I can't take it away. ( DUMMY)

Hi Huggies Girls.

My boy is 22 months old he goes to day care 2 days a week.
Going well at day care he has no dummy for sleep time.
But home if I try not give it to him the starts crying & I give in to him should I just let him cry?

Tonight by the time I walked out of his room he was crying.
When I do give his dummy I just have to walk out.

What would you do? Thank you for reading Amanda.

Personally, i'd say just to let him use it for those times he needs it but ONLY when he needs it. My daughter is 18 months and she uses it just for sleeping. It keeps her happy =) Also, i will always say that sucking a dummy is better than sucking a thumb! It's amazing the damage thumbs can do to teeth..
If you really do want to get him off the dummy though, good luck! Hope it all works out =)

Posted by: Sinéad
It's amazing the damage thumbs can do to teeth..

Just want to say that is a myth. I know plenty of thumb suckers with perfect teeth and ones who didn't (including my sister) who needed heaps of orthodontic work. Oral health is primarily inherited from the mother so even if you don't suck a thumb/dummy/bottle but have a mother who has horrible teeth then you're pretty much doomed. LOL

I do agree though that it's not that big a deal and if you want give it to him there's no harm in it. Why make life harder on yourself than you need to? Just because he seems to need it at home but not daycare is not IMO an indication that he shouldn't have the dummy at home.

I don't mean that thumbs cause crooked teeth. Like you say, if parents have them, the kids are pretty much doomed to have them (like me, for example =/) But thumb sucking pulls the front teeth forward (depending, of course, how much the child sucks their thumb. My partner did until he was about 10 i think and it really shows >.<) and in bad cases can wear down the front teeth too but it does depend. Like everything. All kids are different =)

I'd just give him his dummy. Easier for you, much nicer for him smile I'm a firm believe in giving lots of comfort at bedtime especially, so if that's a dummy for him, then by all means, don't feel guilty!!

My sister never sucked her thumb or had a dummy (unlike me) and she had a massive overbite with incredibly straight teeth while I have an overbite and crooked teeth to boot...typical me drawing the 'short' straw. Yes thumb/dummy sucking might contribute to that, but since you inherit your jaw structure from both your parents your over/under bite might be strictly due to genetics and not either of those things.

Thus why I said it is a myth that dummies/thumb sucking cause 'bad' teeth. LOL Of course we're all different, thus why my sister got the "good' mouth and I got the leftovers. hehehehehehehe

Hi Girls.

Thank you so much everyone for your reply.

I know it got to happen one day & I know it going to be hard.
Is there any thing I could do to the dummy that could take it of him. Thank you for reading Amanda.

The only thing i can say if you want to take it away is to be hard about it. Let him cry himself to sleep and he'll get used to not having it eventually =)

Hi Amanda

Have you tried talking to him about it (as best you can, with 22m old!)?

I know lots of ladies, including my mum, who did the old trick of saying that their child was a big boy/girl now and you don't need your dummy any more, and the offering was to give it Santa, Easter Bunny, leave it out for another baby who needs it, etc, etc. My mum told my brother that a little baby bird might like it, so he threw it in the garden for the bird, and that was that.

I hope you find a way that works.

My daughter is 3 and I am still no closer to getting the dummy off her. I find that I can reason with her at times, like if we are going out, but if she is tired or upset, all reason goes out the window and there is nothing I can do but give it to her.

I have heard of people waiting till special occasions like birthdays and getting the child to 'swap' the dummy for presents? I hope you can find a way that is quick and painless for you both.

my son was obsessed with his dummy, and it was becoming a real problem like when you couldn't find one. So we took it away from him cold turkey at 2.5 years. We also took away DD at 6 months (at the the same time). They were upset for a couple of days, but they got over it. We bought them a special cuddle toy each as a reward/replacement. Now they are 20 months and 3.5 and they take their cuddle toys everywhere. I think it worked well as the cuddle toys are a lot more comforting for them.

Thank you girls for your reply.

I feel I am just going to keep putting it off.
But he is sick so I would not do it now.

I find it hard when I know at day care he has no dummy.

If I do take is away I feel the crying going to get to me.
Sorry I just find it hard as my DD is nearly 6 I don't have to
worry about dummy or toilet training.