How to wean 1 year old off the dummy?

[scerena]

My little girl turned 1 last week, I'm wanting to get rid of the dummy! We've ended up down to 1 dummy now and I refuse to buy more as I want to get rid of them. I'm constantly looking for that 1 dummy when it is nap time and bed time.

Any ideas on how to get rid of it?

Should I just go cold turkey for a few days in the hope that she will forget about it? I know there will be tears, tantrums and probably hardly any sleep!

 

[mummytobe_93]

Following. My daughter only has hers for naps and bed times but she is obsessed with it!

She's been unwell at the moment so it's been hard to take it off Her as it's easier for everyone! Hopefully when she's better it will be easier to take it off Her. But I was just going to first wean her off it at naps and once that was sorted wean her off it at night.

She usually falls asleep with a bottle at both so I'm hoping this will be enough and also introducing a 'snuggy' x

 

[felix555]

I did cold turkey with lots of rocking and holding to sleep to compensate but I know some people are not keen on that because of "bad habits"

It was at 9 or 10 months I think it was.

Was really not bad. 3 days max and it was as if the dummy was never there.

 

[sue_88]

Honestly, at that age where they know they want/need it I persoanlly don't agree with removing it.

If she has it for sleep, and it's not causing any negative effects, why remove it?

My LO has one, and I would have either removed it before 6m where they is much less of an understanding and more methods of comfort, but as I didn't itll now stay until she's much older and understands why it's time for it to go (2/3years). She has it for sleep, she sleeps in her bed, no one sees it, no one knows she has it and it's helpful to her so I'm not going to take it away.

So yeah, if she sleeps well and she enjoys it then I'd let her keep it.

 

[felix555]

Agree with Sue, is the dummy causing issues? I took it away because my LO was waking every half hour for it otherwise I'd have waited until he self weaned or until he was two and understood why.

In hindsight I should have taken my LO's dummy away sooner as it was harming more than helping sleep but every baby is different.

 

[scerena]

Well she wakes for it sometimes in the night if she cannot find it.

Plus for her speech I would rather her not have it as sometimes she puts it places I didn't see when she wakes up and then finds it again and I have a hard time getting her off it and when she hasn't got it after a while she starts looking for it.

Plus I do not want to wait until she's too old as people have said to me they found it harder as their children were heart broken so I thought at this age she will probably forget about it quicker. I do not want her too old with a dummy anyway really, I wasn't even giving her one at birth but she just wanted to suck ALL the time and over feeding then being sick, so the health visitor recommended it and it made an easier life but I personally do hate them and regret giving it to her :/

My health visitor also said at 1 it is the best time to remove the dummy before they become too old. She also recommended making a slit in the teat so she won't have the pleasure of sucking it.

Thank you for the ideas ladies, when I do it I am mentally preparing myself for a few sleepless nights and days!!!!

 

[mummytobe_93]

No I agree with scerena I don't see a problem in removing it. My daughter didn't even take a dummy until 7 months and now she loves it but if she had her way she would have it in her mouth all day. Which reduces speech Etc. I'm sure if you let kids have dummies for as long as they want most will have one until they are three. And I personally think two and three is too old for a dummy, it ruins their teeth and will be even harder to get rid of it then when they can physically ask for it.

I think getting rid of it sooner rather than later is better instead of waiting until 2.5 years to do so z

 

[felix555]

Ultimately it's your choice but it might be easier to limit the dummy to nap and bedtime for the moment (maybe car rides too)

I think it will only affect speech if it's in her mouth all the time.

Cutting a slit in it is only good for toddlers as you can explain it is broken or whatever but at 1 I think it would be a bit mean giving a dummy that doesn't work. She wouldn't understand.

 

[ButterCup17]

Following. Ta our 9 month apt our Dr said to get rid of his. He only has it when he sleeps. I haven't gotten rid of it yet and am nervous to bc he likes it so much. I always said I'd take it when he got teeth but he's almost a year and still doesn't have any haha

 

[scerena]

Nap times is ok, but in think I would rather just get rid of it all together instead of her depending on it for bed. To be honest I couldn't find a dummy ANYWHERE yesterday and it was so frustrating and she was crying and crying for it! In the end I found one but I hate these things and how upset she is if she doesn't have it, which makes me just want to get rid of it. Sometimes she knocks them out the cot or drops it so I just find the dummy really annoying! Any other tips would be great! Pat the moment I'm thinking of binning them all and dealing with tears for a few days even though it will break my heart seeing her upset but she will forget in a few days and won't be as attached to it then she would be in another year or two I guess...

buttercup That is another reason that I haven't got rid of it so far is probably because she's still my little gummy bear (no teeth)!

I do however want to just get rid of it, she does mainly have it at just nap times etc but she does tend to find a dummy somewhere sometimes.

mummytobe I would love for her not to have it and have nice teeth, speak more etc....

I do feel mean taking it but I really do not want her to be too old before I take it even if it was just for bedtime.

felix555 I think you are right about the slit and her being so young that piece of advise I was given about the slit seems wrong now you said that!

 

[PrincessLeah]

Speaking from experience, I wouldn't take it away from a 1 year old. 1 years old is so so young, they are still so small. It is a real source of comfort to some children. Some babies and children just love to suck, they just do. Yes, they may need your guidance in steadily limiting the dummy time as the next few months pass, but eventually they will drop it when they are ready.
I know it can be frustrating watching your children indulge a habit that you do not necessarily agree with, but I am all for making life easy for myself - which means in the OP's case, I would buy more dummies so I am not hunting around for them.
Just remember, all children get there in the end, I promise.

