is it best to ditch the dummy early or late?

[timeoutofmind]

My DD is 5.5 mo and loves her dummy, which I try and restrict to naps/sleep.

She seems to be.getting more and more attached to it though. I've been debating whether to ditch it soon (cold turkey) or let her have it until she's old enough for the whole dummy fairy thing.

I'd love to hear your experiences of getting rid of the dummy!

DS1 would never have a dummy, but DS loved his!

We ditched it cold turkey at 7 months. I was dropping his night feed, and he kept waking when his dummy dropped out so I ditched that too! We had 3 unsettled nights, but that was all.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Hmm yeah she has started having unsettled nights too which is what's made me consider it.

I am interested in what people say regarding this matter. My DD is also 5.5mo and getting increasingly attached to her dummy. She mouths for it when I put her down for a nap.

Iwish - when you say 'cold turkey' and 'unsettled nights' do you mean controlled crying?

Yes Cbell my DD mouths for hers too. I just think she would cry and cry if I took it away from her and don't know if I can stand it!

No, I don't think I could do that!

We did a kind of gradual retreat type thing, shush him in his cot, lots of bum patting until e settled and then gradually withdrew from the room. To start with that would be standing by is cot until he dropped off, then stand at the end of his cot, and then nearer the door until we could shush and pat, then leave the room and he would settle himself back to sleep.

We've used this technique several times with both ds's when they were younger when we found ourselves falling into bad habits - like after they've been ill/had a rough bout of teething and were waking more often.

We took dd's dummy when she was about 6-7 months mainly for similar reasons mentioned- waking at night wanting me to come and put it back in! Couple of nights where she cried for a little while and then it was as if she had never had one. Would do the same way again with next baby I think.

I would advice sooner, first 2 dc no dummy past 3 months and fine, last dc and at 1yo very soon still has dummy and is very attached, tried to do cold turkey at about 9mo but i got sick and one morning needed him to settle quickly as i just couldn't do an early morning and complete back track so i would advice cold turkey before 9mo. Or definitely before dc starts playing with it and using it for their amusement. But never mind i will try again in August.

Early, early!
DD1 is turning 4 shortly. She still has a dummy at night and thanks to a period of frequent blood tests a while ago has completely stretched the boundaries so that she often has it until she leaves for school in the morning and for an hour before bedtime! I hate it. I can't understand her when she's got it in her mouth and I'm concerned about the effect on her general speech.

Having said that, DD2 sucks her thumb. Whereas DD1 has perfectly straight teeth, one of DD2's two top front teeth is crooked, which directly correlates with the thumb she sucks.

I really really wouldn't worry about it. DS stopped using his shortly before he was 2 just because he stopped asking for it. It was always restricted to sleep (so bed-time and naps), and the only thing we did was decide not to offer it to him once he was about 18mths. Once he forgot to ask, he didn't look back.

The dummy debate is a hard one. my ds has one and he is 14 months after not taking one until he was 5 is has been my saviour with his sleep. we were feeding to sleep before.

when he was about 7 months we taught him to put it back into his mouth when he woke in the night, it took a couple of nights but the cold turkey alternative with my ds would have been a lot of crying.

am interested to see if anyone else has had success with the dummy fairy. thought i would try this when he is about 2 ish.

My DD is now 4 and the dummy fairy came just before her 4th birthday. We'd talked about it for a while but for various reasons I never had the heart to take it off her when she was smaller. i always felt that if she had had a special teddy or sucked her thumb which comforted her to sleep we wouldn't have taken that away so why the dummy. When she was about 2 I got stricter with it and wouldn't let her have it when she was playing but would let her have it if she was tired or going to bed. then when she was 3 it was left upstairs when she woke in the morning and strictly became a bedtime thing. We started to talk a bit about the dummy fairy coming but I really wanted it to come from her. A few nights she tried but just couldn't self settle and was gettin really upset about it so I just said it didn't matter and the dummy fairy would only come when she was ready. then a week before she turned 4 after her stories she said mummy can the dummy fairy come tonight? So we left them on the windowsill in her bedroom and although it took a while she went to sleep on her own! The dummy fairy came and she has not looked back. not once asked for them.
DS has a dummy too and I will do the same with him. He is coming up to 2 so soon it will be the no playing rule which actually he has started already.
I actually think its a bit mean to just take them away its their source of comfort and all children have something which makes them feel safe and secure.
Good luck whatever you decide!!