Toby is three and a half, and (until last week) we still hadn’t got around to getting rid of his dummy (pacifier for those of you playing along who don’t live in Australia). Both the girls gave up their dummies a lot earlier, but being the third child, we are more relaxed (or more neglectful – depending on your point of view), about these things. On Monday, while we went to visit little Benjamin, we took the opportunity to do some shopping, including letting Toby trade his dummy for a toy.
With all three kids we have taken the same, fairly low key approach to getting rid of the dummies. For several months we’ve been talking to Toby about when he is ready he can take the dummy to the shops and swap it for a toy. Over the last few weeks he had been saying when he swapped his dummy he wanted to swap it for a fire truck with lights and sounds.
Because we knew we were going to be in town on Monday, we asked him if he wanted to swap his dummy while we were there, or if he wanted to wait. He decided to do it, and sucked it all the way to town as if he was getting every last bit of goodness out of it.
Once we got to town, I gave him a snap lock bag to put his dummy in and we went in search of a fire truck that fitted the criteria. We found one for the bargain price of $10!! He then took the toy and his dummy to the front counter, and gave them to the (slightly surprised) assistant. I asked the assistant to chuck the dummy once we had gone, and the paid for the toy. Done.
Toby was so proud of himself… and so impressed with his fire engine.
Monday afternoon and evening were a little hard going. He took a long time to go to sleep, even though he was tired, but he is settling well into not needing the dummy. When Hannah gave up her dummies, she announced that she wanted to take the toy back at 10.30pm on the first night;Toby was nowhere near that hard to settle.
So there goes the last trace of babies in our house. No nappies; no baby furniture or equipment; and now no dummies. After nine years, no baby stuff.
At all.
Gosh it feels like freedom.
How did you get your child to kick their dummy? Were you clever, and avoided them in the first place? What about fingers – you can’t just trade them in – how did you get the kid to kick that habit?
When Brittany was 5 and at pre school I thought this has got to go, so I ditched it, she came home from school demanded her dummy I told her the dump truck took it. She screamed so much I had to phone the help line for advice. They told me to stick to my guns she would be fine, and she was. Samantha on the other hand couldn't get rid of it fast enough as she figured out that dummy meant afternoon nap and she was no longer going down that path.
Our dummy surrender was similar to yours, but more expensive. This was the time Toy Story had just been released and my son was nearly 4. I went into the shop and spoke to the older lady and paid for the Buzz and Woody toys. I then went and got my son and we went 'shopping'. He selected the two large toys and handed over his dummy collection to the lovely lady who played along. We were so proud of him and he was so pleased with himself. All was good until he went to bed that night, then he wanted his dummy back. I explained that he had given them to the shop lady, but if he really, really needed another dummy I would buy him one when he turned 5, almost a year away. He went to sleep happy with the idea and that was the last we ever heard about dummy.
My son is seven and still sucks his fingers at bedtime. My daughter is five and an avid thumb sucker. I qm constantly reminding them, thumb/fingers out! Its a long difficult road to stopping with lots of criticism from family and friends. We have made a bit of progress with master seven as he will stop when reminded and its mostly when he is tired or sick now. But if one more stranger suggests chilli sauce on their handsI just might scream 🙂
I sucked my thumb as a kid, but grew out of it when I was ready. Chilli sauce e is crazy. Sure they might stop sucking their thumb, but they may also get a chemical burn too. You don't see many adults suckinfg fingers or dummies, so they all give it up eventually.
Daughter had a dummy in ICU as she was born at 29 weeks and sucking reflex doesn't develop until 34 so this is how they are taught to suck when feeding. When he was moved to a hospital closer to home the dummy wasn't sent with her, so DH had to buy a very expensive dummy that she wouldn't use.
Son (Tobi) sucked his a few times but because I hate them I wasn't very persistent, I really only tried because DH thought they were good because 5 of his sisters had used them.
My husband was determined his children would use a dummy as he didn't want them sucking a thumb. I pointed out that none of us had had dummies or sucked thumbs. He tried.
I have three sons. He poked the dummy in for a week for each after birth. Each of them spat it out. How does a week old baby spit a dummy down past his toes? He finally gave up.
They did not suck thumbs either. Only downside was that not one of them would ever drink from a baby bottle. Not even boiled water. That came from a spoon. Otherwise it was from me or nothing. I weaned them straight onto a plastic cup. Did it in the bath so mess was minimal.
Grandson had one till he was two when he left it at beach "for another little boy."