4.5mo waking up several times a night for dummy, how do I wean him off it at bedtime?

[SairdyJane25]

Any advice on how to wean him off the dummy at bedtime and during the night would be great. Even if he falls asleep without it he will still wake during the night for it. Want to nip this in the bud now and not have to deal with it another 12 months down the line.

I have an 8 month old dummy lover and he can now put his dummy back in himself. We co slept (side off cot pushed up to bed) so I could just put it back in before. Now he's in a different room and he puts it back himself. Only time he doesn't is if it's fallen out the cot.
Sorry I know it doesn't help you wean him off it but it does get much easier when he can put it back in. Also he sleeps through so I'm not stopping dummy!

Have you got another plan for getting him back to sleep when he wakes in the night?

If so, by all means try without the dummy. For most people though, the dummy cannot be beaten as a quick, easy way to trigger sleep and calm crying. It's not unusual to go through a phase of re-inserting dummy at wake ups, but soon your baby will be able to do this themselves (assuming you ensure the dummy is findable in the night).

I won't be putting my DD (nearly 7 months) into her own room until I am sure I won't be needed at night (for either feeds or wake ups)

YY- what will you do if he wakes in the night? Plugging the dummy back in is by far the easiest, and eventually (if you strategically leave about 6 dummies in the cot :) ) he'll find it himself.

Dummies are amazing. When they're a bit older falls/bangs/tantrums can all be appeased with a simple dummy :) When mine gave theirs up it was me who found it difficult!

Bear in mind there was some research that showed that giving a child a dummy, then removing it under a year old, increases SIDS risk compared to children who never had a dummy or always had one.

The No Cry Sleep Solution has a good methods for dummy weaning and other suggestions for helping them learn to go back to sleep so its well worth a read in my opinion.

I got rid of the dummy at 6 months for my first and it made things so much worse! My second still has hers at 15 months and its a lifesaver! We have a Sleepytot which I attach two dummies to (it will take 4) and I also use glow in the dark dummies at night so she can find them more easily. Her sleep, though not perfect, is much better than DC1s at this age!

I'm now cutting the dummy out during the day (other than in the car as she hates it) - but it was helpful when she was younger for her to have them in the day to get good at finding it and putting it in her own mouth but am not intending to get rid at night until she is ready.

I've heard the sleepytot being used to find dummy in the night. And a bunny type toy that has dummies attached to the limbs (is that the same thing?).

If you use a sleeping bag, I have sewn a piece of ribbon to the chest of every sleeping bag with a press stud at the end to attach a dummy to. Works the same way as a dummy saver clip, but less bulky when rolling over.

It allows for baby (and parents) to always know where dummy is without opening eyes by sweeping hand across chest to find ribbon, then ribbon finds dummy.

Also, in time, we made the sleeping bag the permanent home for dummies. So that they were always attached to the sleeping bag so only ever used when the baby/toddler is asleep and not when awake and up.

Micah - I didn't know that about SIDS research. It's interesting.

I used to worry my LO would become attached to the dummy and there were times I would have to do several 'dummy runs' a night but now I realise he would've woken whether he had a dummy or not. The dummy just got him back to sleep quickly so was actually helping rather than hindering his sleep. You could try without the dummy but there is likely to be lots of tears and you may find your LO continues to wake.