Dummies

We went to plunket on Tuesday and she said its time to get rid of dums as Jack isn't really making a lot of noises and wakes for it a lot during the night. Plunket nurse said take them all away and go cold turkey. I agree with having no more dums during the day he doesn't even really need it. But at night there is no way I'm letting him scream and scream. So I'm slowly trying to wean him off it.

Anyway what is the age that dummys start doing damage to teeth etc?

We started to wean Paris off hers once we knew Ayja was on the way. We had always maintained that it was for sleep and hurts only.. but that had fallen by the wayside really. So back that rule came... she had her bunny too which she was attached to... otherwise she would have dragged bunny and dummy around with her everywhere.

So try that, make it for sleep only and if he hurts himself/gets really upset for a good reason..

If Paris hurt herself i would get bunny and dummy and it stopped the crying, we would sit and cuddle and calm down and she would come with me to put it back away. For her it worked well.

Eventually she got to the stage where she was biting them.. as each got flat we chucked it till one night she "really needed" one.. we opened the new one we had on standby for in case the new baby needed it (didn't know what Ayja was at that stage), withing a day that too was flat and deflated. so we took it away, she was old enough to know the meaning of broken, and she just kept her bunny.. which still had the same effect cos she had always related the two together to being comforted.

I spose i am saying, cut back first, encourage it only for extreme situations for a couple of weeks, and find something else that you can introduce now, that gets used for comfort at the same time, so onc the dummy is gone, he still gets the same reaction from a cuddly or toy or whatever.

both my 2 have had them since day 1 as they were suckers and would feed and feed if they didn't have one. when kalem was 1 it was only at sleep time never when playing etc and he finally said at 4 im a big boy and i don't need it now. There was nothing wrong with teeth etc so just do what you think is right

My mum wanted to get rid of my brothers one when he was little and told him when it was broken that it was going down the 'gobbler' (the insinkerator). Obviously he was old enough to understand that it was gone for good and it never even phased him. He just knew that whatever went down the gobbler, doesn't come back!

That worked on my sister when mum wanted (probably needed to, more like it!) to take her cuddly off her. Mum told her that a friend of hers didn't have any blankets for their new baby and they had to give them my sister's cuddly. She was more than fine with that! Mum kept it in her wardrobe though for a few weeks just in case of emergency.

I've heard that the thumb sucking/dummy sucking thing is old wives' fable. I didn't have a dummy but I thumb-sucked until 12yrs and although I have slighty forward teeth, they are actually like that because I have a small mouth - they all fit together side by side with no gaps.

I heard that about 6 months is when they get interested in a favourite night-time teddy bear or whatever, so you could start by just having the same one in his cot each night and he'll get used to the association.

As for weaning off a dummy... My first daughter didn't have a dummy (sucks fingers) but my second did. At around 9mos she bit a whole and it went flat. I thought, well how about I just cut the end off (I've heard that they lose interest because it doesn't have that same feeling to it) but she just looked at it and put it back in. lol

Then a couple of weeks later she bit all across it - it looked like a surated (sp?) knife - so she got weaned cold turkey at that point. She would have been 10 mos. She cried the first couple of nights, but not for long, and haven't had a problem since.

Sorry, bit of a long story! I wouldn't worry about weaning a 6mo yet, just do it when you think it's the right time - after all you know him a lot better than Plunket do!

mikey's never had a dummy, he just spat them out but my partners little cousin has just got rid of his at age 4. his parents just said that it was time to get rid of the dummy as the new baby's coming and he has to be a big brother now. they let him destroy it so he tried hitting it with a hammer but it just bounced off it so he watched while his dad melted it onto a piece of wood with a blow torch. i think they're actually going to keep it

can you tell I am pro dummies????

Also I would not hestitate to give next baby one too....

lol Emma we have some dearly beloved dolls here (one each) which go grey/brown very very quickly! Fortunately they wash out but I have to schedule a "day off" lol

okay first of all the dental question, since i am a dental assistant i have a bit of knowledge in this area, thumb sucking and dummy sucking CAN in SOME children, cause damage,but then its not always the case..
And it doesnt necessarily have to be the baby teeth that the damage is noticeable in, often its when the adult teeth come thru that the child has a slight over bite.

Caitlyn had a dummy till about 18months and was fine giving them up (we did it gradually not cold turkey) but didnt matter cos she discovered her blimming thumb anyway!