Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Parenting

For free parenting resources please check out the Early Years Alliance's Family Corner.

Flip

Original poster

Tips for getting rid of the dummy please!

22 replies

BeckyBoo16 · 06/08/2023 20:23

My DS is 14 months old, we are wanting to get rid of the dummy now for naps and sleeps, he doesn’t have a dummy during the day at nursery and at home we are only giving it for naps and bedtime but we were away on holiday last week and he was full of cold so he had the dummy more during the day. (I wish we got rid of it sooner but he was an awful sleeper from 5 months up till his 1st birthday)

Do we just go cold turkey for naps and sleeps? He’s only just started sleeping better at night so I’m worried it’ll disrupt that, any tips welcome!

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Original poster

BeckyBoo16 · 06/08/2023 21:32

Anyone? x

OP posts:

UnaVaca · 06/08/2023 21:34

If he’s sleeping better why rock the boat? Just be really strict about only having it at bedtime.

SErunner · 06/08/2023 21:38

Why? It's not doing any harm? 14 months is waaay too early to rock the boat in my opinion. You've got months of up and down sleep ahead and you've currently got a strategy that helps. I wouldn't get rid of it! Wait until he's old enough to understand and give it up, or at least consistently sleep well.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

1 year olds Babies & sleep Children's sleep Families

TantrumTroubles · 06/08/2023 21:41

I agree with PP, 14 months is still very young. If his sleep is just beginning to settle and he gets comfort from the dummy then I'd continue to let him have it a while longer.

ShadowPuppets · 06/08/2023 21:43

Watching with interest. I have a 14mo and a nearly 3 who is still using the dummy 🙈 and I wonder if it might be easier to cut them both off at the same time so there’s none in the house.

Sunshineclouds11 · 06/08/2023 21:44

If he's only just started sleeping longer why shake it up?

14months just for sleep or when poorly is absolutely fine.

GoneWithTheWin · 06/08/2023 21:45

Cold turkey - but wouldn’t do it at 14m. Still a baby

Mine were about 3

beccahamlet · 06/08/2023 21:46

I'd definitely keep it for another few months. No rush. Why make life difficult fir yourselves?

butterflycatcher · 06/08/2023 21:49

Tricky. 14 months is still very young to be a worrying about it if it gives him comfort. You could start trying to attach him to a cuddly first so that when the dummy goes he has something familiar that soothes him too. Our son stopped using his just before he was 2. He had actually bit the teat and it was no longer useable. I showed it to him and I said look your dummy is broken. He said to me, should we put it in the bin, I said yes that is where broken things go. So he put it in the bin and that was that. I was a bit shocked at how easy it was because he had been very attached to it. A few wobbly moments after that but he had attached to a little stuffed animal by then too so I kept making sure he had that close by.

aintnospringchicken · 06/08/2023 21:50

My DC only had a dummy for naps and bedtime.When they were 2yrs 3 months at Christmas we told them if they left their dummy out for a new baby,then Santa would leave them a new toy in its place. It worked.14 months seems too young to get rid of a dummy if they're sleeping well at night.

Shroedy · 06/08/2023 21:53

I'm in a similar boat with my 12mo. The two things I am working on / planning on using are:

habit stacking. Making sure there is something else that is associated with sleep. In our case, his comforters, singing him to sleep etc. those remain when the dummy goes away.

dummy weaning system. I'm looking at the FridaBaby one. This allow you to gradually reduce the "sucking satisfaction" they get without going cold turkey. They have good reviews.

WeightoftheWorld · 06/08/2023 21:59

Too young imo as others have said.

DC1 we moved dummy to bed only at 2yo - so naps in bed, and overnight in bed. Naps in pram, car etc no dummy anymore because they were erratic and we didn't want them sitting with the dummy in their mouth anymore. There was crying in these situations to start with til they got used to it. At 3.5 they were then left under the Xmas tree on christmas eve for Santa to exchange for big child presents. Was absolutely fine that night , had tears on night 2, less so on night 3 and then that was that. DC1 generally a good sleeper, is 5 now, still sleeps generally well and never any dental or speech problems.

DC2 is nearly 2, we will be again restricting dummy to bed from when he turns 2. I anticipate again there will be some tears initially in pram and car whilst he adjusts to that. He's seen the dentist recently without issue and his speech also has no problems, and he has been a generally good sleeper since about 16 months old. Likewise we will take it off him completely at 3/3.5ish I imagine.

GoneWithTheWin · 06/08/2023 22:04

Remember sucking is a self-soothing behaviour that is allowing the baby to regulate and comfort himself

At 14m it’s probably difficult for him to ‘learn’ another behaviour (sucking is an instinctive response)

By 2.5+ you’ve got more ti work with… the ‘dummy fairy’, leaving it for Santa etc etc.

UnaVaca · 06/08/2023 22:08

Yeh exactly, you’ve missed the window now, it will be really difficult and there is nothing wrong with a dummy to go to sleep with.

StampOnTheGround · 06/08/2023 22:11

Currently have a 16 month old and had been thinking the same. I think as long as we've cracked it by Christmas I'll be happy. We are planning on going cold Turkey at some point, it just needs to be when we have a period of time where lack of sleep won't matter haha 😊

When we got rid of it in the day we went cold Turkey too, I just saw him sat happily playing and thought why is there a dummy in his mouth? Took it straight out and never gave it back 😂 that was at around 10 months.

BabyB2022 · 07/08/2023 06:48

We got rid at about 20 months due to reoccurring ear infections. I bought her a book about getting rid and we threw them in the bin, went better than expected and only asked for it a couple of times that first night (she was dummy obssessed). I am not sure how'd she'd have been that bit younger though as her understanding wouldn't have been so good. Personally I would leave for a while longer unless there is a reason you have to remove it now.

amidsummernightsdream · 07/08/2023 06:53

I chose to leave it at that age. Just gone cold turkey with a dummy loving 2 year old and there was no problem. She was old enough to understand we had ‘lost’ it

23Elfie · 07/08/2023 07:03

My DD was an AWFUL sleeper and in the end she was almost 3 and a half by the time we got rid of it.
We brought a fairy door that I put against the skirting board in her bedroom, we lined up all the dummies and each night the 'fairy' took one to give to a baby.

On the final night she took the last one and left a unicorn teddy that DD had her eye on - easy as that. (we still have said unicorn and DD is now 9 lol)

There's no way I would have got it off her earlier, she cracked potty training really quickly so knew the dummy would be the nemesis!

CurlewKate · 07/08/2023 07:06

So long as it's just for sleeping then I'd let him keep it!

Original poster

BeckyBoo16 · 07/08/2023 12:10

Thanks everyone. He goes to sleep with a muslin cloth as well (luckily he doesn’t mind which one) so he does have another comfort with that. I think I’ll be really strict and just let him have it for naps and bedtime for a bit longer and wait until he’s a bit older to get rid of it 😊

OP posts:

Original poster

BeckyBoo16 · 07/08/2023 12:12

@BabyB2022 he’s had 4 ear infections so far so I was thinking of getting rid of it to see if it would help reduce the ear infections but it does soothe him and comfort him and he puts it back in himself during the night so it can’t hurt to have it a little longer x

OP posts:

Junebuggirl · 13/08/2023 08:49

Mine kept his till he was 24 months, if we tried to get rid any earlier it wouldn't have been successful.
We kept dummy in the cot at that age so it was just for sleeping

Flip