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Original poster

Got rid of dummy and now he won't sleep!! any suggestions?

19 replies

Olivebranch5 · 18/04/2022 22:27

Ok so at 6 months I decided to get rid of my son's dummy so i don't have to replace it in the night in preparation for moving him into his own room. He's always been a good sleeper and self soothed but it turns out without a dummy that's all gone and now I'm doubting myself. It's day 4 and naps and bedtime have become a real problem and I'm not really sure what to do.... has anyone else been through this? I'm pretty sure giving the dummy back isn't the answer now I've come this far. Any help appreciated.

OP posts:

FelicityPike · 18/04/2022 22:28

Give him back his dummy.
Plenty of time to get rid of it later, but he’s a tiny baby who needs it for comfort & sleep.

MolliciousIntent · 18/04/2022 22:28

What exactly is the problem? Taking too long to get to sleep? Needing you to get to sleep?

MolliciousIntent · 18/04/2022 22:30

And no, you don't need to give the dummy back - six months is the perfect time to remove it, in terms of minimising negative impact on oral development. You just need to give him other ways to get to sleep.

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Cocomalocoo · 18/04/2022 22:31

They soon learnt to pop it back in themselves.
Would he take to a comforter?

PenOrPencil · 18/04/2022 22:32

Entirely your decision to get rid of the dummy, but your baby is tiny and obviously needs the comfort! Try again in 2 years time when he can understand the giving up.

GinIronic · 18/04/2022 22:33

Give it back. My DC didn’t give them up until they were about 2 - no “oral development problems”. They gave them up voluntarily with no issues when they felt the time was right.

Lem0nDrizzle · 18/04/2022 22:37

My son had his still he was two.
No issues with his teeth.

Don't make nap times and bedtimes harder for you and him. They really do learn to put it back themselves.

MGee123 · 19/04/2022 06:05

Give it back, it's the soothing mechanism you've taught him to use so unless you want to go through a hellish time (and very little sleep) teaching him another mechanism, just stick with it. So long as he's only using it for sleep his speech and teeth will be fine. No need to take it away this early. In a few months he will know how to put it back in himself and you won't have to get up anymore. Mine cracked this by just over 7 months.

GF77 · 19/04/2022 07:45

I would give it back too. My nearly 3 year old just have up her dummy and there were no tears and she slept through the night completely on night 3 (first night quite a few wake ups and second night only one). I had a very similar experience with my first daughter at age 3

miltonj · 19/04/2022 07:47

Give it back. He'll be at the stage where he can put it back in soon if needs be. There's no issue with him having a dummy. Don't make life harder for yourself.

Lazypuppy · 19/04/2022 07:48

I would give it back, or what havd you replaced it with? Dummy is a comforter so you need to give something else.

Honestly we kelt dummy till about 2yo when dd could understand dummy fairy anf she had soft toys to cuddle instead etc and had a better understanding. 6 months is so small still and they learn to put it back in themselves

Ducksurprise · 19/04/2022 07:51

Agr give it back, he is tiny. Plus this 'oral development' stuff is BS. It only causes problems if they have them after 7. Plus loads of teens have braces, it's genetics not having a soother as a baby

Maydaysoonenough · 19/04/2022 08:39

SIDS prevention advice is surely good enough reason to give it back? Put a few in the cot. At 7 months my ds could pop one back in. A dummy is a comfort. Why remove his comfort? All mine had one. No speech or teeth issues and they binned them themselves at just over 3 years old. Used for bedtime only after a year old though.

luxxlisbon · 19/04/2022 09:17

It’s only been 4 days and it hasn’t gone well so I would just give it back, I don’t know why you think giving it back isn’t the answer really.
It won’t be long before he can put it back in himself and that will help sleep immensely.
At 8 months we had a bunch of dummies in DDs cot and she would wake in the night, give a little cry and then find a dummy and go back off to sleep.
6 months is still young, just because you take the dummy away doesn’t mean he will sleep and not wake anyway.
There are absolutely no oral development problems at 6 months with dummy use for sleep, so don’t let that idea stress you out.

RandomQuest · 19/04/2022 09:27

Give it back x10, as in I’d start giving baby 10 of them at bedtime. If they can’t do it already then definitely within the next month baby will be replacing it themselves as long as they can find one in the cot. I haven’t replaced a dummy since DS was 6.5 months old and baring the odd illness he sleeps 12 hours every night. If you’re worried about speech development and teeth then be strict about it only being for sleep. Right now you’ve removed baby’s comfort, they have no idea why, and you’re just making work for yourself.

Maydaysoonenough · 19/04/2022 09:32

Reread your thread op. You took the dummy away for YOU.. That's quite bad imo. He was using it effectively... Give it back!

PurBal · 19/04/2022 09:38

I think that’s once you’ve gone down the dummy route it’s tricky to remove it before they can understand a bit better (at 18 months as previous poster suggested). That said we didn’t use a dummy (DS wouldn’t take one) but controversially “sleep trained” at a similar age due to sleep regression as it could be a normal developmental thing exacerbated by removing the dummy. I found a muslin (kept in my bra for an hour before bed so it smelt of me) worked wonders. I don’t think you’re wrong to remove it and I agree that now you’ve come this far it wouldn’t be helpful to go backwards. It takes 3 days for babies to understand a new sleep routine. Maybe mix the routine up a bit (do things in a different order) so your LO understands things have changed, that’s what we did when I stopped feeding to sleep.

Theresamagicalplace · 19/04/2022 10:10

As someone who hasn't had more than 3 full night's sleep in 18 months as I have to keep to retrieving the bloody dummy from the floor....don't give it back! We took it away once at about 8 months and after a short period of adjustment we actually got good sleep (for 3 days) then I gave it back after a sickness bug and haven't been able to get rid again since! If you can get them to sleep even if it takes a while it'll get easier the longer you persist. And the sids advice is for use up until 6 months, there's no advice on dummy use after that.

SecondhandTable · 19/04/2022 10:15

My eldest had her dummy overnight til she was 3.5. She gave it up then in exchange for Christmas presents with minimal fuss and no change to her usual decent sleep. She's nearly 4, her speech is 'advanced' if anything and she has no dental issues either. There's absolutely no way I'd be taking a dummy off a 6 month old, because it's not a hill I want to die on, but if you do, there's not really anything you can do but put up with it. It's biologically normal and age appropriate for a baby or 6 months to use sucking as a comfort, particularly for sleep - that's basically what nursing is, and a dummy is just a substitute for the breast in those situations. My 6mo also has a dummy and he is staying in our room until it's convenient to ship him out. My eldest was in our room til she was 16 months as that's when she slept through without input for a few months. You don't need to be traipsing up and down rooms to put a dummy back in, you can keep baby in your room and just roll over and lean over the cot. Also, I would highly recommend sleepytot teddies, that will help your baby replace their own dummy as early as possible. My eldest still sleeps with hers just without the dummies attached.

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