Giving up dummy at 3.9 years old - realistically how do you do it?

[LuLu15]

My 3.9 year old daughter is giving up her dummy after receiving easter eggs tomorrow night. She's been doing without it in the day apart from naps since September last year and that was quite easy but she is absolutely addicted to it at night and relies on it to get to sleep. Has anyone been in the same position. I don't want to hear 'oh it was the easiest thing and they never asked for it again' because realistically this isn't going to happen. The other thing is that up till now she has slept 12 hours straight without trouble and I don't want to give her sleep problems now that her routine is so sorted. Yes I know it's sounding like my issue, maybe it is and I know we have to go cold turkey it's the only way but is it hell on earth?

I weened my little girl off the dummy three months after she turned two. I was DREADING it but it wasn't as bad as I thought. One day I chopped the top off one of her dummies and left it for her to discover and come to me to talk about how it was broken and no good. So we put it in the bin together. The next two weeks were spent talking about the broken dummy and....lo and behold another "broke" and another...so that was that. She cried a bit but I was expecteing a week from hell. It really helped her to discuss what had happened to the dummies though.

my little girl 3.2 until very recently had to have 2 dummies when going to bed, one in her mouth and one in her hand, but one got a hole in it so it is broken and so for the past few nights she has only gone to bed with one dummy, will have to try it next with the one that is left (she is very odd and won't use a new dummy)

Hi, I also have to tackle this very soon. My son is 2yrs now and i think this is a good age to stop. He also has a comfort blanket so i am at present trying to leave both the dummy & blanket in his bed when he wakes up and tell him he can have it again when he goes to bed, This is working fine at the mo. In a few months i am going to see how he is without it at night, fingers crossed its a easy one! Failing that i will wait until Christmas, then send it to santa. Good idea AlwaysTheMummy!x

Hiya, My Ds(3.3 years) had a very bad dummy addiction until 2 months ago. He never took it outside the house but inside he had it in his mouth the whole time and really relied on it for bed.
His 4 month old sis had dummy too so we got rid of hers first, very cruel but to be honest she didnt even miss it (Thank God, cos i probably would have caved into her, being so small and all).
Then we told about a sick baby rabbit who really needed a dummy. We spoke about this for about a week but he kept saying maybe the next day!!
One night we actually really couldnt find it at bed time, major panic set in, but he said maybe the baby rabbit took it nad hasnt had a dummy since!....I still cant believe it cos i was ready for some major tantrums....but it worked!
Good luck i know how much i dreaded it, so i dont envy you.

Wow - well done Lulu - maybe I should bite the bullet hey?

My DS was 2 1/2 when he gave his 'ning-nigs to the babies' in our local convenience store. In return he got Terence the Traction Engine (one of Thomas the Tanks friends) and I made a really big point of fussing over his and celebrating what he's done - photos were taken etc with him and his Terence! he remembers what he did - he's now 5. Before hand we both talked about it and that was what he decided to do. He has a fav toy - his duck - so at bed time it wasn't a problem. good luck.

I wanted him to getrid of it cos when I was little I sucked my thumb and ended up with terrible teeth and had to wear a brace for years - I want to avoid that if at all possible.

Spoo - just do it! I fought against it for ages and I know it was mainly about my feelings not my dd's. She is taking an hour to get to sleep now but compared to a lot of children this seems good anyway so I still think it's worth it. If you're anything like me i.e weak-willed, cut the teats off or put them in an outside bin, anywhere where you can't go back as there was a moment last night when she was screaming mummy, mummy that I might have caved in and given her a dummy for a quiet life. Cold turkey for you both is the only way. Good luck, let me know how you get on.

my dd helped me decorate a shoe box for fairys and i told her the dummy fairys were going to collect it in the night in exchange for some goodies she left it at the end of her bed and in the morning she had a box with fairy wand ect in i left a sprinkle of glitter around for effect then every time she asked i reminded her of the dummy fairys and she soon stopped asking.

Spoo, I agree with Lulu, it is more about your feelings really. Chopping up teats if the only way forward. The "broken" dummy is sth that children understand well due to broken toys etc. Choose the day and go.

We swopped dd's for a treat as well and it worked a treat - in some ways they are more reasonable when they are a bit older.

and yes cold turkey all the way.

I'm a bit of a coward. I am working up to it though. I understand it is all about me not DS but still think he will really get upset. Will let you know when I decide to face it. Know what you mean about cutting them up though I think I would cave.