Rory: Regarding dummies, from my experience they are a two edged sword (continuing the WMD theme hehe) fantastic and frustrating. Both Verity and Wade used them and were reluctant to give them up.... infact Wade still demands one at bed time. If you don't mind them ruling your life (for good or bad) then stick with them and you will probably bless them as much as blast them! Let me do a list of pros and cons for you (my usual strategy when making tough decisions like this LOL):

PROS:
* Brilliant in the car especially when you are on a freeway and can't stop or during a long interstate journey and just need to get to where you're going because you're exhausted etc.

* Excellent on Public transport especially when people are giving you foul looks because your baby is throwing a tanty.

* A God send when you've both had big days and need to crash immediately and just can't face hours of pat pat patting on the bottom etc.

* Useful in the supermarket, and other shopping expeditions when you need to stretch them out just a little bit longer.

* Soothing when teething, although you will need to replace them more often because the child will chew them.

* Excellent in raising immunity because they will introduce many germs into the mouth which the body will contstantly fight!

* A good alternative to thumb-sucking because at least you can wean them off it... although i guess a child could then go for the thumb if he was insisting on sucking something... though mine never did.

CONS

* Incredibly infuriating as you find yourself being woken up every time the dummy falls out of the child's mouth at night... this goes on until they can put it in themselves... however then you will still have to get up several times a night to find the lost dummy that gets between the blankets or falls onto the floor. This is a huge issue.

* Replacement cost. Our children only liked NUKs which at $6 each are not cheap and I'd say we've been through 30 at least for the 2 children.

* You will spend a lot of time looking for them. They will turn up in the most unlikely places. We found 2 in the garden recently... pockets of jackets/cargo pants pockets/toy boxes/ underware drawers/ kitchen cupboards/ behind fridges/ laundry baskets/ under lounge chair cushions etc are all likely places.... you will be looking in all these places frequently and when you least have the time to!

* Many people will tell you that they are "not recommended by dentists these days". You will hear conflicting information... you will then hear (like I did recently) that your child has developed a lisp because their front teeth don't close properly.... this was by our dentist.... but good news is that the teeth will improve if he stops using it.

uh oh... gotta go... Wade is having trouble on the potty.... that's a bit to get you started though rory!

ETA: oh BTW Niall has shown no interest what-so-ever in a dummy so far and I think this time around we might have a go at avoiding them. I never judge people for using them though! As I have said above, at times they have been invaluable. I wonder though, if as a compromise, you could save them for, say, car use only... avoid the sleep association thing which seems to be the worst aspect of them.