Dummy withdrawal- Night time!

[Franktank19]

My little boy is 2.5 - he used to have a dummy day and night (except at nursery) we have gone cold turkey with the dummy (by accident) and it’s been 5 days!!
He mentions it sometimes however he wakes up at 5am every morning now!
Is this a coincidence or due to no dummy! He isn’t crying out for the dummy just wants to go downstairs.
I leave him in his cot until 5:30/5:45 however have i made a huge mistake by taking it off him completely! Should I give it back for bedtime?!
I am exhausted and his behaviour is so challenging at the moment (even when he had a dummy) he is hitting and not listening to anything we say.
Please say things improve - I am struggling

You've done completely the right thing. Think of his teeth and speech.

My DD has done the same I'm afraid

Ohhh for how long @fluff?

I think this is probably his new wake time I mean you could give him it at night if you think it would help him settle for an hour or so but you have taken it away now so do you not think giving him it is a step back ?

@Mrsjayy yes I agree completely I just don’t know what to do for the best as 4:30/5:00 is so early when going to work also.
Therefore was seeking advice if anyone else had gone through the same.
Read some people say 2.5 is too young and not to take it away at bedtime and read others who have said go cold turkey

My eldest had hers at night till she was over 3 I just left it in her bed and didn't make a big deal of it so she had it if she wanted it, you could try it to see if he will settle a bit longer.

Get a grow clock!! They are brilliant.

Sorry, Gro-clock

Ohh I have one of those. Didn’t know what age to try it

@Franktank19

Well, it's worth a try! Show him during the day - 'Is it the sun or the star? It's the sun so it's daytime, let's play!' And in the evening before bed 'Is it the sun or the star? It's the star, so sleepy time...' If he's in the habit now of waking up at 5 set it for 5:10, then when he wakes at 5 show him the star and say it's still sleepy time until it turns into the sun. You can stay with him those first few days if he'll get distressed alone, but don't interact beyond quiet shushhhhing. Maybe just pretend to be snoozing next to him or whatever. When it changes to the sun it's time to get up. Change the setting by 5 minutes each day until it's not getting up time until 6 or whatever. Hopefully he should get the hang of it. Some families use one of those audiobook box thingies that the kids can control themselves and they can set it off and listen to the story if they wake before getting up time. 2 might be a bit young for that though.

Don't give it back if you've got to day 5 cold turkey.

Children change all the time and sleep times change too. Have a look at other things like temperature of the room (is he waking up cold?) and bedtime (could you push it back ever so slightly to see if he'll sleep in a bit later?).

I found with my boys that their phases like this used to last around 6 weeks before a new one kicked in... Keeping a diary helped as it would go from 5am wake up, 5.15, 5.45 etc and I could see progress despite being exhausted. I also just basically went to bed around the same time as them. It's not forever.

Re hitting he is just discovering he can control his body and exploring what it does. Cause and effect. If he's having rages try co-regulating - stay calm and don't talk (he won't hear you if he's screaming and shouting as his brain will have flipped and the logical part responsible for reasoning will be offline). Talk to him about what is and isn't ok when he's calm.

2.5 is tough! But you've got this

That’s really useful thank you @SuperSocks

@LondonGrimmer that’s really great advice. I appreciate it lots,
Thank you

You're welcome. The other thing is imagine if you had something that gave you comfort every day for your whole life... Now imagine it has gone...! It's only been 5 days so he will still be adjusting to not having his comforter (he won't be able to verbalise this I don't expect. He will just be feeling it in his little body).

When my youngest was about 2.5 he just randomly surrendered his dummy one bed time. We had been weaning him off it during the day for months and months (worried about effects on speech and language and his teeth). We were so shocked he just handed it to us one night and that was that!

But for a few weeks after when he was upset, tired, hungry etc he'd ask for it. I'd give him a big hug and tell him how well he's doing, that dummy has all gone now, what a brave boy he was, empathised etc then distracted. It was only a couple of weeks then he got used to just having the hugs and kisses and "awww poor baby boy" type reassurance when he was upset or tired