Dentist told us to ditch the dummy

[redfox14]

Took my 2.5 year old to the dentist today and they’ve said her front two teeth are starting to protrude and most likely due to having a dummy at night. She does only have it for sleep and we don’t let her have it through the day. We have tried to get rid of it twice already and both times she just hasn’t settled at night without it, she usually goes straight to sleep but without the dummy she’s very upset and crying and asking for it.

We have already tried posting it to the dummy fairy (who had to return it!), giving it to the baby of a friend, and both times said she could have a present if she could go to bed without her dummy. Sadly these obviously haven’t worked!

Does anyone have any tips for helping to get rid of it? The dentist said the sooner we can get rid the better.

Pierce it

I thought you weren't supposed to cut them as it posing a choking risk.

How many nights did you try without it OP?

' Accidentally' stand on it and say 'oops, its broke' Bin it.
She will be upset for maybe a day or two but you just have to let her go cold turkey with it.

Tell her its spoiling her teeth and she's not allowed it any more. She'll get over it eventually, although it may take a few nights. It's up to you as parents to do what's best, so bin it and suffer her being unsettled for a while. Better than loads of future dentistry.

You’re going to have to bite the bullet and be firm/consistent, establish a calm and settled bedtime routine and give your DC chance to settle into a new norm. Might be rough for a while but her teeth are important.

Explain to her why she can’t have it anymore. She’s old enough to get the gist and then absolutely stick to it. She will very quickly get over it. You just have to be firm.

You just have to get through it. There isn't really any other way.

Cold turkey, have a tough week then it's done with.

You are not being firm and sticking to your guns - you are returning the dummy when little one gets upset so you are prolonging the agony. “Oh no it’s broken” in the bin, end of. Don’t give in!!

I went cold turkey with my DS at that age and it was fine. I think we had a week of disturbed sleep then it was done. He gave his to Santa who gave him something in return (can’t remember what) and my DS kind of understood.

Why did the dummy fairy return it? You just have to stick out the crying, unfortunately. Not fun but important for her teeth.

Exactly. This isn't a hypothetical situation anymore, the dentist has literally said it's impacting her teeth. Bin the lot of them and stick to your guns.

Might she be interested in a new soft toy for bedtime in return for the dummy.
Check out the library for books like the Last Noo Noo to help her get used to the idea.

We had it by our fairy door (that we had for older dd for her tooth fairy placement) and she gave it to the funny fairy for the little babies and dummy fairy left her a cuddly and a tinkerbell toy. She was amazingly good about it.

I told DC sorry, dentist said we had to get rid of it, gave a week deadline and put it in the bin to “give to babies who need them”. I also got a book during that week about a kid not needing hers anymore. Seriously DC took it better than expected. So don’t worry yourself over it.

She will probably be mad at you when she’s a teenager and her teeth are protruding so she’s going to be upset at one point about this.

My DD was obsessed with her dummy and then one day I accidentally knocked it in the bath and it went down the plug to Australia… obviously it didn’t I took it off the side of the bath told a white lie and she never asked again. I think she was about 2.5-3years

We had it by our fairy door (that we had for older dd for her tooth fairy placement) and she gave it to the funny fairy for the little babies and dummy fairy left her a cuddly and a tinkerbell toy. She was amazingly good about it.

Posting while in the car in poor service area so app posted twice. Sorry.

Giving her it back twice has not helped at all.

if you’re going to remove it, remove it and deal with tears first a few nights.

Does she get everything else she wants if she cries?

Clean it in Milton's or similar; it will taste disgusting even after thorough rinsing and she will no longer want it. We did this to my son by accident; he was still quite young but got a rash around his mouth and I was worried it was due to the dummy, so sterilised it and he hated the taste so much he rejected it!

We've just gone through this...was a tough few days. We had a book about the dummy fairy, then got her to put them all in a box and leave some food etc out for the fairy. She selected a toy she wanted in exchange. We made it all very exciting which helped! I think my DD was slightly older than 2.5, maybe 2 yrs 8 months...and I think her level of understanding was just about there.

Sadly these obviously haven’t worked!

It only hasn’t worked because you gave in. It might take a week, or a fortnight, but you have to be firm. Unless a week of good sleep now is worth more to you than your daughter not needing an extra two years of braces in her teens?

Put them all in the bin. Dont buy any replacements. Dont give in.
If you give in again.......... you'll be teaching her that the more fuss she makes eventually you will give in. Quit doing that cos it will get worse and worse (over all sorts of things - toys, food, clothes, school - the options are unlimited!)