Ditching the Dummy

[First Baby White]

OH and I decided to ditch Harry's doddy as I think I have read something Sherlock wrote that they become reliant on them at 5 months so felt we didnt have long left. Harry had shown signs he wasnt reliant on it but did normally need it at bed time but the problem with this was that he used to knock it out of his mouth whilst asleep and disturb him.

So yesterday was Day 1 and it wasnt all that bad, when he is whingy he was expecting his doddy but we distracted him with other things and bed time was suprisingly easy but today he is very whingy and I think he is wanting doddy but I am determined not to give in now. Does anyone have any experiences on giving up doddy at this age and how long it takes them to stop wanting it. Also I am slightly worried he might start using his fingers to soothe him instead and dont really wanna swap one for the other as I bet the hand habit is harder to break i.e thunb sucking is hard to break compared to taking a dummy away so any ideas on stopping this would also be appreciated

 

[Bee]

No advice sorry. Finlay gave it up himself

Just want to say keep at it - he may be whinging today cos of something else rather than missing his dummy. Babies have whingy days

 

[Kylie1007]

My HV said just go cold turkey. You'll have a horrid few days but that'll be it done and throw them away too so you're not tempted to search it out. Saying that, Finn's a year old now and still has his dummy although Im trying to keep it from him. I wanted to get rid of it by 12 months but that never worked because he was ill , 1st with a tummy bug, then a cold and just got over chickenpox and so quite reliant on it during that time!

 

[Sammystar]

my son is 20 months and he still has his at night. It lives in his cot, along with his shawl (awwww!) and his favourite toy, Billyflower.

I won't be taking it off him just yet.

With my DD, we 'lost' it during a move, when she was about two and a half. It took two nights and she was over it......

 

[Sherlock]

Usually within a day or two they will have no memory of it. Just keep going as you are Distraction during the day is good and then nighttime might be a bit tough but if you look at it its one or two nights while they are small and can heopfully be settled using other methods and won't rely on the dummy.

Don't worry overly about hand sucking. Babies often tend to do this because of teething, experimenting and so on. Its not that its going to become a habit or a comfort thing. Its different from thumb sucking. Galen sucks and chews on his hands a lot but its only when teething is bothering him usually.