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Becoming reliant on his dummy?! Also in bim

Ryans going to be 12 weeks on Thursday and I'm worried he's becoming too reliant on his dummy. He's a fab sleeper but now seems to need his dummy to settle. No matter how tired he is (unless he falls asleep on his last bottle) he whines and gets really agitated until we give him his dummy then it's like the magic switch, a couple of sucks and he's in the land of nod. He was in the habit of spitting it out soon after falling asleep but now, at his daytime naps especially he waking after a short time without his dummy, I'm guessing because it's fallen out. I've tried taking it off him once he's dozed off, but he seems to suck even harder.
I was all for using dummies while he likes them, especially for the SIDS benefit but I'm now worried he likes them too much and we're making a rod for our own backs.

Anyone else the same? Any ideas?

xx

Replies

  • I've got the same worries about Lucas Hon...like you say it really is like flicking a switch from screaming to serene in 0.3 seconds! He doesn't seem to wake when it falls out though so trying not to stress. In all honesty, I think we just need to relax and trust that they will give it up when they're ready...either that or we're gonna have a few days of he'll going cold turkey!!!!
  • Dylan is very nearly 8 months and we have been dummy free for nearly 2 weeks now. We went cold turkey as he was ready, I was using it for my benefit rather than his and felt it was the right time as he didn't need it anymore. To be fair he hasn't even noticed I don't think.

    He was very reliant on it during different ages though like you describe with your ds. Sometimes it was the only thing that would get him to sleep for naps or offer him comfort when he was teething/growing or ill. I remember doing dummy runs in the middle of the night as it fell out, but then the next week he wasn't as bothered for it.

    Try not to worry, he obviously needs it at the minute it maybe that he's a little out of sorts as 12 weeks is a time of a massive growth spurt. If you want to drop th dummy you can do but you may find he will do it in his own time.

    xxxx
  • I agree wirh Dylansmummy, I have just weaned Jacob off his dummy, he is 18 weeks today. at 12 weeks he used to use it alot too, but then as he got a bit older he stopped needing it as much.

    xx
  • We had this problem, Sebastian had a dummy against my personal feelings because it was the only thing that helped his colic. At first it was great, he would only have it when he was colicky and then once he'd nodded off and it dropped out he didn't need it again but over time especially once he'd outgrown the colic he seemed to need it to settle more and more and then couldn't re-settle without it. I was thinking of going cold turkey (he's now nearly 7 months) as I hated the thought of battling to get it off him when he was older but up until now I haven't been brave enough. Then he got chicken pox really badly and had loads of spots in his mouth, because of this he couldn't suck his dummy and now he won't have it back even though the spots have gone. He settles and re-settles himself really well.

    It's a bit drastic but it worked. Also with hindsight I 've realised that I was relying on it more too as I've also got a toddler and if I had my hands full it was easy for me to quiet him down by just shoving the dummy in instead of maybe giving him a bit more time and attention. I think it's doing us both good to be rid of it.
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