My DS suffered badly from gastric reflux, combined with a milk protein intolerance and for months, until we hit on the best medication regime, struggled to sleep unless exhausted and was very stressed. We introduced a dummy and it was incredibly helpful to him, you could feel his little body relax as soon as I popped it in. He's now 12 months and still has it. It's still useful, he only has it in his cot and he takes himself off to sleep without any fuss during the day and night.
My problem is that he half wakes a couple of times each night and can't settle himself without his dummy. This means I have to go in and find it for him (often crawling under the cot) and so my sleep is always broken.
Has anyone else had this and what did they do? Do I take the step of removing the dummy completely - if so how and how painful is this likely to be, or do I try a controlled crying thing to teach him to self-settle without the dummy?