3.9yrs old addicted to dummy

[SuperAmoo]

My DD1 will be 4 in December is totally addicted to her dummies. She doesn't have them outside the house but at home she's never without them. She can't 'self-soothe' without them. I'm worried if I take them away, she'll start snacking all the time instead or/and pick herself to bits. She is always picking at herself and is covered in scabs. Are her dummies a case of 'better the devil you know'? Any thoughts? Actually any thoughts on compulsive skin picking as well?!!!

bump

No advice to offer. My DD1 has just turned 3. She loves her dummy too. I gravitate between thinking this is a problem and just not worrying. I actually think I only see it as a problem because of what others think. I am pretty sure I don't much care!

However, I am interested in the advice others will offer for possible future reference - good luck.

dont know about the skin picking but my sister's lo who has just started school still has his dummy (not at school - just in the house) - he will be 5 in December. Her other 2 kids also had them up till around the age of 5.

DD is 13 and still sucking her thumb. Grr.

I know our school do a collection of dummies for Father Christmas's baby reindeer in the nursery class. This usually works well with the children.

How does she cope outside and in school without her dummies. Does she pick her skin more?

If not, she will probably cope better than you think. I know prolonged dummy/thumb sucking can sometimes affect teeth but other than that If you are happy for DD to still have a dummy, then I wouldnt worry too much.

Maybe you could try to reduce the time she has her dummy to sleep times to start with.

Work toward her birthday in December. Tell her that when she turns 4, she'll be much bigger and more grown up. She can still have her dummy, but only in bed.

Then when she turns 4, if she asks for the dummy, readily agree but tell her she has to go lie down in bed to have it (no matter what time of day). She'll (hopefully!) soon decide that being in bed with her dummy isn't much fun and she'd much rather be out of bed doing other more interesting things. Also, if she truly 'needs' soothing, she can go lie down with her dummy for a few minutes until she feels better. You can then (eventually) work toward eliminating the dummy completely.

That strategy worked with dd - hopefully it will work for you too (though we didn't have the skin picking issue to contend with). Good luck.

My ds is 3.8 and still has his dummy, but he is slowly starting to realise that he can't take it everywhere. I generally don't really care if he has it (I had mine till 7 ) but I find it's more other people who care about it.
I think he will come around in his own time, I hope you manage. We did try giving it to santa last year but we didn't get out the dept store without another being given.

Thank you everyone. I think I will try the 'only dummies in bed' strategy. At the moment, she has this ritual of 'having a nest' which means lying on the sofa with a blanket with a bottle of rice milk and three dummies watching tv. She asks to do this the minute we come in from anywhere if she's at all tired. Perhaps the skin picking is a separate issue really - she does it whether she has a her dummy or not. May post separately about it. Thank you!