Has anyone used Pantley gentle removal method for dummy addiction (and did it work)?

[MyNameIsInigoMontoya]

We are trying this now with DD as she suddenly can't sleep without her dummy, but can't sleep well WITH it either as she keeps dropping it or pulling it out with her fingers! She is still only 16 weeks so not old enough to replace it herself for some time yet, and we have been having really bad nights.

We already tried cold turkey using shh-pat etc, but failed miserably - she couldn't yet find her fingers and just kept crying and the ssh-patting didn't really help so we cracked and gave it back. At least the Pantley method seems gentler (no crying!), but I am finding it quite hard to manage - it seems very hard to find the right moment to pull out the dummy, either she is not yet sleepy enough and wakes right up again, or she is already asleep! Or when I do manage it, she usually wakes a few minutes later and wants the dummy back again. I am only doing this at night at the moment, not for naps as she is already napping quite badly and don't want to make it worse.

If anyone has experiences with this I would love to hear them, especially any encouraging success stories! Thank you...

We meet again on the sleep threads... No advice but am considering this technique for DS2. He sounds very similar to your DD, is waking up every 40mins or so for dummy and having terrible naps (usually interrupted by the dummy)and I just feel if he wasn;t falling asleep with it we would be half way there as it were.

He is a very sucky baby and will suck his fingers all the time, however it doens't seem to comfort him it just aggravates him even more. He has been so much more settled since we started using the dummy that I am reluctant to do away with it completely.

I have tried a couple of times to use the technique but with no convcition iykwim, so will be watching this thread with interest!

I think the key to this is accept that it takes time and involves a lot of repetition. It did work (possibly too well) with my DD but I think it involved the best part of two months of removing the dummy (and often having to replace it before trying again a bit later) before she started to spit it out of her own accord and not whimper to have it back again.

Good luck!

Same case here!!! I do take the dummy away when my DS naps during the day but night time is another story as he does take a long time to fall to sleep once he gets the dummy back and I need to sleep!
I will follow this thread with interest.

Hi IC

Tried allsorts to get DD to sleep without her dummy this age, and for months after, but it didnt work for us. Finally got to the end of my tether with getting up night after night to plug a dummy back in, at around 7 months. Came across something called a sleepytot after googling about this dummy nightmare. Its a flat cuddly with velcro paws you can fix the dummy into, it is bigger and they can grab onto it more, or the dummy moves around a lot less it tends to saty where it falls, making it easier for them to find. We never had a sleepless night because of the dummy, after we introduced it. Your DD is only 16 weeks, so she not going to be grabbing for it yet, but she may find it comforting and help her keep it in for longer until shes old enough.

Surround baby with dummies? Not being flippant, if you're not completely set on getting rid of it and just want life to be easier, make sure there are always spare dummies around. Makes the back-to-sleep process quicker (for both of you).
At 16 weeks I would not be wanting to take it away yet, if it is something your baby gets comfort from.

I got fed up of the dummy at about 14 weeks. I read the no cry sleep solution and went with bringing in a comforter instead. I did no weaning off the dummy - just removed it and never gave it back. I replaced it with a jellykitten flatty soother rabbit and he sucks the ears and feet to bits. As its bigger he can find it himself in the night. It works a treat for us - totally took the crying out of bedtimes.

Thanks, there are some things to think about there. The comforter idea especially sounds interesting, I had been wondering about giving one though was not sure if she was too young. Might try it...
I have heard the idea about putting loads of dummies in the cot before, but I think DD is still some way off being able to pick one up and put it in by herself; she has only just started being able to do anything with her fingers (mostly pulling OUT the dummy!).

Iggis I know what you mean, I didn't want to remove the dummy this early, but think we have no choice unfortunately as suddenly she can't keep it in any more and keeps spitting it out or pulling it out with her fingers, and then being unable to sleep (or to stay asleep). She has been waking almost every hour at night having lost the dummy... so I can't keep waking every hour to put it back in repeatedly until she drops off again.

At the moment we are still persevering with the pulling-out, but only at night. I have managed to get her down the last 2 nights without the dummy, but it does take a long time sometimes and she sometimes wakes again soon after so I have to start over again. Not had much joy with it during the night yet though, last night when she woke the first time needing the dummy I tried for 1 whole hour to remove it again without waking her, but every time she seemed to go to sleep without it she then startled awake again 2 minutes later and I had to start all over again Eventually gave up after an hour thinking we both needed some sleep!

I haven't been doing this for naps yet, as the NCSS book says if they are bad at napping to sort out night sleep first and just do anything you can to get them to have a good nap! So as she is napping really badly at the moment and getting very overtired, I have been leaving the dummy in for naps - when I can get her to keep it in long enough to drop off! This means I am in the bizarre situation of spending all day trying to get the dummy to stay in, and all night trying to get it out

mrswill, totally with you in support of Sleepytot!

We had the same problem and we got a Sleepytot Baby Comforter and never a sleepless night due to a lost dummy again.

They have little ones for little babies as I just got one for my nephew.

If losing the dummy doesn't work, sleepytot definitely the way to go. Got mine from the sleepytot website but think you can buy them at Kiddicare too.

Well I think we may have had our first small signs of progress last night!

I actually went to sleep in the spare room for the first time, as I was shattered and DH said he would have a go at being "dummy monitor". But he said he only had to replug it once, and she woke/made noises briefly a few more times but went back to sleep after a minute or so (he is a bit slower to wake up and respond than me) without him having to put the dummy back in! Then after I fed her at 5, I gave her the dummy but it dropped out, but she still slept on till 7. So it sounds like she might be starting to be able to resettle herself without it some of the time!

That said, she had had some calpol yesterday evening which might have helped her sleep (she had her 16-week jabs and seemed a bit poorly afterwards), but she had that at 6.30 in the evening so I would think it would have worn off by then. So hopefully she is starting to gradually need the dummy less... will have to see how tonight goes!

We used to give ds1 a dummy and then take it out once he had settled, this did work and he soon gave it up altogether, but it failed com[pletely for ds2 who would scream the house down whenever we touched the dummy, let alone took it away!we had to go cold turkey just before his 2nd bday, which wasn'as bad as we thought and worked well, but just shows how different children are!

Thanks missmapp! Just curious, at what point did you take the dummy out for ds1? - after he was fully asleep or before when he was "nearly there"?

I am struggling with that at the moment trying to do the Pantley thing - if I try to remove it too soon she just cries and I have to give it straight back; but if I wait until she is pretty much asleep I am not sure whether it really helps her to give it up?

Once or twice now she has settled without it after a night wakeup (or gone back down without it after night feed), but most times she still insists on it, so I don't feel like we are making that much progress after about 8 days of trying that (I think Friday night was a bit of a fluke or else calpol-induced). I think we will try it for a bit longer, but if we don't get some definite results soon I think we might have to try cold turkey before we all get too loopy from lack of sleep...