4.5 year old won't give up her dummy

[TaraW20]

We have tried everything.

My DS gave his up very easy but we just can't find anything to help.

Any suggestions?

Evidence that braces correct crooked teeth

As would we had it been necessary. Mine must be in the 10%!

OMG, there are posters on here trying to argue that it's NBD if the dummy causes her to need braces? If parents are paying for braces, it costs them a fortune. If it's covered by the NHS, it's costing taxpayers a fortune. J

FGS I didn't ask you about the impact of braces!!!!

I asked you to provide evidence to support this claim:

"It’s lower risk than thumb sucking, and even if it did happen, it can be corrected by braces which they’d likely need anyway. Besides, taking the pressure off doesn’t mean the child is doomed to be in Yr3 sucking on a dummy. They will likely wean themselves off it if you leave them alone about it long before it can affect any future teeth".

It’s also the impact on speech. Braces tend to come late in the day when speech habits are formed.

Dummies are for babies, not children with teeth.

Exactly, and who would want their child to have to have braces if there was anything they could do to prevent that?!

Yes, it is genetic so will run in the family. :)

Which part of that? I thought you wanted evidence for this part “even if it did happen, it can be corrected by braces”

A little specificity would not be unwelcome.

It’s not “a fortune” 🤣 when you have a 90% chance of having to pay for braces anyway.

Why would any parent prefer their child to have braces? I’m almost at the end of my teeth straightening journey, not with braces but with plastic aligners and it’s been bloody miserable at times. It can be painful when teeth are held in a new position and I’ve had countless instances of sore gums and inner cheeks where the aligners, attachments and bands have rubbed. I have only six weeks until the end of the treatment and although it will have been worth it for lovely straight teeth I shall be very grateful when it ends. I wouldn’t be so cavalier about inflicting pain and discomfort of a child of mine if it could possibly be avoided.

It’s more that they are most likely to need braces anyway, so why inflict distress on a child now and in the future, when you can skip the distress now.

You're really trying but honestly your argument is 👎
Are you that arrogant that you'll ignore facts and reason to justify your poor choices?

If you don't comprehend then that's your problem!

I can't actually begin to comprehend how you might even begin to think that allowing your child to have a dummy way beyond when most children don't have them, is worth it because they can have braces?

That just blows my mind!

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/braces-and-orthodontics/

We had one child who wasn't interested in a dummy at all, but it was a struggle with the other one to give it up. We talked a lot about little babies who needed dummies in the lead up to letting it go and then eventually gave it up for a little baby, but it definitely took some prepping beforehand so they knew what's coming.

Your child is nearly 5. She can't just order another one on Amazon. Get rid of them. Do the dummy fairy or bribe her with a toy or a reward chat or whatever you need to do, but this shouldn't be an issue.

Big school should deal with this, my son had a soother & like toilet training it got phased out before playschool, a few slip ups but he was fine by big school time

On Christmas Day say ‘Santa’s elves took it because only babies have dummies, not big girls, but oh my goodness look at all this lovely stuff he left!!! Barbies! Lego! Loom band kit!’

And never mention it again.

We were quite soft with our oldest, getting him to give the dummies up. At 3, he only had them at night. We got two action figures, that he really wanted. We took the dummies away, then gave him an action figure each morning he went the night without a dummy. As the dummies were already chucked, there was no option of him having one, but the promise of a toy made him brave about it. By the 2nd morning, the habit was broken.

Aaaah, this is adorable! So sweet they gave it up for a "younger child" ❤️

That is a matter of opinion.
The decision to not pressure or lie or cause distress now to a toddler is not likely to prolong dummy use to the point where there is risk it might affect their baby teeth which in turn is hypothesised to have a teeny tiny influence on adult teeth.

Even if this unlikely occurrence of prolonged use and teeny tiny influence did occur, it will in all likelihood have no impact on the need for braces because 90% of people need braces anyway due to genetic factors.

Whatever does happen, there is a 0% risk of permanent harm to their teeth.

We all assess risk differently using the same facts. Some people are so risk adverse that they will panic over teeny tiny potential risk of harm that is 100% correctable and be willing to lie to/distress their child to give them a illusory sense of security and control.

We can’t control whether our DC will need braces. The taking away of a dummy may have a negligible effect, but certainly isn’t an effective prevention. To me, it is not worth it to stress over or cause my child distress.

I don’t think it is arrogant to have a different opinion. I think arrogance comes from others not tolerating a difference of opinion based on my not being a highly risk adverse person.

It's healthy for children to be supported in experiencing life's minor setbacks, losses and disappointments. It wires their brains to become adaptable and resilient. You are doing no favours to a child by going to great lengths to never upset them.

Well that is not what I said, so there is why you fail to comprehend.

There are enough minor setbacks, losses and disappointments in life without parents going out of their way to artificially create them. In addition, it is not healthy for the source and cause of these adverse events to be their own parents. I’m not going to any great length at all, mine is a hands off approach to dummy weaning. Rather it is parents that are doing elaborate show and tells, coming up with rewards, and constant “don’t be a baby” conversations that are going to great lengths to upset their DC.