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Getting rid of the dummy! (Also posted in BIJune)

Today I decided to stop giving my LO (3 months old) her dummy because I feel like the reason she has been waking up in the night is because she wants her dummy...
It has just taken me AGES to get her to sleep for her nap (she kept crying because she was tired but she's used to having her dummy to settle her).
Does anyone have any tips that will make this easier?

Replies

  • We use the dummy only for daytime naps and not at all for night-time sleeping. I know this sounds ridiculous but we've been doing this for about 5 months now successfully. Rather than fight naps and nightime together, perhaps you could try to eliminate it at night first, as that is what seems to be causing the most problem.

    Sorry I know this doesn't help but wanted to offer another perspective xx
  • Sorry can't be much help SammyHam, but I'm pleased to hear that Lawso, that;s what we're doing with our 11 week old at the moment. It wasn't really deliberate, although one of my reservations with a dummy was her waking for it in the night, so I don't offer it out of habit - and she very very rarely has it during the night or to go to sleep with at night, but it does help her settle during the day - maybe she needs it more because we're out and about or in the living room so not as easy to settle.

    I agree with maybe tackling the nights first and they days later if they're less of a problem
  • Hi my dd is 9months and been off dummie for nearly 2months now! She was never to bothered with it but I was just going to try naps and bed time without it to c what happened. And nothing happened she went to sleep fine for both and I have just never used it since!!I know I am very lucky it was so easy. Is there a comfurt blanckets ect u can give to settle maybe not to sure what else could get used.

    Sorry if not much help but sometime they just surprise us!!
  • if your baby is only 3months old why do you feel like you need to get rid of it? babies suck for comfort so she would be upset if you take away her source of comfort. my baby is 4months and i dont plan on getting rid of it any time soon, my son had his til he was 2 but only for sleeping, i dont really see it as an issue. i got rid of his when he started trying to chew on it rather than suck it, we swapped it for a fireman sam fire engine, courtesy of 'the dummy fairy' and he never looked back!i think when they are older its better to get rid of it but when they are babies im very much go with the flow...x
  • Thanks for the suggestions, ladies.
    I think we will still give her the dummy for daytime naps until she's 6 months, as that's when it's recommended to get rid of it completely.
    Sophie... I did explain that I feel the reason why my LO is waking constantly in the night is so that I put her dummy back in her mouth, and that's the reason I don't want her to have it any more, we're both not getting enough sleep at night because of all this waking.
  • I think your decision to wait till 6 months is a good one. We ditched Hugo's dummy at 6 months and just went cold turkey, starting with his morning nap and not looking back. It did involve some crying as he was confused at suddenly losing his sleeping prop but it was much much easier than I thought it would be. By day 3 he learned to settle himself without it and while it didn't stop his nighttime wakings (had to do CC for that at 8.5 months) it at least eliminated one of the possible reasons for night wakings.

    Good luck
  • Thanks so much, Peeptoe. image
    (What does CC mean? :P)
    I think tonight we'll try my LO without her dummy, and see how we go, but with daytime naps she really doesn't like to settle without the dummy, so we'll keep them for that for a while.
    xxx
  • CC is controlled crying I think. I am reading in as trying to get James back to self soothing himself, funny how its different day and night, I really think the dummy keeps him awake and he doesnt sleep as deeply xx
  • I got rid of my lo's dummy for the same reason, and I havent looked back. I think he was 16 weeks when I did it, with the help of cc. He now settles lovely now. Just do what you think is right.
    The cc will get easier too, the first couple of naps/sleeps are the worst and then they get better at it xx
  • Thanks everyone! image
    xxx
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