Send support: we are getting rid of the dummies!

[DSawyer]

We are doing it! We are finally getting rid of the dummy. My 2.5 year old has been prepped; we’ve reduced dummy down to car and bed only for the past few months and tomorrow they’ll all go! She’s going to “give them to the babies in the hospital” and will get a present in return.

Any positive stories to help ease the mind?

She’s a strong- willed child and well in to tantrums if she doesn’t get her own way (but she has one stubborn mummy to contend with) and has been working on big emotions.

any last minute tips?

Good luck! Does she have anything to replace the dummy like a comforter? I think there are some good books about getting rid of the dummy xx

i would say the most successful are the parents who have finally decided . Get rid of all of them put holes in . They forget about dummies quickly but you might get a couple of unsettled nights .

reinforcement you are a big girl .

good luck

Thanks both! She hates being called a baby and knows that only babies have dummies so she’ll understand that reinforcement.

She doesn’t have a comforter but I was hoping the new teddy she’s picked out will be the comforter at least in the first few nights.

We are both off work this week so all ready for unsettled nights. We will literally be getting rid of every single dummy (and have even gone to my mums house to collect the ones there so there will be no opportunity for getting a dummy).

Here we go!

I need to do this with my DD who just turned two few months ago. I was thinking of cutting a hole and hopefully she doesn't like her dummies anymore.🤞🏼 Good Luck!

Good luck OP! The Easter bunny took ours to give to the babies that needed them. DD was nearly 4 but she was brilliant. Asked for them a couple of times and had one sad night when she realised they were all gone but that was it. Every so often she refers to them but as "I'm a big girl and dummies are for babies".
My terror at the thought of taking them away was definitely worse than the reality!

We did this with ds at this age and he was fine. He knew they were going, got a gift and he never asked for one again. Good luck!

We tried cutting a hole in them about 6months ago but it didn’t work. It didn’t make a dot of difference with her!

I wrote a little story about a girl giving her dummies to the babies and have been preparing her with that.

I will let you know how it goes! I’m hoping my fear of no dummies at night is worse than the reality of it.

We literally did this last night OP, only decided late afternoon! Worked amazing well and DC (just turned 2) slept all night. Fingers crossed tonight is the same. Good luck!

We were similar. The dummy was the last thing to go (well after potty training/ dry at night etc) as DD was about 3 and a half. She adapted well, got a new baby she had been eyeing up in exchange. She does still talk about them from time to time but doesn't ask for one (she's four and a half now).
I will say that emotionally, we realized that the dummy was a huge source of comfort and regulation for her and we had neglected to help her come up with other coping skills / build resilience. So you may find tantrums increase while your DD navigates how to comfort and calm herself without one.

We had a few little tantrums in the car today but nothing more than shouting “no” and a stomp when we said there were no dummies. This is when she was really tired though and we had a long journey home and could tell she was overdue a nap but was holding it off incase she got a dummy.

It went so much better than expected in the car. Bed time has been okay but she’s been silently laying awake for an hour and not sleeping yet as she normally would do.

She asked for a dummy whilst we were getting her ready for bed but didn’t ask once when in bed. She was too busy playing caretaker to her new teddy (tucking him in, explaining the bed time routine to him, giving spoilers to teddy of the books we were going to read, giving teddy a cuddle because he was crying and lots of teddy kisses).

Thank you all the supporting messages really making me feel it IS achievable. I’m so proud of her!

We did it! SHE did it! I really can’t believe it went so well. We were prepared to do night shifts in with her all night but she ended up coming in to our bed at 4am (not bad seeing as we get up at 6:30). And it wasn’t even because she was upset or asking for dummy; she just wanted to hold a hand / cuddle up to one of us.

it’s all downhill from here right?!

We hid my sons dummies in the wellies under the stairs and he used to raid them as soon as I had my back turned. I told him the toads needed them as supports for their houses - he started chucking then out the windows any chance he could.

At least it stopped him from using them 😂

I was majorly stressing about taking DD's dummy off her. We let her have it until she was 3y8m, which was too long really.

As it happens, it was an absolute breeze. We told her that after Passover there would be no more dummy. And she just accepted it! No crying. She asked for it maybe twice, when she was upset about something, but she has basically moved on.