When the dummy dilemma arose with Curly we made the decision that on his 3rd birthday we would take away his dummy and just like that he accepted it. So we had it in our mind that we would do the same with Little Bean on her 3rd birthday but the closer her birthday has been getting the more I’ve been worried about how easy this will be. She only has her dummy for nap times and bedtime but if I have ever mentioned to her that she might like to go to sleep without one, she has got very upset indeed.
Dummy Dilemma
The dummy dilemma began when she recently started chewing through her dummies. This means I have to keep throwing them away. Tonight I saw that she had chewed through another one so I threw it in the bin. That’s when it struck me, I could be sneaky and tell her that I couldn’t get a dummy until I go to the shops again.
Testing the water
I do actually have a spare in the cupboard but I just wanted to test the water. Her first reaction was to say “no, you need to get me a new dummy”. So I told her that the shops weren’t open until tomorrow so how about she had two teddies for bed instead. “Ok,” she said, just like that.
I’ve had to go upstairs to her once, as she was saying that she needed a dummy but when I got upstairs she told me that she was too hot – no mention of the dummy! We sorted out her covers and got her cooled down. Ten minutes later she began asking for a dummy again, I ignored her for 5 minutes before going to see her.
This time she told me that she didn’t want both of her teddies so I told her she could just put one on her bedside table in case she changed her mind. I then told her that I wouldn’t be going up again so she needed to go to sleep, and . . . . .
She’s asleep!
Without her dummy! No tears, no screaming – she just went to sleep!
What next?
So the dummy dilemma is, do I try to follow through with this again tomorrow? I’ll make a big fuss of her in the morning and say how proud I am that she went to sleep without a dummy. Tell her what a big girl she is? I know her so well, she will remind me a hundred times tomorrow that I need to go to the shop and buy a new dummy. Perhaps I could buy her a special teddy or doll in replacement of a dummy?
What would you do, I need your comments now more than ever! Please?
We left C’s 2 dummies for Santa last Christmas and told him that Santa would pass his dummies to the babies, because only babies needed dummies!
He only really ever had his at nap time and night time, like Little Bean.
He didn’t ask for his dummy for the first couple of days, then out of the blue one day he asked for it. We explained again that Santa had taken it and he seemed content with that.
Its funny because tonight as he was tucking into his supper he said “Mummy, I want a dummy”. We just replied “What – no, only babies have dummies!!” Then he just said “oh”, and didn’t mention it again.
You could say that you buy any dummies in the shops for a big girl, as she is, the only ones in the shops are the size for babies, so she doesn’t want one of those! May be a long shot, but worth a try???
She has done so well and is even telling random people that she has given her dummy to the babies because she is a big girl now. She hasn’t asked for it at all since, I really can’t believe how well she has done xx