9 month old DS waking in the night wanting his dummy

[bingeddybongo]

Although he seems to be able to self settle - sometimes he wakes up but just goes back to sleep - several times a night now he's waking up and screaming till his dummy's back in his mouth (because it's fallen out and he doesn't know how to find it). I'm so, so over my broken sleep now: is the only way to stop this by making him go cold turkey? He only has the dummy at naptime and bedtime, and he goes down without it at bedtime often enough. Occasionally he'll sleep through completely, but mostly he's waking up to six or seven times a night. The trouble is, he's also teething, so I don't want to cause him additional misery - or am I being soft?! Any advice or tips much appreciated!

If this is a new thing, could it be the 9 month sleep regression?

Thanks Jilted - it's been going on for the last couple of months now, unfortunately. But I didn't know about a 9 month regression, so thanks for mentioning it! He's started being difficult going to sleep at bedtime as well now so I'm working out a plan of action involving a Jo Frost thing I read. Thank you for answering, it's nice to know someone's out there!

I used to put several dummy's in the bed so they could find one

Do you think you could go cold turkey though and wean them off it? Although they may wake for something else instead.

I put 2 or 3 dummies in his cot. He would sleep with one in his mouth and one in either hand.
Also we only use the glow in the dark dummies, so he can always find one.

I think the official guidelines say not to remove a dummy at bedtime if they are used to settling with one, until the child is over a certain age - it could be 12 months?

The avent dummies make a rattly sound when moved, helps DC to locate them.

We put about 8 in our children's cots

We also "taught" them to pick up their dummy and put it in their mouth during play times in the day.

by 9 or 10 months they mostly had the hang of it - doesnt stop them waking and crying, but they quickly found their dummy and reinserted it into their mouths!

Yes, the luminous ones are great.