 

[felix555]

Just how much does she have it?

I know I suggested cold turkey as that's what I did but my LO had it for nap and sleep only.

It would be so much harder if she has it all the time. Then I'd first work at reducing it to nap and sleep first.

 

[scerena]

She has it when she's napping and sometimes in her pushchair/car seat but I've started giving her more snacks instead. She just looks for it all the time I think that's the problem.

It's not about just not liking the dummy, but it's causing problems at night when she's dropping them or can't find them and I think that's what's causing her to wake more....

I always buy dummies it's not the money or anything I just know I don't want her sucking on a dummy by the time she is 2/3 (personal preference) I've seen children in my family have them at like 3 and I don't think it's good at that age plus the dummy is usually far too small for the face which shows they're too old for it in my eyes I'm not passing judgement at people whose children have them at that age like I said its personal preference so please don't be offended by my comment

I'm sure things will figure out and I will come to some sort of plan all I know is over the next few months I really want this dummy gone as she's not addicted to it like the health visitor saw as she saw me take the dummy off her when she woke up and she wasn't phased hence why she said this will probably be the best time to do it. Otherwise she's going to be probably more attached to it the longer she has it like anyone would be I guess?

 

[felix555]

No I understand where you're coming from completely.

Does your LO nap in the cot? My advice is to try for a week to limit the dummy to the cot only so it's associated with sleep only. Never take it out. Then see how you feel after the week.

After that it will hopefully not be too bad to take it away, should you decide to.

In my opinion it's easy to take a dummy away from a baby and its easy to take it away as a toddler, you're picking a tricky time, the 1 year mark is a huge developmental leap when they go from baby to toddler.

Of course still do-able but I'd expect some resistance.

 

[scerena]

Thanks Felix!

She naps during the day either out in her pushchair or on the sofa, cot at bedtime. I should probably make her nap in her cot during the day if I am in.

We do only give it to her at nap times mainly but the cot thing is a good idea!

 

[sue_88]

Yes I agree with what Felix says about cot and dummy being linked.

If you're seeing a 3 year old with a dummy (there are exceptions of course) then yes they're too old, I agree with you there. There should be no reason for this, like I say my LO is 18m and no one knows she has a dummy except for me, and her nursery worker. She's never looked after by anyone else, or babysat or has it when we've got social events so it really doesn't bother me.

My LOs dummy lives in her cot, and I've got a trinket box with a couple more in on top of her wardrobe incase one gets lost in the cot black hole! Lol Cot = dummy. If she's out of the cot, she dumps the dummy back inside now she understands this.

I do keep on in the car, and one in the pram on an occasion where she's screaming blue murder ready to sleep but won't drop off like she usually can do with the motion. In those instances they are used but removed immediately on wake up.

I don't, and never have, given a dummy for 'fussiness' or to keep baby quiet so I've never had an issue of overuse, perhaps why I'm so open to keeping it as long as LO needs, but I'd definitely start by reducing it to certain times around sleep and for no other reasons at all.

It sounds like it's not so bad through realy, and if she's capable of finding it in the night (you may need a few more in her bed) then honestly I'd let her keep it.

All this being said with me on the favour of keeping it.....if you did get rid it's really likely to not be that bad in the grand scheme of things. I would do cold turkey (like I'll do when my LO is older, when it's gone it's gone) and battle any issues that come from then instead of tackle small issues do to slow weaning.

 

[MrsMcK04]

My son only used his for naps and bedtime and occasionally in the car when we needed him to go to sleep.
I took his away cold turkey at 13 months. I did extra cuddles and rocking at bedtime/nap time for the 2-3 days and I don't think be ever really noticed it was gone because the rocking/cuddling calmed him.
Best decision ever getting rid of the dummy! Then I didn't have to find the dumb things all the time!
Good luck however you decide to do it!

 

[ButterCup17]

I was reading about it and saw something that said to slowly cut off the tip each day. Eventually it will be too small to suck on and they will lose interest on their own. Has anyone tried that? I can't decide what's better, that or just going cold turkey...?

 

[linz143]

We took DD1's away when she hit 18 months. She only had it for naps and bedtime and during the day we'd keep it on a high shelf in her room so she couldn't grab it from her bed. Eventually she'd just start going back to her room and screaming and crying during the day for it. Then it started happening multiple times a day where she was throwing these tantrums over not having it whenever she wanted. It was then we decided to take it away.

I explained it to her best I could that pacis were for babies and she was a big girl now and she kind of seemed to understand. Then we never gave them back. It took about a month before she stopped having sleep disruptions. It only took 3 days before she stopped asking for it altogether, but for a solid month she either took an hour to fall asleep at night and/or woke up an hour early in the morning.

Her younger sister was born 3 months later and uses a paci and now she points at it and says, "Paci. Baby."

 

[CaptainMummy]

My dd1 had a dummy until just before 3. She used it for naps and bed, and occasionally in between if she was upset erc. It never affected her speech (at 2.5, she was assessed and had the social and language development of a 5yr old (apparently)) and her teeth are perfect. It was easyto get rid of, as we used the whole hanging it on the xmas tree for Santa. No tears, everyone was happy!

Dd2 also has one for sleeping, but she also likes to steal the babies so she sometimes sneaks one into her mouth at other times. I have no plans to take it away until she is bigger. Again, it certainly hasnt affectted her speech, and if she does happen to have one in her mouth and she is trying to speak, I ask her to take her dummy out (which she does) and she repeats what she was saying.

Im a single mum of 3 and the dummy makes my life a teeny bit easier. I am quite happy to roll with it!