After stressing about how to get rid of the dummy in a gentle way or whether to just live with it until she did so herself I am happy to report DD is dummy-free and perfectly happy!

For those who are interested, we started off by making sure from the very beginning dummy was only ever used at sleep time. And not when we were out. She would always fall asleep in the car or pram without it so I never offered it.

Often I bring her home and she falls asleep in the car before her nap, so I transfer her to bed, no dummy needed. Well, last week I forgot to give it to her when we came home and she was awake. I wondered why she played in her room for so long before going to sleep, but there was no crying!

When I realised I had forgotten I thought I'd try it the following day at nap time and this time only ten minutes of playing before sleep. The following day, no playing.

So after a week of no dummy at nap time we didn't give it to her at bed time. Bit harder, wasn't impressed, but after a couple of minutes of complaining (not distressed) there was silence. The following night she cried a tiny bit, then complained for a bit longer (again, not distressed) then fell asleep.

Not a murmur since - and she has only asked for it at one nap time and once going to bed, easily put off with 'you don't need a dummy now, you're a big girl'.

I can't believe it! Friends had told me stories of screaming toddlers and days of anxiety and it was too easy! Yay for you Lucy!

PS I should add that she had been occasionally refusing to be put off with a dummy if she came in upset during the night (wanted 'boo-bie' instead) and seemed to be more interested in playing with it when she was getting up than having it during the night.