To be honest after 6 children you would think I should be use to this!
Amelia turned 3 in May and still wants her dummy constantly, although it doesn’t really bother me – I can see the judgmental stares from others! All 5 other children used dummies and gave up at some point, more often than not gradually over time and I can still remember having to take it off at least 2 of them before they went to nursery so around the same age.
However, Amelia is no good without hers, she whines and will scream constantly until she gets it and then falls asleep within seconds for her nap etc. I have managed to get it off her when we go out as she knows that she isn’t really allowed it outside so will pop it in my bag but even then she struggles to last all day without it. She even takes it out as soon as I get the camera out so she knows that its not a good look! lol
I don’t so much mind in the home as I know we have all been through a lot of upheaval lately so its probably a comfort, one thing that hasn’t changed, one thing for her to hold on to that she knows isn’t going away.
When I am in a positive frame of mind I know its not going to last forever and at some point she will do as her older brothers and sisters did and hand it over to Santa or the Tooth Fairy or heck even next doors dog! So why does it bother others so much?
Having said that I will be trying to wean her off it over the coming months and want rid of it completely by Christmas – fingers crossed!
I asked some of my blogging mummy friends how their children got rid of the dummy and this is what they had to say:
For some its all about giving it away:
Samantha from Stressymama: My 3 year old niece was very attached to her dummy so when they were at the dentist my sister asked them to have a word with her. The dentist said to my niece that she shouldn’t use it any more because she will get bad teeth and that she should throw it away. My niece put it in the bin there and then and hasn’t used it since.
Debbie from My Boys Club: For both our boys we gave their dummy to the pirates who left a lovely gift in return. It worked both times.
Liz from Heart of the Munchkin Patch: Both our girls gave theirs up at Xmas. We do the whole ‘Elf on the Shelf’ thing, so on Xmas Eve, both left their dummies near Santa’s mince pie & cookies for him to take to the baby elves. Then a few days after Xmas, the elves sent a thank you note and an extra little gift from the baby elves. Both were very attached to their dummies, but both have them up quite happily this way.
Sarah from Champagne and Petals: Last June when my daughter was 2.5 and loved her dummy more and more, I started to talk to her about leaving it for Santa in Christmas Eve so he could give it to new babies and he would leave her an extra special present. We visited Lapland Uk the beginning of December last Santa there ask her about leaving her dummy’s for him. She said yes she was and headed over her dummy to him and have never had it back again. It worked amazingly well. I think that by talking about it with her for so long really helped. Although 8 months later she might ask about it saying she wants it back.
For a few it was the task of The Dummy Fairy:
Claire from Big Family Fun: The only thing that worked with my youngest (& also worked with my eldest daughter too). We picked a day & got her to round up all her dummies in a little basket which she then left outside our fairy door before we went out. When we came home the Dummy Fairy had taken the basket of dummies & left a new cuddly toy in their place with a message thanking her for the dummies & telling her her new friend will be her comfort to cuddle at night now instead. We never looked back.
Simone from Married To A Geek: Ours was the birthday fairy for my son (daughter didn’t entertain a dummy). We visited the dentist who obviously said the dummy had to go so we spoke a little bit about why the dentist wanted no more dummy & then the birthday fairy took it and left an extra gift. 
? Worked amazingly.
Maria from Happy Mummy: We started by leaving it on Lily’s pillow in the day all day, then did 3 nights of taking it off her once she had fallen asleep & then last night we said the dummy fairy had took it; she cried for a few seconds and hasn’t mentioned it since – it’s going unnervingly well so far.
Laura from The Mama Fairy: We have a fairy door and jo jo (the fairy!) lives with us he took the soothers and left a little thanks you token. We had one bad night I kept telling him jo jo can’t take them back and he just seemed to be happy with that. 6 months later we haven’t looked back.
Skye from Cuteness & Chaos: We read a couple of books about children giving up their dummies to fairies for about a fortnight before the big day. That evening, after bedtime stories, we helped my son put each of his dummies into a little organza bag and he hung then from his door handle and said goodbye to his dummies. It was a rough night for everyone but we got through it and in the morning my son opened his door to find his dummies gone – only fairy dust (glitter) was left in the little bags and there was a big toy wrapped up for him from the dummy fairy. The next couple of nights were tough too but by the end of the first week he never mentioned the dummies again.
Whatever we do, wish me luck, I have a feeling we might need it!
XOXO
Debbie
