My toddler is turning 20 months old soon, and I'm trying to wean her off her dummy. I've tried to get rid of them cold turkey a couple of times (bad move) and I've tried to insist on restricting it just to naptime/bedtime use but it just causes so much upset once she's awake. She's constantly using it, screams if it's taken out for anything other than food and I'm not sure what the best "least-drama" approach is to getting rid of it once and for all!
Has anyone else had any luck with getting rid of dummies? What did you do?
Hi fortunecookie83 in my experience it's easier to gently restrict when the dummy rather than go for cold turkey. It's tough at 20 months as toddlers are developing their independence and have strong opinions about what they want. The National Literacy Trust recommend trying to being by having chat time (as one of the main problems with constant dummy time is is can reduce talking time). You know your toddler better than anyone so try and choose the easiest times to restrict the dummy to start with and let them get used to that.
Maybe if it doesn't feel like such a battle to her she will be less upset about e.g., not having a dummy when you share a book as that's time for you both to talk about the book and point at the pictures (i.e., swapping the dummy for a fun activity).
Hope that helps a bit - I know it's such a stressful thing for so many parents and toddlers.
Thanks for the reply and advice! I might try extending no-dummy time after eating and baths, and see how we get on with that. I liked the idea of swapping the dummy for a fun activity- time to rack my brains!
Good luck - it's not easy for parents or toddlers this one but be heartened that you don't see adults walking around with a dummy in their mouth so children give them up eventually
I feel your pain. For our first daughter we left it late (not quite Beckham-late but almost!) but it's definitely best doing it gradually and our second is at the same stage so we're in the same boat right now. Ultimately however gradual you take it there's always going to be a big step at some point (i.e. night time) and that's about smooth-talking, parental perseverence and confidence, distraction (and who knows - maybe a bit of bribery!).
We'll get there in the end. I'd be interested to hear how you get on too!
thank you so much for your reply mamapapa, it's so great to hear about other people being in the same position, I'm never sure if I'm doing things properly.
But you're right, we'll definitely get there in the end. Good luck to us both!
It's true that there is always a step - sounds like you have lots of strategies and wish you luck too!
In our experience we wait until our boys were big enough to follow a story but small enough to believe it! With the first one we did it on holidays. We introduce him to a local dog and we told him that that dog was crazy about dummies and always wanted to eat them. Next day the dummy disappeared and of course we said it was in the dog's tummy. After convincing our son that cutting the dog's tummy with a knife was a bad idea, he never asked for the dummy again. Good luck!
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