Dummy

[iloveyankeecandle]

My just turn two year old has a dummy. I think I need to get rid but how???? Help!

I think it's worth considering why you need to get rid of it now? If it's helping your little one in some way then why change it for now? My DD had a dummy for a long time there was a lot of external pressure to stop her using it. We did try and it was awful, no one got any sleep and everyone was grumpy! We left it till she was much older, and she sent the dummies away to the fairies and got a gift in exchange. She was about 3.5 so understood and we could reason with her. I think 2 is very little!

Chop the teat off tell them it's broken. My daughter was fine with it and just held it to sleep instead, soon as it fell down the side of the cot it was forgotten about!
I got myself so worked up about getting rid of it and it really was fine in the end.

Tell them you've lost it and just put up with any crying, tantrums etc until it's forgotten about. It won't take long.

It looks like his teeth are growing in that strange shape after they've been using the dummy and it's affecting his speech I think. I don't want to take it away but I also don't want it to hinder him.

Dummy fairy / Easter bunny.

Talk about it now and then put the dummy out for the dummy fairy / Easter bunny for them to replace with chocolate.

We "lost" ours literally on a random day. Didn't make a fuss and just said sorry it's gone oh no. He never made a fuss, however we limited use before hand to just bed times.

We are down to our last two. So maybe I just get rid of those and see what happens. He just loves it so much. But he gets upset and asks for it. I know if I gave it a few days he would probably be fine and forget it. But it's just seeing him so distressed over it. Also, I'm worried how it will affect his sleep.

We left ours out for the Easter bunny, she was 2 1/2. The first night was awful but after that it was fine.

We left our daughters with her night time only for years. No issue as we took them from her when she was old enough to understand and no dental issues. Pressure from the outside was real though.

Hasn't helped that my elderly Neighbour tells him he doesn't need it and he's too old. Makes me feel bad then.
I think I'm going to do it gradually. So leaving it upstairs and then it can only be used for nap times. I think the use during the day isn't helping him.

Definitely use for naps and night time only as a start. Worked for us

We did the dummy fairy! I made a little cardboard box wrapped in foil and we left the dummies in it on the widowsil then the next morning the fairy had left him a present, never went back

I'd say just go cold Turkey and get rid of them. It might be hard for a couple of days but it will die down.

I got rid of my sons at 6 months and after 2 days he didn't even notice it was gone.

my son was down to just for naps or when he was upset and then at xmas I told him that father xmas was taking it to baby freddie as my friend had just had a baby.
he asked for it on day one then was fine, then day 3. A week later he said I don’t like baby freddie then forgot about it 😂
he was 2 and each day was an achievement!

he hasn’t held a grudge I don’t think!

My 3 year old almost 4 has only just given up his dummy he still takes it to bed but he doesn't suck it now. He would get so upset if we took it away and having a one year old also I was just too tired to argue! Anyway he had a dentist trip about a month ago I said I was worried as his teeth were doing that thing as well and the dentist said aslong as it's got rid of before he turns 4 or maybe 5 then they would either go back to normal or it didn't matter much as his adult teeth would be different! Anyway I started to relax about it after that and then he just stopped putting it in his mouth all the time ! Good luck op it's the judging of others that makes it worse for us I think oh and asking him to take it out for photos 😂🙈

@CheeseDreamsTonight I'm going to do that from tomorrow.

@verabarbleen i just feel so sad for them. It's his speech that I'm mainly concerned about. I think if I can keep it in his bed and stop him from having it leisurely, then I think that would be a good start for him

No, at 2 they still have the innate need to suck that a dummy nipple satisfies were it would still be being done by a nipple.

We don't evolve as fast as marketing campaigns. Let her keep it otherwise she'll have no way to carry out the natural behaviour her body is still compelled to.

Natural weaning age for humans is at least 4

My DS is 3.5 and has just stopped using his in the last few weeks. He just did it of his own accord. No tears, no arguments. He wants to give the last ones to the easter bunny (even though they haven't actually been used for weeks). Honestly I thought it would be a nightmare getting it off him but it's been fine. No way he would have done it at 2 though. At that point we cut it down to bedtime/naptime only. It stayed beside his bed and didn't come downstairs. I'd do that rather than going cold turkey. Spare yourself the nights of screaming!

Sorry, it's not really sucking, it's more a movement they do with their tongue but it's innate all the same.

If they knew what it was they would say 'but I need to do that thing with my tongue' but they can't articulate it but it's just that we all have this innate need, it's what kept us alive for our entire species until less than 100 years ago.

I read a great sleep consultant's advice who said if they're sleeping with it at two, just wait until they're three and do it then. So I am limited it to a sleep thing; it lived in his bed and that was it. Then I started talking gradually about giving it away and what toy he would get in exchange.

Then after he was three I took a strategic trip to a toy shop and walked him past a toy he really wanted while ostensibly being there to buy a present for his cousin. He quickly decided he wanted the dummy fairy to bring him the toy we'd seen. There were two unsettled nights and he was done.

Also meant to say, dd mostly stopped sucking them at some point, about 6 months before giving them up entirely, and comforted herself by flicking the test with her thumbs, one in each hand

Tell your elderly neighbour to stop making comments

your child is 2 OP. Please try not to worry about teeth issues and speech problems. As long as he doesn’t have the dummy in most of the time then he will be okay - perhaps cut down to nap times, night time and when he’s upset. That’s what we do. Easier to wait until they’re a little older to understand and make it ‘fun’ ie the dummy fairy

Just have it live in their bed. I was sloppy with this when they were younger too but at 2 I got really, really strict, because of their speech. Teeth, meh, they’re just the baby teeth and the dummy falls out once in a deep sleep anyway so it really isn’t in their mouth for that long if you restrict to bedtime. So I really wouldn’t fuck around with nighttime sleep and it also seems unnecessarily harsh when he won’t understand why you’ve taken his comfort away because he’s too little. Do dummy fairy or similar around 3 and will actually know what’s going on.

@areyousittingontheremote that's really interesting to hear. I had no idea. That's made me feel better about it.