So when, at the age of just 3 weeks old, my Health Visitor advised me I'd be better off giving a dummy to MC I was distraught. I knew I had to, I knew that I couldn't go on with her using my breast for comfort - I was exhausted by it. I sobbed when Matt put the dummy in her mouth and she took it and loved it.
She's been good with the dummy though and only had it for night times and nap times and eventually we cut out the day time nap dummy when she was old enough.
Back in June last year I said that the dummies were going completely when we returned from Italy. We didn't even attempt it though, following the superb advice I received from my lovely readers on my blog and Twitter (thank you) we decided to leave it until after potty training and until we felt MC was really ready.
MC was fully toilet trained by November last year but with a holiday to the U.S. planned for January, Matt and I decided that we'd wait until after that so she had something on the flight to stop her ears popping!
When we were at Disney World we bought her this Deluxe Tangled Figurine Set but didn't show it to her.
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| Picture credit |
So, when we returned (and had got over the jet-lag!) we started to talk to her about what was going to happen. We explained to her that little babies needed her dummies and that at the end of the week we would place her dummies in a box and the Dummy Fairy would visit. She would collect them, leave MC a present and take the dummies to other little babies that needed them.
To make her understand more we even went as far as to show her a You Tube video of a little baby crying. As soon as she saw it she said "He needs my dummies".
The scene was set.
D-Day was finally upon us.
We prepared an empty box and that night, before she went to bed, MC placed her dummies into the box without a problem. We went upstairs and got ready for bed. We read a story and then she said "There's something missing from my mouth".
We explained that her dummies were downstairs and the Dummy Fairy would take them to the little boy that needed them.
She seemed to accept that and went to sleep without a problem.
She woke about 2am and was a little upset for about 15 minutes but never mentioned her dummies. Then she went back off to sleep.
The next morning she was delighted to see the Dummy Fairy had left her such an amazing present!
The dummies were never mentioned again and she's slept through ever since that first night of the dummy 'cold turkey'. She turns 3 on 11th March and I'm so proud of my little girl.
Will I use a dummy with my next baby? Yes, if one is required I'd have no problems this time. Dummies aren't the devil (as some people I know think), they provide a comfort to children and are easy enough to phase out - the Dummy Fairy can't take a thumb away now an he?
I know it's each to their own and what works for you but sometimes, just sometimes, a dummy is necessary. Without one in MC's life she wouldn't have had a fully-functioning Mummy in those early days.
Three cheers for the dummy and the Dummy Fairy!
13 comments:
Hurrah for MC! well done....I might even give up my dummy for one of those Tangled sets!
It was a Peppa Pig space rocket in our house as Jack's reward, although it took him a week to settle without it...but never asked for it once.
x
My only child to have a dummy was Joe. He relinquished his to the Dummy Fairy just before I had Megan when he was two and a half. Telling him that new babies needed big boys'/girls' dummies did the trick!! Well done MC!! xxx
Congratulations! That's quite an achievement. I'll admit to being 'anti-dummy' before my second child. She had one for the first three months (till she found her thumb) and I have no idea how I managed without one the first time round!
I love youridea of using YouTube :). Mine just gave their soothers (as they're called in Ireland) to Santa. I would have struggled without them, and most of the Mums I knew used them. On the teeth thing, Dd1 needed expensive orthodontic work, but I think she would have anyway, as my son's teeth are perfect and both used soothes in the same way...
I was always anti dummies before my daughter was born but after a couple of days I realised that they were actually a magic thing that settled her to sleep really quickly. I was always a really mean mummy though and only let her have them at bedtime and nap times. It wasn't actually long before she found her thumb and by about 7 or 8 months she weaned herself off the dummies and was only using her thumb. She's still a thumb sucker now at age 3. Luckily she doesn't really do it a lot mainly when she's trying to get to sleep and she knows I don't want her doing it. I am hoping she'll just stop doing it naturally as she gets older.
As for baby number two, well I will definitely be offering him a dummy. The good thing about dummies is that they can be taken away. You can't take a thumb away. I'll still be a strict dummy mummy though and insist it's just for settling to sleep as I kind of don't see why they are necessary at other times.
well done! We are still clinging on to it for dear life over here - it was meant to go at Christmas, Father Christmas was to be responsible. Then on the night it actually felt wrong to lay the blame at his door - he's meant to be nice after all! So then we've talked about the dummy fairy loads ever since and not actually done anything about it. she lost the last one that she owns the other day in the house and I thought we were going to have to face up to it there and then, the evening took a nose dive and we had to fish out a dummy that was meant for Noah and give it to her. She looked so relieved. I've told her the dummy will be gone before she is 3. Incidentally, we bought Noah some dummies and he would not take them! This is good and bad as we've avoided the whole addiction thing but we're hearing a lot more whining now with the teething than we ever did with Isla!
my mum was always anti dummy and i being the opposite of my mum was never worried, however when mine were very little i breastfed on demand and so dummies were not needed, when i wanted abit of resbite tho at around 9 months i then introdued a dummy, much to my mums disgust ;) they worked great, got my two eldest away from the breast somewhat and they were never overly attached to them and so when they gave them to santa one year it was fine, they were 3 and 2, however my youngest would not have a dummy at all and so he was much more of a milk monster and breastfeed for much longer than the older too did. Well done to MC and I bet she adores that tanged set x
I'm so glad to have read this just now. Babyzoid is a pretty major dummy-sucker and I hate it. It's not even something she has always done, she developed the major addiction at somewhere around 6 months, I think. I love the dummy fairy and gift idea, and I think it is one I might just have to steal! But like you, I might wait until after the potty training and when her language skills are developed enough to understand. xX
Huzzarh"
we had a thumb sucker which was really hard to break the habit!
One day I may relive it on the blog but I am not ready yet.....
xxxxx
Aww lovey story, we had dummies here too and like you we went cold turkey, no dummy fairy though, mean mummy just binned them :D
Hear, hear! All 3 of mine had dummies, but like you I never wanted to give them to them. In fact they have been a godsend and I wouldn't change a thing, despite the 'looks' I got from other more perfect mummies! By the time I had Soph I had no such paranoia anymore and knew that they would calm her down, help her go to sleep and be my friend in the early days. I also knew that taking them away is never as bad as you imagine it might be.
Well done MC x
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