time when she's upset it hasn't been as bad as expected. She also only used it for naps and nighttime. Good luck!

Thank you so much for the reply lennylou
It’s good to know that it wasn’t too many upset nights.
He did ask for it last night but accepted that it was gone when reminded. No tears but it did take him nearly 2 hours to drop off so he is very grumpy today.

I don't get why it's necessary to drop the dummy at all, what happens if he takes to sucking his thumb for comfort (what's wrong with having a comforter anyway Many adults suck cigs,vaps or need the comfort of tea\coffee wine etc etc) What are you going to do?

dd1 and 2 sucked their thumbs and dropped them when THEY were ready. ds Didn't suck anything and he was the only child who needed orthodontics when he was 12

Oh and by the way some dentists say it makes no difference to their teeth development. Bottle feeding MAY affect their jaw development negatively.

Thanks pp. I suppose that that is a good point. I just felt that we should be moving beyond them and we haven’t had any thumb sucking.
DB was nearly 10 when he finally got rid of his so I am conscious that they don’t always choose to get rid of the dummy. DB’s teeth are terrible, although this may be coincidental.

Yes we just did the exact same thing with dd who is four (I know I know) she just had it st bedtime. We gave it to Father Christmas. Two nights of disturbed sleep (up maybe 2 or three times) then that was it. Nothing. It was amazing I was worried we’d done the wrong thing but she’s fine now :) feel like an idiot for not doing it sooner tbh

Thank you for being reasonable winky I just think it's sad to ride over the feelings of children just because it's easy to do.

You don't hear the children saying they'll give them up themselves, of course it does happen and then that's great!!

It's very interesting In France where we live 6 months a year there are many children walking around at 4 or 5 with dummies in their mouths. Yet they are bought up very strictly.

Dd was 3 when we got rid of the dummies, left them out for Santa. She did really well had a bit of a moan but soon forgot about them.
That was a year ago, 3 weeks ago she found one in the bottom of the toy box she was thrilled 😦. It's not been out her hand since. I'm bloody demented.

Oh dear Park. I found a rogue one at the bottom of my handbag earlier today but ds hasn’t seen it so I need to dispose of it carefully.
We actually put them in an envelope and into the post box (sorry Royal Mail) so that he could see that they were completely gone and so that I had no option of giving up if it got tricky.

The norm in France is interesting Pp and not what I would have expected.
I work in a school that has a high level of tooth decay and of speech delays. I am sure that the two are down to dummy use at the same time as sugar as you can see an arch of decay in the front of so many children’s teeth.
Although ds only had his at bedtime and for naps, I suppose that this played a big part in my wanting to get rid of them. It’s horrid seeing such young children going for multiple teeth pulling out due to decay.

There is such a stigma attached to older children having dummies though and it almost felt like a parenting fail that I was trying to keep quiet when he was still having it at three so I am sure that that played a big part too.

Thanks spoons. It’s nice to hear positive stories of children adjusting quickly.

I'm sure the decay is down to some children having far too much sugar in their diets, some parents put sugary drinks in babies' bottles fgs, (they used to dip dummies in sugar too!!!!!) I really don't think that normal dummy use at night after tooth cleaning etc. would cause it. they need their comforts, why not give him the chance of self soothing to sleep , (leave one by his pillow or wherever ) then it drops out anyway doesn't it? Like thumbs do.

My sister used to suck her thumb so enthusiastically that the one she used is quite a bit thinner than the other one !!! BUT her teeth are straight and have always been so!!!!

DS gave his dummies to father Christmas on Christmas eve not my idea to cause disruption in an already fraught evening but DH was determined so I agreed on the understanding that I would gladly say "I told you so!" after a sleepless night. Sadly DS actually got on quite well with it, took a bit more settling than usual and had a few nights of 2am wake ups but just over a week later and he's fine! My gloating opportunity was ruined. Doesn't even ask for them anymore.

He is 3.5 and we had realised he wasn't actually using them during the night and would often go without once he'd fallen asleep so I think he was naturally coming to end of using them for comfort. He only ever had them for bedtime too so we didn't have any prolonged exposure to deal with.

I don't see why children can't be given the CHOICE to use them or not. (esp. at nighttime) I remember dd2 had a bottle of water in her cot from age one when she gave up bf (she was a thirsty child ) It was great, there was no need for her to disturb us and she didn't .

The child's wishes\comforts are more important than control freak parents IMO and E. Who , no doubt, have have their own comforts, that they wouldn't want to go without.