3 year old ditching the dummy - experiences please!!

[SuperDuper82]

Hi all,

We had a visit from the dummy fairy last week, DS is just 3 years old. He has only had dummy for sleeps for as long as I can remember and we went cold turkey on that last Thursday night.

He has done really well and apart from the first night, hasn't really put up much of a fight and falls asleep reasonably quickly and without tears however he is now waking before 6am which is leaving him tired throughout the day.

I understand losing his dummy/comfort is a big change for him but can anyone tell me this is normal and will resolve itself shortly or am I now destined for early mornings and a tired, grumpy boy for some time..!! Just curious to see if others have been through the same really.

My dd gave posted her dummies to the fairies at 4
It was like her Siamese twin and I never thought she'd sleep again without it!

It took about 2-3 weeks of slightly out of sync sleep but after that she settled fine.
Give him a few more weeks and I'm sure he will adjust.

Thanks, that's encouraging, especially this morning as he's woken at 5am. I wouldn't even mind so much but he's exhausted throughout the day!

Same experience here, it took a week or two but we were also on holiday and sleep patterns were already disturbed! Long, tiring days and lots of fresh air helped lengthen overnight sleeps!

Is your toddler napping in the day time? If so what times and what time is bedtime?

I assume you have blackouts in the bedroom?

You're saving grace if you can't solve this right now is that we are less than 2 months from the clocks changing. Darker mornings may help. I'd also allow a week or two for routine to settle before worrying about early mornings, they may settle down.

I also found 3 the worst age for grumpiness and early rising sorry

We stopped the nap a couple of months ago as he was struggling to settle at bedtime, his bedtime is 7:30. He has a blind and a black-out curtain and it was certainly dark in his room at 5:10 this morning!

He would previously wake any time from 6-7 generally so has never been a late riser as such but the extra hour of sleep makes all the difference to his mood...and mine!!

It may not be connected to the dummy.
Our 3 yo used to sleep until 7.30 and had to be woken for nursery - but over the last couple of months it's suddenly all changed and he will wake as early as 5:30 (usually 6:15). 😬.
He's also tired and grumpy by bedtime.

Yes, we've had phases of early waking making times before. I think it's his default thing for any developmental leaps etc! This time it has coincided with removing the dummy and I just think he wakes in early hours and isn't tired enough to get himself back to sleep...!!