Ditching the dummy

[krisp]

Help help help!

We have done exactly what we said we wouldn't and have given our DD a dummy. It started with just in that difficult evening time and now she won't go to sleep without it. Here is the problem, she has started to wake when it falls out of her mouth crying and I have to go in and pop it back in for her. Last night this happened 3 times in addition to her 2 overnight feeds. We also have a DS who is a terrible sleeper (we went to sleep school when he was 8 months old for exactly the same problem!) so we can't really try and comfort without the dummy and get her used to not having it as this takes time and many tears and Paisley gets hysterical and then wakes Ewan who take ages to comfort and get back to sleep. Last night he was up 4 times and Paisley 5 times and my DH and I are totally exhausted.

What can we do???

[aussienic]

This happened with my eldest too.. He finally slept through the night at 3.. We got rid of the dummy at 2 and a half..

My only suggestion would be to take the dummy awa and deal with it for a few nights. but it is so hard to do when bub gets so upset... I guess the only other thing to do is grin and bear it..

I guess it comes down to whether it ia worth taking it away or not. We tried with Ds1 and gave up. our other kids just haven't taken to the dummy like he did so we got lucky..

ps our DD were born a day apart

[Jus]

Hi, we've got a similar problem at the moment. I had no problem with giving a dummy & it really helped out DD with wind for the first few months. Now it's a problem, us having to replace it during the night & constantly during day sleeps.

I found a thread on the Baby Whisperer forum that summarised a technique from Elizabeth Pantley's no-cry sleep solutions. It roughly said to give the dummy as per usual, wait til bub is sleepy, then remove when intense sucking has stopped. Bub will be upset, give dummy back (bub will only last couple of seconds), count one thousand, two thousand .... ten thousand; remove again, give back again. Repeat process til bub falls asleep without the dummy. The most important time is the first going-to-sleep of the night apparently. I think you repeat the strategy any time bub wakes for dummy.
It is supposed to take about 10 days for this to work.
It is recommended to do for night sleeps first, not for daytime naps, unless your kid is a great napper.
We are just starting to try it. Last night I did usual bedtime routine & didn't give dummy (as DD wasn't crying for it)then did the process 5 times. Each time it got longer before she cried for the dummy back. This took about 40+ min. I think maybe I was supposed to get her off to sleep without it, but I ended up giving it to her.

I just got frustrated today & tried to remove the dummy completely (what the heck, I'm not getting any sleep whatever we do so maybe that would be a faster solution) BUT DD was inconsolable, even using pick up/put down strategies which we've used successfully at other times. So will now stick with the other method. Can't stand seeing DD upset.

I don't know if it's going to work, but it might be worth a try. If you search the forum it is called 'gentle removal'.

If I have any luck I'll let you know. I'd love to hear how you go

Good luck!

PS. My DD is a couple of weeks younger than yours.

PPS. I forgot to say that there is something in the strategy about holding their chin - check the actual thread;
also I'm wrapping DD's hands up near her face and trying to encourage her to suck on her fingers.

[MantaRay]

Kris, my boys wouldn't take a dummy so TBH I haven't been there. But I know that they do eventually get to the stage of being able to put it back in themselves. However, if you want to stop it now, do you have parents or friends nearby who could take Ewan overnight for a couple of nights, so that he isn't disturbed and then try the method Jus has talked about above? Just an idea, sorry if it's not helpful.

FWIW - DS2 is a thumb sucker and while we've never had to get up in the night to put that back in, it's going to be harder to stop him having that if there are problems down the track!