For those of you with dummy addicts..

[Arimeh]

..there is hope!!!!

Last week I was totally and utterly sick of forever telling DS to use his dummy properly. He wouldn't suck on it, he would have it half in his mouth and chew on it. So after about the 3rd day in a row of ripping it out of his mouth when he wouldn't use it properly (he would go retrieve it, stick it back in, cycle would begin again) I got mad!!

So I decided - no more dummy. He's 2 years, 9 months. He wasn't using it for comfort obviously because it had just become a chew toy.

First day - he asked about every 5 minutes where his dummy was. With the fairies I would tell him, they took it because he's a big boy and doesn't need it. First day was hard.

Second day I had to bribe with some fairy lollies that they left him for being such a good boy about his dummy. He went without his dummy for the first time at night, and cried to daddy that he couldn't possibly fall asleep without it. He did.

Now - a week later - occasionally he asks where his dummy is. He asked me this morning and I just looked back at him and he was like - OH its with the fairies - and went on with whatever he was doing.

So even though I thought it was going to be the biggest struggle because he was sooo sooo addicted to the damn thing, its gone!!! It can be done!!!

DH wanted to give in a few times and give it to him, but I just distracted DS with something else - and we got him a toy dinosaur in place of it that the fairies left him as a thank you present - so I think that has helped.

Just wanted to put it out there if there is anyone who thinks their kid will NEVER give up the dummy - cos they just might surprise you - mine did!!!

[~mamaspice~]

Thanks for sharing.
I too, have major dummy addict on my hands!
You've posted a few good idea's in there that I shall keep in the memory bank when the time comes. I might give her a few more months . . .

[Trillian]

Great to hear it's worked for you. We are thinking about taking DS's off him and DH said to do the 'Santa took it" thing like we did for DD1, but i reckon that's just miserable to make Santa out to be the bad guy LOL. But if you ever work out how to get a 5yo to stop sucking her thumb I will be forever in your debt.

[Arimeh]

Trill - yeah who could ever be mad at fairies? They are so cute and magical

As for a 5 year old sucking thumb.. uh.. dunno - nail stuff you use to stop biting your nails? lol

[2CheekyMonkeys]

yeah the santa thing is harsh! LOL when DD1 was using hers stilli told her it was broken and cut the teat off it. she went and chucked it in the bin herself. i also go her off the boob by saying it was broken and there was no more milk in there.

as for the thumb sucking.. i have no idea either sorry! my niece used to suck her thumb i dont think my brother did anything out of the ordinary just persisted in telling her to stop.

[didispunk]

Well done!!! I took DD off her and I was waiting for the 1-2 hour cry herself to sleep and all.. I was prepared for the worst!!!!!
BUT
she cried for 5 min the first nap.. night time she cried for 15 then slept for 8 hours..
Now in the car i hear no noise from her and she gets herself to sleep.. I have exchanged the dummy for a stuffed toy.. she thinks its her new best friend...

I think we work ourselves up for such drama and ya i totally agree 3 days.. FINITO!!

good luck!

[kawazuki]

good work.
yep no more dummy here either..

even with Dd ebing sick she still hasnt wanted it
only tiger ( present from the fairies) but is more interested in the box and puts things in it and says for fairy lol

she was a chewer aswell 3 weeks and she woudl be through her dummy and biting bits off.
so bye bye dummy

[~Kim~]

well done Mel....I really should harden up and get rid of Darcy's....

[Rivlas]

Yeah, it's hard to find a way to take the dummy away without toooo many tears. When I took the girls dummies away from them I kept them and just recently found them, 20 years+ and had a good laugh.
As for the thumb sucking you can try a bandaid on the thumb or try mustard or the stuff you put on nails to stop chewing them.
Also during the day pull the thumb out of their mouth.

[CrazyLady]

As for a 5 year old sucking thumb.. uh.. dunno - nail stuff you use to stop biting your nails? lol

My cousin was a notorious thumb sucker up until age 8 and my aunty broke the habit by using to no bite nail stuff for a month religiously.

Got a dummy addict here but she has semi weaned herself from it. now we give her a plush teething toy that is the perfect size for her to hold and we cuddle it together so is comforting. She doesn't seem to chew it though. Occasionally if having a restless night/early morning we'll pop the dummy in but rarely.

[Evie76]

Makes my head spin even tackling this. Major dummy addict here........... you're very brave. I'm a big ol' chicken. I was thinking about the fairies thing - that I tell him a story about "dummy fairies" and magically it disappears during the night with a fantastic toy as a replacement! Tah Dah - instant happy kid!!

Erk..........

[Arimeh]

Evie - don't worry - I was sooo worried about how he would react, especially as he has a toy dog that goes everywhere with him, and it would be that if he had one, he had the other. But now he asks for his dog, and you can see him about to ask for his dummy, but he must remember that they don't exist anymore.

I say give it a go!!! Jump in!! Be brave!!! I must say that its soooo nice not to have drool on his shirts anymore!!

[luna moth]

WOW! Mel, that is awesome. You're awesome. Great idea to post about it.

Other tricks I have heard:
-Cracking it, and chucking the dummy out the window
-Tying it to the Christmas tree for Santa/Easter Bunny to take
-Taking it to neonatal to "give" to the little babies who need it mroe than a big boy/girl
-Wrapping it up and leaving it for the garbo

For thumb sucking (SO hard!):
Kids get quite traumatised by attempts to stop the thumb sucking. Parents get agitated because they won't stop, and it adds to the trauma, making it worse. Rewards tend not to work, because the children get worked up and can't stop thinking of the reward, so become anxious and end up sucking their thumb as a form of security.
SO... you have to address the security needs more than anything. When you see the thumb sucking, try to assess what about their current situation is causing anxiety or triggering the thumb sucking. Verbalise it for them. "Are you having trouble deciding what to play with?" (first example because it's so common in childcare!) "Do you need some help to talk to xxxx?" or "Are you worried that you won't be able to climb the ladder?" etc

[AngelPunks]

As for a 5 year old sucking thumb.. uh.. dunno - nail stuff you use to stop biting your nails? lol

nope, won't work - you actually get used to the taste and start to like it

[berrme]

We got rid of DS1's dummy on Thursday too. DH cracked it and said 'no more dummy!' as it wasn't helping get him to sleep anyway. So... no more dummy. DS2 has a couple of dummies that are the same brand as the ones DS1 used so we have had to hide those, but otherwise it has been much less painful than I expected. Why did I put it off so long?

[~MummaBear~]

we have just gotten rid of the dummy 3 weeks ago too!!
i was so scared, she was such a good sleeper and i didnt want to mess with that..
Miss J helped me put her "broken" dummy in the bin and we replaced it with a pillow lol she has been asking for one for a month cause her brothers have one so we gave in... she is a big girl after all now!

we havent had any sleep issues either!!

[visitor1]

I took Miss C's off her a while back. She went to bed one night and id forgotten to bring one in the room and on the spot i thought up a plan.

Me: C does Dorothy Dinosaur have a dummy
C: No
Me: Well then you dont either
C: Yes i do
Me: No your a big girl now, Dorothy doesnt have one
C: Ok

She rarely asked for it then and within 2-3 days she forgot all about them!

[didispunk]

Another good one is to Cut the end off a little then more and more each day.. till none left..