Remove dummy once asleep, or leave in? Does it make any difference?

[koeda]

I normally take dummy out once my DS (5 mo) is asleep, if he hasn't already spat it out. However I left it in today for his naps to see if it would help him go longer (it didn't).

It has got me thinking however... What's the general consensus on making an effort to remove the dummy once DC is asleep? Does it somehow mean that there is less reliance on the dummy to stay asleep? Or am I wasting my time making sure I take the dummy out of his mouth every nap & sleep time?

We left DS's in. The midwife said there was evidence it helped reduce the risk of cot death in young children.

DS is now 2, and quite happy to go without dummy during the day, but he does still sleep with it. It falls out by itself when he zonks out far enough, which will lead naturally enough to weaning him off it entirely soon.

Hmm, not sure. DD loves her dummy for sleep time, and usually spits it out once sleep, but after a while will stir and want it again, so making an actual effort to remove it once a sleep would be pretty pointless for me.

By all means you could try it and see if it works for you, but personally I'd just save myself the bother for now and wait to wean him off it completely.

Thanks guys, I won't sweat on the dummy removal situation then! The dummy has proved an absolute lifesaver on so many ocassions that it's now definitely more than a fair trade off for any possible troubles come weaning time

we loved the dummy ourselves as it helped with the getting lo back to sleep but we did have the dreaded dummy runs too. We got the sleepytot baby comforter so no more dummy getting lost in the night and much better sleep.

That said, just watched the sleep programme on channel 4 and getting rid of the dummies really worked... so who knows what's best?