BW - I was watching with interest to see if it worked cause we have been thinking about how to get rid of the dummy with Charlotte too. I don't even think I will try.

There was one sleep about a month ago where her dummy had accidentally got stuck in the front loader washing machine and she was completely distraught - no matter what I did she would not settle. Yet, there are other sleeps where she just nods off without it (in the car/pram and in the cot when it has popped out and she has been talking to herself). I figure that she is OK with it - she only uses it to go to sleep so doesn't get around with it in her mouth all the time and it is not like they will be going to school and have a dummy in their mouth!

Charlotte is pretty good usually and I only have to get up at about 3.30am to replace it (even if she has gone to sleep without it). Has been a bit tough the last few weeks cause she has a bad cough and so dummy-return visits have been a bit more frequent.

Don't stress about it - she will grow out of it eventually! I would rather have a quick dummy return to deal with than a lengthy patting routine to do each time like you said.