Is it the dummy or just coincidence

[santastolemycat]

My DS will be 3 in November and on the advice of the dentist we took his dummy away last week.
He settled fine the first few nights without it but this week he will not settle to sleep. He wants one of us to stay with him and even if you leave once he’s fallen asleep he will wake up and scream blue murder usually for me to come back.
He has teddies and toys that he takes to bed and once he’s asleep he’s fine it just getting him to sleep in the first place that’s the problem.
Anyone else had this?! Is this just a phase of separation anxiety that happens to have occurred at the same time?! We have recently come back from a holiday where DS was in the same room as us but he did settle in his own bed for a few days when we got back.
Hes currently playing with his toys after laying on the floor for an hour with him he woke up crying as soon as i went to leave. It’s exhausting!!

Probably the dummy. Presumably, he has no idea how to fall asleep without it, because he never learnt how, so when you leave he freaks out because he doesn't know how he's going to get to sleep. Your presence in the room keeps him calm enough to drift off.

The thing with removing the dummy is that you're taking the child's comfort mechanism away. It needs to be replaced with something! A brand new toy, or audio books, or a parent, whatever works for you.

In my experience it's always taken years for a child to be able to be left awake and feel safe enough to go to sleep. So I would say coincidence!

Eh I think that varies quite a lot - all of mine were v happy to fall asleep alone from around six months. I think it also depends a lot on whether or not you give the child the chance to learn that they can fall asleep alone, or whether you prioritise zero tears.

Regardless, if OPs son was settling himself to sleep fine with the dummy, and now isn't, then it's probably the dummy to blame.